Impeccable since mid-summer, CF Montreal stumbled at the worst possible moment when they lost 3-1 in the semi-finals of the Eastern Conference of MLS, this Sunday afternoon, at Saputo Stadium. .
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Everything was in place for an unforgettable match. The weather was magnificent; Jason Di Tullio’s mother, Giulia Garofano, was on hand to ring the bell; Stade Saputo was packed with a third straight full house of 19,619 spectators.
But the Bleu-blanc-noir has a pet peeve in this league and it was precisely the expected visit for the party.
New York City FC, which has never lost at Stade Saputo (5-0-2), ended a season that we will not soon forget, even if it ended with a big disappointment.
“We would have liked to go further and continue the adventure”, admitted Wilfried Nancy after the meeting.
strike early
The Cityzens came to play and they showed it quickly by taking advantage of the apparent nervousness of their hosts: Maxi Moralez opened the scoring from the 6e minute.
The visitors therefore started the game with a bang, which took the Bleu-blanc-noir a little by surprise.
“I’ll be honest, I was a little surprised by the intensity and aggressiveness displayed by New York City at the start of the match, acknowledged Samuel Piette. Did it shake us? Maybe a little, but we were confident.
“I think we responded well,” continued the captain. In the first half, we were everywhere. Technically we weren’t as good as usual, but we created a lot of chances and Sean Johnson was excellent. »
Domination
Piette is right, he and his teammates were whipped and they controlled the rest of the first half.
Alistair Johnston played an inspired game and threw many dangerous crosses into the opposing box. Kei Kamara notably had two phenomenal chances to score in the first quarter of an hour, including a ball which stopped on the post.
Photo Martin Alarie
Sean Johnson makes one of his seven saves in a high quality performance.
Otherwise, Sean Johnson was excellent in front of goal for the visitors.
“Usually, Kei puts these goals there, supported Wilfried Nancy. But what I liked is that everyone felt that we had the momentum, but we forgot that there was the counter-attack to manage. »
If Nancy speaks of counter-attack, it is because the visitors doubled their lead thanks to Héber, who precisely took advantage of a counter-attack to score the goal which hurt in stoppage time (45 + 3) of the first half.
New York got just two shots on target in that first half and those ended up with two goals.
Same with Romell
Wanting to give a breath of fresh air to his attack, Wilfried Nancy brought in Romell Quioto in the 54e minute. The Honduran striker was a substitute because he is recovering from an injury and hadn’t played for a month.
However, Quioto did not have time to warm up and weigh in on the match.
Six minutes later, another attacking error allowed Gabriel Pereira to slip past James Pantemis, who awkwardly dived to take the ball away from him. The penalty shot was unmistakable.
Entering a few minutes earlier, Talles Magno (61e minute) easily beat Pantemis, who compromised too quickly.
Djordje Mihailovic scored his last goal in a Montreal jersey in the 84e minute, but it was too little, too late. He will have at least allowed Mme Garofano to ring the bell.
Photo Martin Alarie
Kei Kamara and Wilfried Nancy console Ismaël Koné under the watchful eye of deputy Kwame Ampadu.
No frustration
It was the first time in five playoff games at Stade Saputo that CF Montreal lowered the flag and it was the team’s first loss since August 31.
Wilfried Nancy seemed calm and rather serene during his post-match press briefing. He didn’t seem to be frustrated with the outcome. He also took the opportunity to recall that his team was beaten by the defending champion of the MLS Cup.
“On goals, we can do better, but I have nothing to reproach the players for. They gave their all. I am very proud of my players and my staff.
“There were mistakes, but they too made them and we didn’t know how to take advantage of them. New York City is champion, they are very good. »
They can hold their heads high, believes Wilfried Nancy
CF Montreal’s season ended in brutal fashion, but Wilfried Nancy and his men can hold their heads high, as they fought from the first minute to the last of this game.
Don’t pay attention to the 3 to 1 score, it doesn’t tell the whole story. Above all, it hides a high-level collective effort that was undermined by a few small individual mistakes that proved costly.
“We gave a good performance, especially in the first half,” said Alistair Johnston. It’s difficult when you play your best half of the season and find yourself down 0-2.
“We feel like we could have gone on, but we came up against a very good team who have already won trophies and there’s a reason why they keep going. They had half chances and took advantage of them. »
No chance
There are games like this where no matter what a team tries, it doesn’t work.
“We had chances, but the ball did not want to enter, supported Samuel Piette. At the same time, you have to give credit to New York City who had three or three and a half chances and they scored three goals. »
It is therefore a question of opportunism, and Alistair Johnston hit the same nail as Piette.
“When you play against a team like that that has top quality players, they will turn half chances into goals. »
And there’s Sean Johnson, who delivered a playoff-worthy performance with seven saves.
Flowers
Switching to the microphone before Wilfried Nancy, his counterpart from New York, Nick Cushing, threw flowers at him.
“When the sheet of a team changes, you can only praise the coach, insisted the Englishman. We have similar styles and I can’t help but praise him for the way he has transformed this team.
“Every team has to go through this kind of passage and lose these games. I believe this team will win playoff games and become an outstanding winning team. »
Alistair Johnston adheres more or less to this idea that you have to learn to lose before winning big matches.
“In most sports, that’s the case, it’s rare that we see Cinderella teams go all the way, you have to see it as a base to build on.
“But we felt like we had a group that could go all the way to lift a trophy. »