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Confident Orlando tangles with Montreal

Jun 19, 2015 - 4:58 PM Montreal, QC (SportsNetwork.com) - Orlando City SC will be full of confidence as the club travels to Saputo Stadium on Saturday to take on the Montreal Impact.

Orlando brings a five-game unbeaten streak into the contest and the team is coming off a 1-0 win over Eastern Conference leaders D.C. United thanks to a 30th-minute goal from Kaka.

"It was a big step for us tonight," the Brazilian said after the match. "We spoke this week about how important this game was for us in terms of our development and it was a great win."

The victory helped Orlando climb to third in the Eastern Conference table, and the club now has a belief that they are a genuine contender in the East, which was shared by midfielder Lewis Neal.

"It is important now that we go another five games without losing because a couple of defeats can bring you right back down in this league," Neal said. "But we are certainly going in the right direction. We are not the finished product yet, but we are slowly getting there and tonight was a statement that we are a genuine playoff-contending team."

Orlando has managed 11 goals during its five-game unbeaten run, which certainly sounds like the kind of offensive production from a playoff team, while another good sign for the club is the fact that they have claimed 11 points from seven road games this season.

Adrian Heath's team will attempt to add to that total on Saturday against the Impact, which had a two-game winning streak snapped last time out with a 3-1 defeat at New York City FC.

Montreal got off to a poor start in the first half, which led to a goal from David Villa, while Mix Diskerud and Kwadwo Poku each added a goal in the final 15 minutes.

It was a disappointing outing for Montreal, with not much to take from the match, and defender Laurent Ciman was quick to move on following the loss.

"We had problems finding our way at the start of the game and the solution to counter their play in midfield," Ciman said after the loss to NYC. "When you make mistakes against a talented forward like David Villa, you will pay for it. It's a tough pill to swallow, but we will have to move on quickly if we want to have a fresh start against Orlando."

The two sides battled to a 2-2 draw in their first meeting this season as Montreal took a two-goal lead in the match before Pedro Ribeiro and Kaka answered for Orlando.