CF Montreal snatch a tough 2-1 win over Charlotte FC

Faced with a squad heavily diminished by COVID-19, CF Montreal players did what was expected of them, albeit with difficulty, by taking the measure of Charlotte FC by a score of 2-1 Saturday night at Saputo Stadium. .

Romell Quioto, with his sixth early in the first half, and Mathieu Choinière, with his second from the first moments of the second half, scored the goals for CF Montreal (8-6-2 – 26 points).

Charlotte FC’s response (6-9-2 – 20 points) came from defender Guzman Corujo, shortly after Quioto’s goal.

Goalkeeper Sebastian Breza only faced two shots on target but had to stand out against Karol Swiderski, Charlotte FC’s leading scorer, in the 82nd minute.

Charlotte FC showed up with just 18 players available, including three goalkeepers. But one of those goalkeepers was not Kristijan Kahlina, who had started every game for his team since the start of the season, and whose name had been placed on MLS’s COVID protocol, like nine of his teammates.

Suddenly, it was George Marks, a goalkeeper who had not yet played any career match in MLS, who defended the goals of his formation.

For its part, CF Montreal was again deprived of the services of midfielder Djordje Mihailovic and defender Kamal Miller. However, he was able to count on the return of Lassi Lappalainen, for whom it was the first outing since May 28.

Above all, in the 78th minute, the match marked the return of striker Mason Toye, who was treading a pitch in MLS for the first time since August 14, 2021.

Seconds after entering the field, Toye came close to finding the back of the net. However, his deflection of the head, after a cross from Quioto, passed just outside the net, to the right of Marks.

CF Montreal will fly to the American West Coast on Monday for a two-game streak in less than a week. Wilfried Nancy’s men will first stop in Seattle to take on the Sounders on Wednesday. Then, on Independence Day in the United States, CF Montreal will visit the Los Angeles Galaxy.

Few forays from CF Montreal

Faced with a goalkeeper who had never played a match in MLS before, one would have been entitled to think that CF Montreal would go full steam ahead towards the Charlotte FC net from the first moments of the match.

It’s a bit what he did with, as a result, two shots attempted during the first six minutes. The second, that of Quioto, made the strings vibrate, after a nice pass from Zachary Brault-Guillard.

Montreal’s lead, its first since the May 28 game against FC Cincinnati, lasted barely three minutes. Three FC Charlotte defenders teamed up to tie the game on Corujo’s first goal of the season.

The rest of the first half produced nothing exciting, to the point where both teams got just two shots after Corujo’s goal. These two shots, those of Samuel Piette, in the 18th minute, and Joaquin Torres, towards the end of stoppage time, missed the target.

Inserted from the start of the second half in place of Lappalainen, Choinière woke up the spectators when he broke the equality in the 47th minute with a finely precise shot that seemed to paralyze the goalkeeper of Charlotte FC.

The players of both teams and the spectators, however, had to wait about two minutes to know if the goal was going to count, because Brault-Guillard was at the limit of offside, in the penalty area.

This early goal in the second half would make the difference.

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