The CF Montreal defense held on with one player less. Hernan Losada’s men shut out the New York Red Bulls 2-0 on Saturday night at Saputo Stadium.
After Ilias Iliadis received a second yellow card in the second half, transformed into red, the Bleu-blanc-noir had to repel the few attacks from their opponents for about 25 minutes. The best chance came from Tom Barlow’s header, which grazed the post in the 70e minute.
CF Montreal (2-6-0) came back from a great offensive performance against semi-professional club Vaughan Azzurri on Tuesday in the Canadian Championship, and they picked up where they left off by being a little more decisive in the last third with equal forces.
The Montrealers received help from defender Andres Reyes, who redirected an Aaron Herrera cross into his own net, to open the scoring before Mathieu Choinière hit the target late in the game.
The Bleu-blanc-noir ended a three-game losing streak in MLS and signed a second victory at home this season. He had defeated the Philadelphia Union at the Olympic Stadium, a little over a month ago.
As for the Red Bulls (1-3-5), they have not won in their last five outings (0-2-3) and they have not signed a victory in Quebec in their last 12 visits (0- 10-2), i.e. since May 2012.
Referee Rubiel Vazquez stood out in front of the fans – sometimes a little too much – by awarding six yellow cards and one red.
CF Montreal will return to action next Saturday when they visit Sporting Kansas City, the worst team in MLS at the moment.
Satisfactory performance
CF Montreal had some offensive breakthroughs early in the game, but it was the Red Bulls who came closest to opening the scoring.
In the sixth minute, Wikelman Carmona accepted a pass from Cristian Casseres Jr. and tried to lob the ball over goalkeeper Jonathan Sirois, but the latter made the save.
At the 13e minute, Cory Burke was well placed in front of the penalty area, but his shot went wide over the Sirois net.
The Montrealers took advantage of these missed opportunities to register on the scoreboard. At the 25e minute, Bryce Duke served a nice backheel towards Herrera, who attempted a cross towards Chinonso Offor. Reyes intervened, but he deceived the vigilance of his goalkeeper Carlos Miguel Coronel.
Duke himself tested Coronel in the 38e minute, when he tried to surprise the Red Bulls goalkeeper with a free kick, but without success. A few seconds later, Victor Wanyama came up against Coronel.
In the second half, CF Montreal protected its lead well and even more when Iliadis left. At the end of the match, Choinière jumped on a throwback from Offor to seal the outcome of the match.