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Impact aim to break lengthy skid against Fire

Aug 15, 2014 - 10:17 PM Montreal, QC (SportsNetwork.com) - The Montreal Impact will attempt to break the grip of a six-match losing streak in league play on Saturday when the club welcomes the Chicago Fire to Stade Saputo.

Montreal has struggled all season and last Saturday's loss to the Philadelphia Union was just the latest setback in what has been a nightmarish season for head coach Frank Klopas.

Montreal fell behind at PPL Park against Philadelphia after just 12 minutes when Sebastien Le Toux got on the end of a long ball from goalkeeper Zac MacMath, rounded an out-of-position Troy Perkins and fired into an empty net.

Le Toux scored his second goal of the game in the 63rd minute when his shot from the top of the 18-yard box found space in between the Impact defenders before passing the goal line.

"I wonder why we lost the game today. It seems like we can't get a little break," said Klopas. "We made two mistakes that cost us the game. In certain moments, we could have done better in the final third with our final pass that was a little bit off, but we controlled the game and got opportunities. We still have many games to play and we still have to be better in certain areas of our game."

"It was one of our best games this year and I think we were the better team. It's frustrating because we walk away with no points," added midfielder Justin Mapp. "I'm proud of the guys effort tonight."

Chicago, meanwhile, will be looking for its second straight win in league play following a 1-0 result over the New York Red Bulls last Sunday at Toyota Park.

Mike Magee netted the only goal of the contest in the 39th minute when he followed up his own missed penalty kick to beat New York goalkeeper Luis Robles.

The deciding moment of the game did not come without its fair share of controversy as Quincy Amarikwa burst into the box and got tangled up with Red Bulls defender Ambroise Oyongo and went to ground, forcing referee Ted Unkel to make a decision and he pointed directly to the spot.

Magee stepped up and ripped it toward the left side netted, but it was kept out by New York goalkeeper Luis Robles. Unfortunately for New York, Robles parried it back into the path of Magee and he slotted it into the empty net.

"I think that any coach will say that if you feel you are good enough to get the second goal, you feel you can push on. I thought tonight we looked like we were going to get the second goal," said Fire head coach Frank Yallop.

"I felt, not that we allowed our guys to go forward; you can't really coach much from the outside. I felt that they felt it. They felt like they wanted to go forward. They felt they could get the second goal, they felt confident they could keep the ball in the half of New York. If you look at the Red Bulls, they kept the ball well and they were dangerous, but we were solid and we defended at the right times. Sean [Johnson] made a great save on [Bradley] Wright-Philips, which was a good shot. It was an early shot and a good shot and he made a great save. I thought it was a good performance and I was proud of the way we played."