After his Union lost 5-1 at the Montreal Impact on July 24, Philadelphia head coach Jim Curtin told media that his team “were beat by stars.”
He wasn’t kidding. Montreal main men Didier Drogba and Ignacio Piatti killed the Union in that match, combining for four goals and two assists.
Both clearly left a large impression on Curtin, who called Piatti a “top three” player in MLS in his weekly press conference on Wednesday ahead of the Union’s match against Montreal on Saturday at Talen Energy Stadium (7 pm ET; MLS LIVE in the US, TVA Sports in Canada).
“I’d put Piatti, [Sebastian] Giovinco and [David] Villa as the top three guys in our league right now in terms of form and difficult[y] in shutting down. I’ll throw Sacha [Kljestan] in there too, just because he’s a friend,” Curtin said. “But I would say those guys are very tough to shut down. It takes multiple guys being tuned in. When they get one-v-one they can break you down, they can score a goal. Piatti is a handful, he’s a real handful.”
Saturday’s match will be crucial in the Eastern Conference standings, as Montreal could pull even with Philadelphia for fourth in the East with a win on Saturday. Philadelphia could move within a point of the Eastern Conference lead if New York City FC, Toronto FC and the New York Red Bulls drop their matches this weekend.
