CF Montreal held off the reigning MLS Cup champions and drew 0-0 with the Columbus Crew on Saturday night at Lower.com Field.
After a first half during which both teams seemed to play cautiously, there were numerous attacks during the second half, but no one managed to move the strings.
This was the first match for Bleu-blanc-noir head coach, Laurent Courtois, against his former team. Before the game, he took a few minutes to chat with his counterpart Wilfried Nancy.
CF Montreal (3-3-3) showed that it had what it took to compete against anyone in the MLS, not suffering defeat for a third outing in a row (1-0-2).
On the other side of the field, the Crew (3-1-6) recorded a fifth consecutive draw and remained undefeated at home for 21e straight game (15-0-6). He has not lost in front of his supporters since April 29, 2023.
In addition to attackers Matias Coccaro, Josef Martinez and Kwadwo Opoku, midfielder Lassi Lappalainen and defender Joaquin Sosa were absent for the Montrealers.
Courtois’ men will return to action away against Nashville SC next Saturday.
The game comes alive
Carried by their supporters, the Crew started the game well, but their offensive thrusts were slowed down by the Montreal defense.
After a corner kick from both sides, the Bleu-blanc-noir managed the only shot on target in the half, in the 12the minute. On the left flank, Ariel Lassiter fired a powerful shot, but goalkeeper Patrick Schulte was ready.
The visitors had a better chance to score, around 10 minutes later. Defender Yevhen Cheberko committed a turnover in his penalty area, but teammate Malte Amundsen came to save the day by preventing Mason Toye from shooting.
The rest of the half turned out to be a real trench war, combined with a game of chess in the middle of the field. Midfielder Raheem Edwards was notably involved in several physical duels with Mohamed Farsi, including one in his penalty area, when he made a surgical tackle which caused the Quebecer to lose the ball.
Wilfried Nancy’s troops, who had not taken a single shot during the first 45 minutes, opened the valves in the second half with four dangerous shots in the first four minutes.
Marino Hinestroza started the fire when he hit the horizontal bar while Alexandru Irinel Matan had done everything for him in front of George Campbell and Joel Waterman.
Moments later, Jacen Russell-Rowe, Aidan Morris and Max Arfsten took turns forcing goalkeeper Jonathan Sirois to put his hands out to block their shot.
The chaos continued at 61e minute. On the counterattack, Russell-Rowe put it back in front of the penalty area to Morris, but his shot was blocked by Samuel Piette. On the return, Russell-Rowe headed the ball, but onto the horizontal bar.
The Montrealers also knocked on the door, a few minutes later. Bryce Duke launched Jules-Anthony Vilsaint well into the penalty area, but his right-footed shot was saved by diving by Schulte.
At the 82e minute, Yaw Yeboah broke away from Ruan somewhat in the penalty area, but as he struggled to keep his balance, his shot went to the left of Sirois and out of bounds.
The Crew gave a final warning shot in stoppage time, but Arfsten came up against Sirois, who made a spectacular save with his right hand.