MONTREAL IMPACT vs. NEW YORK RED BULLS
Saputo Stadium | Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Sunday, October 30 | Eastern Conference Semifinals
Audi 2016 MLS Cup Playoffs
3 p.m. ET (ESPN, Watch ESPN, Red Bulls Radio)
#MTLvNY
2016 records:
NY: 16-9-9; 3-7-7 on the road
MTL: 11-11-12; 7-5-5 at home
All-time series: NY is 8-3-2 all-time against MTL; 1-3-2 on the road
Season Meetings: NY lost at MTL, 0-3, on March 12; NY won at home, 3-1, on August 13; NY won at home, 1-0 on September 24
HARRISON, N.J. (October 28, 2016) - The New York Red Bulls open the Audi 2016 MLS Cup Playoffs on Sunday, facing the Montreal Impact in the first leg of an Eastern Conference Semifinal series. Kickoff is set for 3 p.m., with coverage on ESPN, ESPN Deportes, and Red Bulls Radio in English and Spanish.
Red Bulls Radio kicks off at 2 p.m. with a full hour of Countdown to Kickoff, hosted by Matt Harmon. Harmon will be joined by former Red Bull and MetroStar Steve Jolley for the English broadcast, while Ernesto Motta provides Spanish play-by-play beginning at 3 p.m.
It will be the seventh consecutive year of postseason soccer for the Red Bulls. New York advanced directly to the conference semifinals by finishing first in the East for the second-consecutive year, and third time in the last four seasons. Montreal advanced by defeating D.C. United, 4-2, in a knockout round game on Thursday night in D.C.
The Red Bulls closed out the regular season last weekend with a 2-0 road win at Philadelphia to stretch the undefeated streak to 16 games in MLS, and 20 overall including CONCACAF Champions League. The Red Bulls streak is the third-longest in MLS history.
Bradley Wright-Phillips scored the game winner last weekend to secure his second MLS Golden Boot in three seasons. Wright-Phillips’ 24th of the year was also his seventh game-winning goal, also the most in MLS this season. Alex Muyl scored the second, with Dax McCarty and Sacha Kljestan earning assists on the play. Kljestan finishes the regular season with 20 assists, just the second player in league history to record 20 or more assists in a season.
Luis Robles earned a shutout in his 140th consecutive MLS match, adding to his franchise records for career wins (69) and shutouts (38). Robles led MLS this season with 11 clean sheets, and finished with 100 saves, his third 100+ save in his fourth full season.
Montreal finished the season 11-11-12. Ignacio Piatti led the team with 17 regular season goals, tied for third most in MLS. Didier Drogba added 10 goals and six assists through the regular season, and his status is unknown coming into this game. Matteo Mancosu has come on of late, scoring two goals and recording an assist against D.C. United.
The winner of this home and home matchup moves on to face the winner of second seed New York City FC and third seed Toronto FC in the Eastern Conference Finals. If the home and home results in an aggregate tie, the tiebreaker will be away goals scored. If that is a tie as well, two 15-minute overtime halves will be played after the second leg, followed by penalty kicks if necessary.
New York is 8-3-2 all-time against Montreal, and 1-3-2 in games played at Saputo Stadium. As part of the 16-game undefeated streak, New York defeated Montreal, 3-1 at home in mid-August and 1-0 at home in late September to clinch its playoff berth.
