MONTREAL — Josef Martinez quickly turned frustration into elation in the second half Saturday night.
After a scoreless first 45 minutes, Martinez scored twice as CF Montreal earned three crucial points in a 3-0 win over the league-worst San Jose Earthquakes in MLS play.
“He’s the best version of himself the last couple weeks,” Montreal head coach Laurent Courtois said. "We knew that if his teammates played consistently and if he stayed healthy, he would have a lot of opportunities to shine.
“Now he's coming back to his level."
Martinez opened the scoring in the 50th minute and doubled the lead in the 55th to bring the 19,619 fans at Saputo Stadium out of their seats. Montreal (9-12-10) extended its unbeaten run to four games (3-0-1) amid a playoff chase.
The veteran striker, a league MVP in 2018, is up to eight goals on the season. He looks like a different player than the one Courtois benched on Aug. 9 because, in the coach’s words, he needed to manage his ego.
"Happy Josef is big time for us,” teammate Bryce Duke said. “He's a legend in the league. He scores goals. Hopefully that keeps going."
Caden Clark made it 3-0 in the 72nd minute. Duke had two primary assists and Clark produced the other as both attacking midfielders linked up with Martinez all game.
Montreal improved to 37 points with three games remaining in the regular season. Courtois’s men are ranked 10th in the Eastern Conference but are tied with ninth-place Philadelphia and eighth-place Toronto FC for the two wild-card berths. Toronto has played one additional game.
“I've been thinking that we can make playoffs since Day 1, even though we were going through a tough stretch, (and) I still think we can make playoffs,” Duke said. “That's no doubt my mind that we can do it.
“With the performance that we've been playing I think that's just showed you and all the people out there that kind of doubted us that we can do it and that we can prove people wrong.”
San Jose (5-23-3), which is without a victory in its last five outings (0-4-1), registered only two shots on target. Montreal dominated with 11 on target (17-10 total shots) and held 58 per cent of possession.
Martinez, who was all over the ball in the first half, buried a header off a corner from Duke to finally put Montreal ahead right after the break.
Five minutes later, Clark swung a ball to the top of the box and Martinez made no mistake, smashing his shot past San Jose goalkeeper Daniel into the bottom right corner.
Clark made it 3-0 when he tapped home a tick-tack-toe play with Duke and Dawid Bugaj, putting the game well out of reach.
“At halftime I said to me, Bryce and Josef … we're gonna get one really soon,” Clark said. “We're gonna get one and then it's gonna unlock it. So that was the feeling going into halftime, because we were close in the first half many times.
“It all came together."
Montreal came out eager to get on the front foot and controlled the first half, holding 65 per cent of possession while building up play through the midfield with ease in a wide-open match.
The home side led the shots 11-5 (7-0 on target) after 45 minutes, but couldn’t give itself an early lead — as much as Martinez tried.
The 31-year-old Venezuelan had four shots in the first half, three of which hit the target.
“We were all upset going into halftime thinking, how are we tied 0-0,” Duke said. “(We said) when we get that one, things start to open up, and then you just gotta take full advantage of it, especially when a team like San Jose, like right now, they're in a tough stretch of games.”
Martinez's first came in the eighth minute when he sent a shot through a crowd. In the 38th, Duke sent Martinez on a break for an attempt on goal that the ‘keeper turned away.
Two minutes later, Martinez tried to chip the ball past Daniel, who came out to challenge after Clark found him streaking into the box, but once again failed to find the back of the net.
UP NEXT
Montreal: Visits Atlanta United on Wednesday and Charlotte FC next Saturday. The regular season ends on Oct. 19 at home against New York City FC, who are seventh in the conference.
San Jose: Hosts FC Dallas on Wednesday.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 28, 2024.
The Canadian Press