It took CF Montreal nine matches, but the Major League Soccer squad finally won a home game, beating New York City FC 1-0 on Saturday evening.
Victor Loturi was the lone goal scorer in a Man of the Match performance for Montreal (3-12-5), which completed the season sweep over New York (8-7-4) for the first time ever.
“We need these kinds of nights to get something back for the work, because the players today gave everything,” said interim head coach Marco Donadel. “It’s something we needed right now because we’re playing almost every game at our best.”
Montreal started the game at Stade Saputo on the front foot, looking to progress from the wide areas of the field and break down a resolute New York low block. Dante Sealy on the right wing was particularly potent in the opening stages of play, driving most of Montreal’s attack.
In the 23rd minute, he found himself isolated with a defender and let off a powerful shot that was spilled to Loturi, who made no mistake and scored his first goal for the club. With momentum and the lead, Montreal continued to press for a second goal but to no avail.
New York responded accordingly, finishing the first half with an aggressive surge that forced Montreal to drop deep and absorb pressure for the first time. They kept up the pressure in the second half in search of an equalizer, but a solid and collective Montreal defence was able to withstand the assault and create attacking threats on the counter.
“We’ve definitely trained for a low block, and it’s a good tool to use, especially when we play good teams with the ball,” said defender Brandan Craig. “There’s going to be stretches where they have the ball and they’re playing in front of us, but not playing behind us. Tonight showed that we can do that to pretty much anybody.”
Despite leading for the majority of the game and New York’s pressing to find an equalizer, that did not stop Montreal from trying to get forward and play attacking football whenever the squad could. Buoyed by a confidence that they had failed to show at home this season, they nearly put the game to bed on several occasions in the second half.
Around the hour mark, Montreal had two golden opportunities to double the lead.
An intricate sequence from a corner kick left Luca Petrasso completely unmarked in front of the goal, but he was unable to control the bouncing ball. Moments later, Jules-Anthony Vilsaint was played through on goal, only to be denied by a fingertip save from Tomas Romero.
“In the last two or three weeks, we worked on playing low, but the players don’t really like it a lot, so as soon as they can, they prefer to go (forward),” said Donadel. “When you don’t have the energy, when you don’t have a midfielder on the bench or subs to defend, you have to concede a bit of room.”
As the game progressed, New York grew increasingly desperate and pushed more players forward, while Montreal fell back into a defensive shell. Still, Montreal held firm through the final moments, denying any real scoring chances and maintaining its shape until the final whistle.
The game also featured Owen Graham-Roache’s first start as the Montreal academy graduate broke the record for the youngest player to start an MLS game in club history at 17 years, 137 days old, surpassing the record set by teammate Aleksander Guboglo in March of this year.
UP NEXT
New York City: Hosts Toronto FC on Thursday.
Montreal: Will host Inter Miami on Saturday, July 5, if the Florida side is eliminated from the FIFA Club World Cup. If Miami advances, Montreal’s next game will be the second leg of the Canadian Championship quarterfinals against Forge FC on Wednesday, July 9.
from Sportsnet.ca
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