Impact seek win over NYC, help from D.C. United, to get into playoff position

MONTREAL — All those points frittered away at home earlier in the season cost the Montreal Impact control of their own destiny.

So the seventh-place Impact (11-13-6) must find a way to beat second-place New York City (15-8-7) when they meet Wednesday night at Saputo Stadium, and then hope for some help from lowly D.C. United to get into a playoff position heading into the final stretch of the season.

The Impact are three points out of the MLS playoffs. The team they are chasing, the sixth-place New York Red Bulls, play what is, on paper, an easy game at home against last-place D.C.

“We can say we need these teams to do this or that, but we need to focus on ourselves,” defender Kyle Fisher said Tuesday. “It’s desperation.”

The Impact take the blame for three games in particular this season: their home opener when they blew a 2-0 lead and settled for a 2-2 draw with Seattle, and a pair of 3-2 losses to Columbus and Minnesota on late, inexcusable counterattack goals.

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With only four regular-season games left to play, those and other setbacks have them in danger of missing the playoffs one season after their exhilarating run to the Eastern Conference final.

“It’s so difficult today because of the parity in this league,” said coach Mauro Biello. “It’s not like the big clubs in Europe where you go into those stadiums and it’s a guaranteed loss.

“You saw we were able to get three points against Toronto. That could happen anywhere in the league. It can switch quickly. What’s important is the games we have in front of us. We’ve got to collect points and then hope for a little help to get in.”

The Impact are 1-5-0 in their last six games and have lost their last three home games. The lone win was a surprise 5-3 result in Toronto last week, but that was followed by a 2-0 defeat Saturday in Atlanta.

New York City has also struggled, going 1-1-3 in their last five, a span in which they scored only four goals.

An Impact win would end NYC’s slim hopes of catching Toronto for the Supporters Shield, as MLS calls its regular-season championship trophy. And NYC also has to worry about being caught by third-place Atlanta, because only the top two teams in each conference get a bye past the knockout round of playoffs.

But NYC will be a tough opponent, even if there are questions about the health of scoring star David Villa. Coach Patrick Viera’s squad is defensively sound and has a solid 5-6-3 away record.

“They’re always very well organized and difficult to break down defensively,” said Biello. “Then you’ve got two or three players that can make a difference at any moment in a game.

“They haven’t really been blown out on the road (except for a 4-0 setback in Toronto in July). We need to shut them down and we need that fluidity we had against Toronto, where we were finding the player between the lines, we were engaging our wing backs and spreading the team and then finishing our actions. If we can do that we are a difficult team to play against.”

Fatigue may also be a factor. The Impact are halfway through a stretch in which they play four games in 11 days. After NYC, they travel to Colorado for a game at high altitude on Saturday.

Biello will need to use his bench. Fisher will return from a hamstring injury and may start. Midfielder Marco Donadel could get back in the lineup after sitting out a game.

“Guys that haven’t played may get a chance,” said Biello. “This is an opportunity to do well.

“Now it’s not about whether you’re disappointed if you play or not. Now we’ve got to survive.”

Bill Beacon, The Canadian Press