Romell Quioto scored his first two goals since April 16 and CF Montreal shrugged off a first-half injury to Djordje Mihailovic to snatch a 4-3 victory over FC Cincinnati on Saturday night in front of 14,225 fans at Stade Saputo.
Quioto first hit the target in stoppage time in the first half before scoring the eventual winner, on a penalty with just over 30 minutes left in the second half.
Joel Waterman and Mathieu Choinière scored the other goals for CF Montreal (7-5-2) in another spectacular game between these two teams.
Junior Moreno led the FC Cincinnati attack (6-7-1) with a brace. Alvaro Barreal also beat Sebastian Breza.
Mihailovic, one of the revelations in MLS in 2022, injured his left ankle during the third minute of play, while attempting a defensive maneuver to slow down a rival.
After being visited by the trainer on the pitch, Milhailovic remained in the game, but he abdicated in the 16th minute after attempting a pass.
“We are in the process of seeing what is going on. It’s not something serious, he had had it before. His ankle has spun a bit but for now I’ve been told it’s not too bad,” head coach Wilfried Nancy said when asked to give an update on the situation. injury to his midfielder.
It remains to be seen whether Mihailovic will be able to wear the colors of the United States national team at the Concacaf Nations League tournament over the next two weeks.
After this two-week international break, CF Montreal will return to Stade Saputo to face Austin FC on Saturday, June 18.
A spectacular half
Before crossing swords on Saturday, two of the last three duels between CF Montreal and FC Cincinnati had offered spectacular play and many goals. The scenario repeated itself in the first half.
During the first 45 minutes of play, both clubs attempted 12 shots, seven of which came from CF Montreal. Wilfried Nancy’s men framed three and two found refuge behind Roman Celentano.
However, it was FC Cincinnati who opened the scoring when Moreno deflected a header from Brandon Vazquez with his right foot in the 12th minute from a corner kick.
Undeterred by that goal and by Mihailovic’s exit, the CF Montreal players tied the score in the 21st minute when Waterman capitalized on a sequence identical to that which had led to the visitors’ goal.
Then, Quioto gave CF Montreal the lead towards the very end of the first half, when he took advantage of a fine pass from Joaquin Torres and the poor reaction of two opposing defenders to break the tie.
The offensive backfires continued on both sides in the second half.
Choinière first tripled CF Montreal’s lead in the 46th minute before Barreal reduced the gap to one goal some six minutes later.
Quioto, however, restored a two-goal lead to the Montreal squad. He made the ropes vibrate on a penalty awarded after the intervention of the video assistant to the arbitration, with the help of a shot that Celentano almost stopped.
Some four minutes later, it was Moreno’s turn to score his second goal of the game, again bringing the game to within one goal.
CF Montreal then held on.