This one will do some good, as they say.
CF Montreal played its best game in a while on Saturday night. It got back on the winning track with a 2-1 victory over Charlotte FC. A win that will be welcome as time begins to run out in the race for the playoffs.
In a first half where they threatened much more than they were threatened, CFM had possession of the ball 56.5% of the time. After taking a 2-0 lead, they conceded a goal at the end of the first half. A drop in form followed in the home side, but Laurent Courtois’s team was able to maintain their course… and their lead.
PHOTO BY ERIC BOLTE, USA TODAY SPORTS, PROVIDED BY REUTERS
CF Montreal players celebrate their victory.
The coach refused to let himself go to celebrate this victory, preferring to play with nuances. “There, I am happy, we are talking about things that are positive, but for me, there are always both,” he suggested in his usual sobriety at the start of the press conference.
While highlighting the defensive work of his club, which only offered one shot on target to the opponent, he insisted that nothing had changed in his approach to the players since the last defeat, two weeks ago.
We did exactly the same thing with the same words and in the same way. We continued to insist on the video, the poses, on reminding how much we want to perform in front of our fans.
Laurent Courtois, head coach of CF Montreal
PHOTO DAVID KIROUAC, USA TODAY SPORTS ARCHIVES, PROVIDED BY REUTERS
Laurent Courtois, head coach of CF Montreal
His players, he said, “were impeccable in many areas” on Saturday. The challenge will be to repeat that. After all, his club has not won two games in a row since the beginning of March. It’s hard to blame him for holding on to some reserves…
“It comes down to the mental approach. I say that and the first five minutes of the second half, we promised each other that we would limit turnovers. […] We knew it, we said it. Despite everything, we are still a little too naive.”
“The message got through this time, but if we look at the details, we could very well have conceded [à ce moment-là] and we would talk about something else entirely.”
“We’ll take it”
Against an opponent who excels defensively, CF Montreal took a good while to find a gap that would allow it to attack at the start of the match. It did so in the 23rd minute.e minute. One after the other, Caden Clark and Josef Martinez fired shots from close range in the box. It was Clark who finally found the back of the net on the fourth attempt and got the crowd going.
PHOTO GRAHAM HUGHES, THE CANADIAN PRESS
Caden Clark (23) celebrates his first goal of the season.
It was the first goal in a Montreal uniform for the midfielder acquired from Minnesota United in early August. His smile spoke for itself, especially since he hadn’t scored since 2022.
I was injured for a year, and I couldn’t find a club that suited me at the time. Everything happens for a reason. You don’t want to get lost in the chaos.
Caden Clark
Just three minutes after his goal, Clark created the attack by passing to Raheem Edwards in depth. Edwards won his run before serving a perfect pass to Bryce Duke, who was coming at full speed into the box. His shot flew past everyone and ended up behind goalkeeper Kristijan Kahlina.
PHOTO GRAHAM HUGHES, THE CANADIAN PRESS
Bryce Duke, left, and Liel Abada
Charlotte FC came out of its torpor at that point. In the 35thehe took advantage of a free kick just outside the area, to the right of Jonathan Sirois, to reduce the gap. Tim Ream, positioned at the mouth of the goal, scored on a header.
“It took a bit of a toll on us, but at half-time, we said to ourselves: it’s 2-1, we’re at home. The longer the game stays like that, the more Charlotte will put pressure on, send their legs forward and that will create space for us. That’s kind of what happened,” said Samuel Piette.
PHOTO DAVID KIROUAC, USA TODAY SPORTS, PROVIDED BY REUTERS
Samuel Piette (6) of CF Montreal and Pep Biel (10) of Charlotte FC compete for the ball.
We were very solid defensively tonight. Offensively too, I think, we were well prepared and we played a good game. We controlled those little details, and ultimately, it went in our favor. Very happy, we’ll take it.
Samuel Piette
Piette praised the work of all his teammates, saying that “tonight, everyone was good.”
“I think everyone pitched in. Ultimately, if the commitment and the work are there, you have a good chance of doing something good.”
The recipe is there. All that remains is to succeed in doing it again as often as possible in the last six games of the season.