Almost invincible for about two months, CF Montreal suffered a second loss in four days, and a first at Stade Saputo in 2022, by a score of 2-1 against Real Salt Lake on Sunday afternoon.
The first moments of the game had been promising, however, when Djordje Mihailovic scored his seventh goal of the season less than a minute after kick-off.
However, the visitors responded in less than 15 minutes in the second half, thanks to goals from defender Justen Glad and striker Sergio Cordova.
The Montreal forwards did try to score the tying goal, but Real Salt Lake held on and scored the first victory in its history in Montreal.
CF Montreal will change gears in the first half of the week as it hosts Hamilton’s Forge FC on Wednesday night in a match in the quarter-finals of the Canadian Championship.
Three days later, Wilfried Nancy’s men will play one last meeting in MLS before the international break. They will then host FC Cincinnati.
Another cannon start
We don’t really know if the CF Montreal players are trying to send a message to their supporters, but the fact remains that they have got into the habit of scoring the first goal very early when they play at the Saputo stadium.
Just as he did on April 16 against the Vancouver Whitecaps, Mihailovic hit the target before the first minute of play was completed. At the 43rd second to be precise.
This goal was served to him on a silver platter, courtesy of fine individual maneuvers, first by Joaquin Torres, then by Ahmed Hamdi, in the penalty area.
According to a CF Montreal spokesperson, it was the third-fastest early goal in the history of the Montreal team in MLS. Andres Romero (22 seconds) in 2013 against Toronto and Anthony Jackson-Hamel (27 seconds) against Minnesota in 2019 are the only ones to have done better.
It was also the third time this season that CF Montreal had hit the target within the first five minutes of play at home. On April 30, defender Kamal Miller did the trick to Atlanta United in the fourth minute.
However, we cannot say that Wilfried Nancy’s men were sparkling during the other 44 minutes of the first half.
In fact, the visitors dominated in the columns of shots attempted (five against two) and possession of the ball (53.6 percent) and, above all, orchestrated the most serious threats.
It also took a spectacular stop by Sebastian Breza against Bobby Wood, in the 45th minute, to preserve the lead for CF Montreal.
The Montrealers played a little better at the start of the second half, but not enough to prevent Real Salt Lake from equalizing the score thanks to a header from Glad, after a corner kick, in the 54th minute.
This goal could have served as a warning signal for the Montreal team, but it was not the case.
And about 12 minutes after tying the score, Real Salt Lake took the lead when Cordova took advantage of what appeared to be confusion in the Montreal defensive end to beat Breza with a shot that swung. snuck all the way to the bottom left corner.
It was the first time this season that CF Montreal gave up the lead to a rival at Stade Saputo.