FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – The red-hot New England Revolution looks to make it a clean sweep of its three-game homestand on Saturday night when the Montreal Impact visits Gillette Stadium.
Come-from-behind wins over Sporting Kansas City and the Chicago Fire have helped the Revs (12-12-3, 39 pts.) improve to 5-1-1 in their past seven games, climbing to within three points of second place in the East. Montreal (5-16-6, 21 pts.) sits at the bottom of the MLS standings, but a recent resurgence has seen the Impact go 3-2-1 in the past six games in all competitions.
TICKETS: Choose your seats for Revs-Impact!
Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. on Saturday night, when the Revs will offer their annual “Salute to Heroes” in partnership with USO New England. Comcast SportsNet and 98.5 The Sports Hub will cover the action.
Current Form: Confidence on the rise as Revs win fourth straight; Impact mounting turnaround
For the second time in five days the Revs found themselves in an early hole when Sanna Nyassi buried a first-half header last Sunday night, but again New England found the resolve necessary to turn the game around and claim the full three points in a come-from-behind, 2-1 win over the Chicago Fire.
WATCH: Davies comes off the bench to complete Revolution’s comeback win
The Revs have now erased deficits in each of their last two games, something they’d only managed to do once the previous 13 times they’d fallen behind this season.
“I think it’s about confidence,” said captain Jose Goncalves. “Winning and having good performances in the last few weeks helps you get more confident. That’s why after conceding a goal in the last two games, we believed, and even more when we play at home.”
Montreal’s place at the bottom of the league standings is somewhat deceptive considering the club’s current form. The arrival of Argentine midfielder Ignacio Piatti has sparked the Impact, which has now scored multiple goals in each of its last five games, including a 2-2 draw with the surging LA Galaxy on Wednesday.
“I don’t look at the standings when I’m looking at film,” said head coach Jay Heaps. “I’m looking at what they’ve done in the last three games, and if you go back and watch Montreal … they’ve been really aggressive and really dangerous. Adding [Piatti] has really kind of pulled things together for them.”
Past Meetings: Revs – still in search of first home win over Impact – hope third time’s a charm
Saturday night’s showdown will mark the second time this season the Revs have run up against the Impact while carrying a lengthy unbeaten run, and they’ll be aiming for a different outcome this time around.
The Revs had run off five straight wins before visiting Stade Saputo in late May, but that run was ended with a 2-0 loss to the Impact, which rode first-half goals from Andres Romero and Jack McInerney to victory.
WATCH: Revs’ five-game winning streak ends in Montreal
While the Revs have actually won on two of their four trips to Montreal, they’ve failed to pick up a point in two previous home meetings with the Impact. Last year’s matchup at Gillette Stadium was turned on its head after just five minutes when former Revs goalkeeper Matt Reis was sent off, paving the way for the Impact’s 4-2 triumph.
Injury Report: Castillion settles into his first full week of training; Tierney back in the fold
Newly-acquired forward Geoffrey Castillion could be set to make his MLS debut this weekend after going through his first full week of training with his new teammates. The 23-year-old was officially available for selection for Sunday’s win over Chicago, but was left off the game-day roster having arrived just two days prior.
WATCH: One-on-one with new signing Geoffrey Castillion
Joining Castillion on the training field this week was Chris Tierney, who is on the brink of returning from the knee injury which has sidelined him for the past seven games. Tierney, who last featured for the Revs in late July, is officially listed as questionable on the injury report.
Final Thoughts: Revs aim to close homestand strong before returning to the road
“In this little homestand we’ve had, we said we wanted to make sure we got good results in these games,” said forward Patrick Mullins, whose Revs will close the season with four of their final six games on the road. “Obviously with the four-game win streak, we’ve been huge. We want to make sure we end it on a good note for the fans and give us good momentum to the end of the season.”
