Impact eye first win against RSL

Montreal, QC (SportsNetwork.com) - The Montreal Impact will try to get their season going in the right direction on Saturday when the club hosts Real Salt Lake at Saputo Stadium.

Montreal is still searching for its first win of the campaign after starting the season with two points from five games.

Salt Lake, meanwhile, snapped a five-game winless skid last time out with a 2-1 victory over the Chicago Fire.

The Impact has had plenty of success outside of MLS play this season, advancing to the final of the CONCACAF Champions League and reaching the Canadian Championship final on Wednesday as the club knocked out Toronto FC on away goals.

Now, head coach Frank Klopas will be hoping his side can translate some of that success to league play, beginning with three points against RSL.

Montreal lost 2-1 to the Portland Timbers in its last league outing as Portland got goals from Nat Borchers and Diego Valeri in the 64th and 70th minute respectively.

The Impact pulled a goal back through Dominic Oduro to set up an interesting ending, but the club failed to muster an equalizer.

Klopas was pretty blunt with his comments after the match, and he made it very clear that he is expecting more from his players.

"We need to play better. With more intensity, we have to push the games and there has got to be more accountability," said Klopas. "At the end of the day, the accountability is on me as I'm the head coach. I make the decisions, but, I need to see more from my players."

If Klopas gets his wish and sees more from his team, he will be viewing it from the stands as he received a one-match ban for entering the field/leaving the bench in the 90th minute against the Timbers last weekend.

Alvaro Saborio's opener against the Fire marked the first goal for an RSL player in 509 minutes, while the result is another positive step for a side looking to find its footing in the early part of the campaign.

Back-to-back defeats to Vancouver and New England, which beat RSL 4-0, left the team in need of a response.

And head coach Jeff Cassar got one as his men earned draws with San Jose and Los Angeles before beating the Fire, indicating that Salt Lake may be hitting its stride.

Those results may be good, but defender Tony Beltran was quick to point out that the season is still in the early stages, and that his side must be able to string some good efforts together to get to the level the club wants to achieve.

"There's so many games, so I don't want to say anything [too drastic]," Beltran said. "I think that Wednesday was a better performance, and obviously Saturday we got a good result, but we have to continue to string those performances and results together if we want to be an elite team."