Laurent Courtois knows tobacco, and he knows what he must do when his players perform well below expectations.
Raúl Ruidíaz scored twice and the Seattle Sounders blanked CF Montreal 5-0 on Saturday night at Lumen Field.
“It’s a real disappointment, beyond the result. I didn’t recognize my guys on certain actions and I’m the first to blame, Courtois immediately mentioned, wanting to take some pressure off his men’s shoulders. He lacked competitiveness, solidarity and humility. I look in the mirror because I apparently have a lot to work on to make the message clearer. »
The head coach’s technique was commendable, but it did not fool his players.
“He knows his role and what he means to us. We don’t blame him and we don’t blame anyone. It’s up to the players on the pitch to be better, and that includes me. We lost duels and second balls this evening. It’s not the coach’s fault,” clarified defender Joel Waterman.
We could sense from the first quarter of an hour that it would not be a cakewalk for the Bleu-blanc-noir players. The Sounders (1-3-2) showed a lot of energy and applied a lot of pressure on their opponents, who were unable to find a response.
Ruidíaz was a bit lucky with his first goal of the match, but he left no doubt with the second, from the penalty spot. At 2-0 after 27 minutes of play, CF Montreal (2-3-1) was already in deep trouble.
“They arrived well prepared,” said midfielder Mathieu Choinière. They managed to create surpluses on certain sides to take advantage of it. They also broke our pressure so they took the momentum of the match. »
Upon leaving the locker room to begin the second half, the Montreal team thought they had erased the errors of the previous 45 minutes, but their counterparts did not even give them time to hope. Jordan Morris hit the target to extend the Sounders’ lead.
Nathan Saliba then received a red card, following a late tackle, and made the attempt at a comeback virtually impossible. Alex Roldan and Dylan Teves hit the mark as their team played 11 against 10.
“It wasn’t our intention to have a bad start to the second half. We thought we were still in the game. You have to give them credit, but we didn’t match their level of competition and intensity. The quick goal killed us,” observed Waterman.
CF Montreal concluded its series of six games abroad by suffering a third defeat in a row, allowing 10 goals during this sequence. He also suffered a first loss against the Sounders since April 2, 2016, after four games without defeat (3-0-1).
The Seattle squad, for their part, ended a series of two defeats and enjoyed their first triumph this season. They were the last MLS team yet to win a game in 2024.
The Montrealers will return to home next Saturday, when they will host FC Cincinnati at Saputo stadium.
Ruidíaz takes care of the attack
The game came alive in the first moments of the match and faded for a dozen minutes, until the Sounders opened the scoring.
At the 20e minute, Jackson Ragen redirected with his head a free kick from Albert Rusnak to Ruidíaz, at the edge of the area. The Peruvian armed a shot and the ball hit Saliba’s foot before changing trajectory to surprise Jonathan Sirois.
CF Montreal was not at the end of its troubles, while the local team doubled its lead only a few minutes later.
Waterman initially got away with it, after bringing down Rusnak in the penalty area. The video assistance to the referee, however, requested a review of the sequence. Referee Filip Dujic ultimately awarded Waterman a yellow card and a penalty to the Sounders, which Ruidíaz converted to Sirois’ right.
The Quebec goalkeeper took his revenge at the expense of Ruidíaz in the 33rde minute, when he dove to his right to repel the attacker’s shot. At the other end of the field, Stefan Frei reacted inches from his goal line to block the deflection of Joaquin Sosa’s header, who coveted his first career goal in MLS.
The Seattle team started the second half well and gave a first warning shot, in the 47the minute. Installed in the penalty area, Ragen however saw his left-footed shot go over the net.
Sounders supporters were still able to celebrate a minute later. Cristian Roldan avoided offside to take a pass from Obed Vargas and put the ball in front of the net. Morris redirected it first, but the ball also hit Waterman before slipping past Sirois.
The sky fell on the heads of Montrealers at 53e minute, when Saliba was sent off for receiving a second yellow card. Brian Schmetzer’s men took advantage of this numerical advantage to completely dominate the visitors and add two goals to their total.
A nice quick exchange between Ruidíaz and Rusnak allowed Alex Roldan to complete the score in an abandoned net, in the 81ste minute. In stoppage time, Teves put the finishing touches on a delivery from Danny Musovski.