CF Montreal felt like they had dropped points in Orlando, but with a little more finishing, they left none on the table in Dallas.
There was no shortage of quality opportunities for the Bleu-blanc-noir during their 0-0 draw against Orlando City SC last week. Josef Martinez and Kwadwo Opoku, among others, were among those who would have liked to see theirs again.
The 2024 season may be young, but the pressure of opening the clock can sometimes weigh heavily on the shoulders of players and teams. And after the first 13 minutes of Montreal’s 2-1 victory over FC Dallas on Saturday night, fans were right to wonder if missed opportunities in the penalty area would once again cost points. .
In the fourth minute, Ariel Lassiter misdirected his header in front of an empty net and in the 13eBryce Duke wasted a very good position in the center of the area to make one pass too many.
Then, Jules-Anthony Vilsaint, who entered the match due to an Opoku injury, took a chance and he got the ball rolling. The Montrealers then offered a good offensive performance abroad and added three points to their record, which was lacking in Florida.
“We knew in Orlando we should have won. The draw felt good, but with the chances we had, we were supposed to make them happen. Tonight we knew we had to try our luck in front of the net and it worked,” analyzed Vilsaint, who scored his second career MLS goal.
Martinez is a little more used to moving the ropes. When he found the back of the net against FC Dallas, in the 60the minute, the Venezuelan collected a 106e career goal in MLS.
The 30-year-old veteran entered the match following an injury to Matias Coccaro. And as his reputation precedes him, it is normal that Montreal fans expect him to score at an interesting rate in 2024.
If he had lacked finishing against Orlando City SC, Martinez put the finishing touches to a great piece of play started by Duke and Ruan on Saturday. For him, the expectations are justified and it’s the role that comes with the power forward position.
“The missed opportunity in Orlando made me furious,” he said. I was angry with myself because it was a clear chance to score. When you’re a power forward, you have to make it happen. When you score, you’re good, and when you miss, you’re not good. That’s how soccer is. We had some good chances tonight and got the three points. We must continue like this. »
As an attacking midfielder, Duke has a say in creating and progressing plays. Against FC Dallas, Ruan was also called upon.
If we can talk about the finishing of Martinez and company, the same can be said of Ruan’s passes. He not only set the table for CF Montreal’s second goal, but he was at the origin of several great breakthroughs on the right side.
Head coach Laurent Courtois said it wasn’t necessarily the game plan to overuse Ruan, but he and his staff had noticed some advantage on that end of the floor.
“We identified that there would be possibilities with the matchups we had. They have very offensive and dangerous guys, but we knew that in return, we could also hurt behind them. It’s a playground we thought we could exploit. It paid off today and it’s true that it worked well for Ruan,” observed Courtois.
CF Montreal scored a first goal and signed a first victory abroad in its second match in 2024, compared to its sixth in 2023. It will only remain to be seen if the streak continues against Lionel Messi and the ‘Inter Miami CF, next Sunday.