Kljestan, Sam score to lead Red Bulls past Impact, 2-1

HARRISON, NJ-Sacha Kljestan and Lloyd Sam scored as the New York Red Bulls tightened their hold on first place in the MLS East with a 2-1 win over the shorthanded Montreal Impact Wednesday at Red Bull Arena.

Despite leading 1-0 thanks to a penalty score from Sacha Kljestan, the New York Red Bulls were struggling to put the 10-man Canadian outfit away.

The defeat, the second in a row for Montreal, cost the Impact a chance to consolidate a playoff spot. Before the 2-1 loss against the Lions, Montreal had gone six straight matches unbeaten, winning four.

Tonight (match kicks off around midnight United Kingdom time) the defender and his teammates face mid-table Montrela Impact who are likely to feature recent star signing Didier Drogba. Today, the Red Bulls were informed that the suspension would start, in fact, with the Toronto match. The Ivorian veteran will understandably gain most of the notoriety from the media, but his teammates deserve a tremendous amount of credit as well.

Colorado Rapids vs. Montreal Impact, Saturday at 6 p.m.

Welcome back, Jesse Marsch. Last month, the Red Bulls and U.S. Soccer reached an agreement for Miazga to miss just one game during the MLS season due to this call-up, a call-up coincidentally that the MLS side didn’t have to grant to the U-23 national team. After giving a solid shift against Columbus, it is expected that Ronald Zubar will continue to man the fort in the central defensive role alongside Damien Perrinelle. The mark also equaled the combined goal total of his second and third best scoring seasons.

The 23 year defender joined New York Red Bulls in March and has helped them to the top of the Eastern Conference table with 51 points.

There won’t be much separating the two sides by the end of the 90 minutes though.