MLS: CF Montreal drew 1-1 with Nashville SC without starting goaltender Clément Diop.

Deprived of two key players in Clément Diop and Victor Wanyama, CF Montreal drew a 1-1 draw against Nashville SC on Saturday night at Nissan Stadium.

As has happened to him so often since the start of the season, and in the past as well, it was a late goal that deprived the Montreal squad of valuable points in the standings. This time, the stab to the heart came from Abu Danladi, during the stoppage of play in the second half.

About 30 minutes earlier, CF Montreal had used Nashville SC’s favorite weapon, a center, to score the game’s first goal, that of Kiki Struna, his first with the Montreal squad.

The star of the match was James Pantemis. In his second start of the season, the Quebec goalkeeper gave a remarkable performance stopping five shots on target from the premises, most of them dangerous.

With this draw, CF Montreal (3-3-4) now has 13 points, the same number as DC United, seventh in the Eastern Conference. A victory would have allowed him to climb to the fourth echelon.

Ahead of the match, however, sporting director Olivier Renard announced that Diop will be sidelined for weeks with an injury to his right leg, which occurred towards the end of Wednesday’s game against DC United.

CF Montreal will play its next game next Saturday against Inter Miami CF. This “local” match for Wilfried Nancy’s men will be held at Red Bull Arena.

Nashville SC in control

From start to finish in the first half, Nashville SC players dominated in possession of the ball by almost 60 percent.

However, this mastery of the ball did not allow the locals to really test Pantemis, with the exception of two shots fired in an interval of a few seconds during the 30th minute of play.

At the first opportunity, a header from Dax McCarthy went just to the right of the Quebec goalkeeper net. In the second, Pantemis made his only first half save, and a handsome, with a dive to his right on a low shot from CJ Sapong.

As for CF Montreal, they had the merit of obtaining two shots on target, both by Sunusi Ibrahim, but which turned out to be harmless.

CF Montreal got off to a bad start, allowing their rivals to quadruple their number of shots on target in the first five minutes of the second half. Each time, Pantemis kept a close watch.

But when no one expected it, it was CF Montreal who broke the deadlock with their first shot on target since the 24th minute when Struna deflected a corner kick with the back of his head. of Djordje Mihailovic, in the 64th minute of play.

While Wilfried Nancy was hoping the goal would demoralize Nashville SC players, his wishes were not granted.

They resumed the assault on the net from Pantemis, who proved imperial not once, but twice against Abu Danladi, in the 75th minute and some five minutes later.

However, Danladi had not said his last word and took advantage of the addition of seven minutes after regulation time to tie the game.