CF Montreal confirmed its good performance at the start of the season. He came out of a clash against FC Dallas with three points on Saturday evening in Texas… But this 2-1 victory was costly.
Jules-Anthony Vilsaint scored, Josef Martínez too. But these two players returned early to respectively replace Kwadwo Opoku, who left injured in the 11the minute, and Matías Cóccaro, who did the same at the end of the first half.
The CFM will be able to thank its reserve attackers, yes, but also its goalkeeper Jonathan Sirois, author of several fine saves, including this saving parade in the 85e minute on the goal line.
Saving replacements
Once again, Montreal was enterprising for this road game. In the first half, the visitors clearly had the advantage on the run of play.
But the exit of Kwadwo Opoku, lively until then, quickly dealt a hard blow to Laurent Courtois’ men.
PHOTO LM OTERO, ASSOCIATED PRESS
Kwadwo Opoku had to come out of the match at the start of the first half.
The problem, on the other hand, has become a welcome solution. At the 20e minute, his replacement Jules-Anthony Vilsaint sent Ruan deep on the right. The vibrant Brazilian then delivered a first-intention cross which fell to the foot of Matías Cóccaro in front of the area. The Uruguayan had the presence of mind to pass to Vilsaint on his right… who sent the ball with a good low shot to the back of the net. The young Quebecer thus scored the very first goal of the season for CF Montreal.
Dallas retained most of the possession in the first half, but did little with it. Meanwhile, Cóccaro continued to establish himself as the CFM’s offensive spark plug. Unfortunately, he too fell in action before half-time.
The Uruguayan suffered a blow from a tackle during training at the Nutrilait Center last Wednesday, and left the session prematurely. Courtois described his state of health as “fair” on Friday.
Saturday night, being the focal point of the Montreal attack, he was covered extensively by Dallas players. Even before the trainers came to join him on the ground, he indicated that he needed a change. It is not a good sign.
After the loss of Opoku at the start of the match, that of Cóccaro forced Courtois to draw on the depth of his attack. Josef Martínez came into play for the rest of things. Just after, Dallas finally found a breakthrough, courtesy of its new recruit Petar Musa, who arrived from Benfica in Portugal. The Croatian equalized the score with a shot into the box in stoppage time in the first period.
Martínez’s flair
THE Toros started the second half well. But with Gazelle Ruan on the right, Montreal was often dangerous on the counterattack. As for Martínez’s goal, his first with the Bleu-blanc-noir, which gave his team the lead for good.
PHOTO LM OTERO, ASSOCIATED PRESS
Josef Martinez
Duke, in front of his own surface, skillfully found Ruan to initiate one of these lively transitions at the 60e. THE jogador was percussive by bringing the leather to the center, in the axis, while Martínez came in front of him. With his scoring flair, the Venezuelan found a way to deceive goalkeeper Maarten Paes to make it 2-1.
The brilliance of Jonathan Sirois, notably thanks to his beautiful parades at the 48eat 58e and especially at the 85eallowed CF Montreal to breathe easier and possibly escape with the three points.