MLS: The Union comes to steal the game from CF Montreal 2-1

SCONTENTS

It was the home opener for CF Montreal on Saturday. The match took place on a difficult playing surface, which he learned to master, against a rival who had never played there. CF Montreal scored the first goal and a rival player was sent off. Despite all that, he lost.

The Montreal squad got off to a bad start to a five-game streak in two weeks, suffering a painful 2-1 loss at the hands of the Philadelphia Union in front of 13,067 spectators at Olympic Stadium.

Deprived of Romell Quioto, who received a red card last week in Orlando, CF Montreal (0-2-0) lost despite playing 11 against 10 for the last 19 minutes of time. regulation, plus some six minutes of added time.

In the defeat, Lassi Lappalainen scored his first goal of the season, and his third in as many games against Union, in the first half.

The Union response (1-0-1) came from Alejandro Bedoya and Daniel Gazdag in a gap of just three minutes early in the second half.

Both of those goals came moments after a net was denied to Djordje Mihailovic, who was caught for a foul seconds before he found the back of the net.

“After the goal (disallowed), was there any relaxation? These are two goals that have arrived in quick succession. I don’t think it’s a loosening issue. It is a question that we have badly managed these two situations, ”analyzed Wilfried Nancy.

Even if the loss hurts, the CF Montreal players will have to forget about it as quickly as possible. As late as Wednesday night, they will visit Cruz Azul in the first leg of the CONCACAF Champions League quarter-final round at Azteca Stadium in Mexico City.

Next Saturday, Wilfried Nancy’s men will take back the collar in MLS. They will then meet at Yankee Stadium where they will visit New York City FC, the defending champions of the MLS Cup.

CF Advantage
With the exception of a few sequences around the first quarter of an hour where Sebastian Breza was alert, the CF Montreal players dominated the first half of the match.

They started the game particularly well and controlled the game in the last 15 minutes, especially after opening the scoring.

Ismaël Koné skilfully recovered a lively pass from Alistair Johnston and beat defender Nathan Harriel to slip into the penalty area.

From there, he passed the ball to his left to Lappalainen who directed a lob on which goalkeeper Andre Blake, a little too advanced in his rectangle, could not react in time.

On the strength of this fine end to the first half, the CF Montreal players got off to a good start in the second half.

They even scored a second goal, following an irresistible sprint by Mihailovic among four rivals, in the 49th minute.

The problem is that Mihailovic had committed a fault against Bedoya in the central circle. The infraction was spotted by video assistance to the referee, depriving CF Montreal of a two-goal cushion.

Less than 10 minutes later, the Montreal troops found themselves facing a one-goal deficit.

Bedoya first tied the game in the 53rd minute, taking advantage of a scramble by CF Montreal in their penalty area.

Gazdag exploited an opening in the center of the Montreal defense to break the tie in the 56th minute. Both goals were scored with low shots to the right of Breza.

It was the second time in two games in MLS that CF Montreal conceded two quick goals.

“Is it a question of the mental aspect? Tactical? How we defended? I think it’s all connected. For sure I will analyze the situation because against Orlando (last week) we also conceded two quick goals. We have to be better in this aspect,” admitted Nancy.

Still, CF Montreal got an opportunity to tie the score, at the very least, when Julian Carranza received his second yellow card of the match, in the 71st minute.

In fact, the Montreal team had only one real good chance to score from this point in the game.

Defender Kamal Miller missed a golden opportunity in the 81st minute when he deflected a cross from Zachary Brault-Guillard just to the right of Blake with a header.