MONTREAL — CF Montreal, playing with only 10 men after the 65-minute mark, put on an impressive second half defensive display to secure a 2-0 win against New York Red Bulls on Saturday night at Stade Saputo.
Along with an own goal from Andrés Reyes, Mathieu Choinière scored in the 94th minute giving Montreal (2-6-0) their second win and first clean sheet of the Major League Soccer season.
“This was a reassuring game not only because we won three difficult points, we kept a clean sheet, or that we did it down to 10 men, but we gained a lot of confidence tonight,” said head coach Hernan Losada. “Matches against Red Bulls are very physically challenging, and we kept up with them every step of the way.”
Until this win, Montreal had only scored in one other game this season: a 3-2 victory over Philadelphia Union three games ago.
New York (1-3-5) took control of the match early after applying pressure in the midfield. It turned into the first chance of the game just six minutes in as Wikelman Carmona was played through, forcing Jonathan Sirois to come off his line and make an early save.
That seemed to be Montreal’s wake-up call as they began moving the ball wide and creating space on the flanks. By breaking through lines in the midfield, wide players like Ariel Lassiter, Aaron Herrera and Ilias Iliadis were able to get in advanced positions seemingly at will.
“It’s all about fighting hard in the 50-50 duels and winning those secondary balls that allow us to move play forward and open up oppositions,” said Choinière. “We’re working well together in training and developing a really good chemistry. Everyone knew what they had to do and we had this belief in one another.”
It paid dividends almost immediately as low crosses caused havoc in the Red Bull penalty area.
In the 25th minute, a perfect ball from Aaron Herrera was deflected by defender Reyes, giving Montreal the lead. The goal was a representation of the vertical style of play that Losada has been trying to implement all season -- with varying degrees of success.
Montreal almost doubled their lead in the 37th minute through Victor Wanyama who got his foot on the end of a corner, only to be denied by Carlos Coronel who saved the shot inches away from the goal line.
“This is the minimum standard a good positive mentality needed to take points in the league,” said Losada. “This is still a relatively new squad, we started the season with 11 new players this season, so it’s natural that it takes time for things to begin to click and we saw how it looks when things go well.”
As the second half began, Montreal continued their control over the pace of play. That changed just after the hour mark, New York was given a way back into the game when a controversial officiating decision saw Iliadis receive his second yellow card for delay of game.
This reinvigorated the Red Bulls who sent even more players forward in search of an equalizer. This normally would’ve spelt inevitable doom for MLS's worst defence, but Montreal set up a low block and successfully repelled every oncoming.
“Today was one of those days where a lot went our way, but that comes with the effort and when you don’t put in the effort, it won’t go your way,” said Sirois. “Starting all the way have from that Vancouver defeat (where they lost 5-0) we worked a lot with the coach, a lot of video to get things right because we just couldn’t suffer every time without the ball.”
With just one minute left, Montreal put the game out of reach as Choinière started a counter attack from his own penalty area and scored off a rebound.
Both teams are back in action on April 29 as Montreal goes on the road to Sporting Kansas City while New York heads to Soldier Field to face the Chicago Fire.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 22, 2023.
Elias Grigoriadis, The Canadian Press
