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Montreal welcomes Houston to Saputo

Jun 22, 2012 - 5:59 PM Montreal, QC (Sports Network) - The Montreal Impact opened Saputo Stadium with an impressive win last week and, after a midweek loss at Chivas USA, return to their refurbished home Saturday for a clash with the Houston Dynamo.

Montreal played its first five home matches at Olympic Stadium, but Saputo was a fortress last week in a 4-1 win over Seattle Sounders FC. Although Montreal missed a chance to pick up road points, it will be confident at home.

The Impact (4-8-3) have accumulated 11 of their 15 points in Montreal, and can make another statement when the Dynamo (5-4-5) visit this week in Major League Soccer.

Montreal boss Jesse Marsch believed the club deserved at least a point against Chivas, but mistakes cost his side as Juan Pablo Angel scored the winning goal in the 82nd minute of a 2-1 loss.

"For me, it's a game that we 100 percent shouldn't lose," Marsch admitted. "We made critical mistakes, we've talked about dealing with set pieces and dealing with crosses, and that's what hurt us. But for the most part, I felt like that game was under control.

"We feel like we were good enough on the day to get a result, and we wind up somehow giving it away."

Impact captain Davy Arnaud thought it was important to switch focus to Houston as it returns home for an important Eastern Conference clash.

"It's another home game for us, and it's important because it's a conference game," Arnaud said. "We'll get ready to have a quick turnaround and be ready to go on Saturday."

Montreal will have to adjust to the loss of Bernardo Corradi, who suffered an ACL tear Monday and will likely miss the rest of the season.

Houston has done well on the road this season, going 2-4-3. And it just earned a 3-3 draw against Toronto FC on Wednesday, as Will Bruin scored in the 73rd and 90th minutes.

"It was a good fight, a good comeback. It took us about 60 minutes to get going and we need to start off better, but the guys showed good fight and we were able to salvage a point out of it," Bruin said.

"We need to get a better result against Montreal and get started from the first minute."

Houston's visit to Montreal will mark Brian Ching's return, as the longtime Dynamo was selected in the expansion draft by the Impact, but later returned for a conditional draft pick.

Ching, despite such a short stint with the Impact, knows it will be a tough match this weekend.

"Look at their first game in a new stadium and they put a whupping on a pretty good team," Ching said on the league's website. "Their fan base is a great one and the atmosphere is fantastic up there and I'm looking forward to going up there and being a part of it."