CF Montreal fought well, but lost 2-1 to the Columbus Crew on Saturday night, and had their hearts broken even more a few minutes later.
While the match was over and the Bleu-blanc-noir clung to ninth and last place in the Eastern Conference, the New York Red Bulls scored a goal from the penalty spot in stoppage time in the second half of their match in Nashville, snatching the last available place from the Montrealers.
This is a hard blow for CF Montreal (12-17-5), which will however only have itself to blame for its exclusion from the playoffs. The team went 1-5-3 in its last nine games of the campaign.
Sunusi Ibrahim hit the target in the opening minutes of the match to allow CF Montreal to take the lead. Cucho Hernandez and Darlington Nagbe responded to give the Crew the victory (16-9-9).
Thanks to their triumph, the Columbus troop secured third place in the Eastern standings. She also broke her team record for most points at home in a season, with 40.
CF Montreal suffered a first defeat this season after scoring the first goal of a match (12-1-1). He concluded the campaign with the second-worst road record in MLS (2-13-2).
The club was without the services of Quebecer Mathieu Choinière, who was absent due to a hamstring injury. Losada mentioned Thursday that his midfielder was injured during his time with the Canadian team last week.
Imperial Hernandez
The Montrealers couldn’t ask for a better start to the match. After resisting a few pushes from the Crew, they opened the scoring in the seventh minute.
Installed in the middle of the field, Nathan Saliba made a superb pass to the right to Zachary Brault-Guillard, who beat an opponent with speed. Brault-Guillard served a ball from the left side to Ibrahim, who shot on reception. Goalkeeper Patrick Schulte blocked the attempt, but not enough for it to stay outside the net.
The Crew, however, kept a cool head and quickly launched into the attack. Hernandez had a great chance to score in the 16the minute, following a beautiful cross from Steven Moreira, but his foot deflection missed the target.
The Colombian recovered a minute later. Following a defensive mix-up in the Montreal box, Moreira slipped the ball to Hernandez, who curled a magnificent shot against the post to the left of Jonathan Sirois and inside the net. It was the 10e Hernandez’s goal since the start of September, an MLS high.
This goal energized the home team, who orchestrated a number of attacks in the final third. The Bleu-blanc-noir defensive block, however, blocked several Crew shots, including the most important in the 31ste minute, when Joel Waterman threw himself at full length in front of a violent strike from Hernandez.
CF Montreal started the second half the opposite of what it did in the first. The Crew managed to advance the ball thanks to several lively passes and Nagbe accepted a delivery from Malte Amundsen to deceive the vigilance of Sirois, in the 50the minute.
Wilfried Nancy’s troupe buzzed just seven minutes later. Alexandru Matan made a spectacular climb into the penalty area, but Sirois stretched out his arm to make him lose the ball before blocking Hernandez’s shot.
Feeling a little hot soup for the series, the Montreal team increased the pressure for around ten minutes. She managed to get a few corner kicks and a few shots towards the net, but without breaking through the opposing defense.
Hernandez got one last golden opportunity, in the 73rde minute, but he was frustrated by Sirois.