Sounders 5 – CF Montreal 0 | Looking forward to returning home

A long journey with many pitfalls ended in a rainy nightmare for CF Montreal on Saturday evening in Seattle. The Bleu-blanc-noir lost 5-0 to the Sounders in the last match of a streak of six on the road.

Raul Ruidíaz scored twice in the first half, then Jordan Morris closed the books nicely after the break. All this was before the red card awarded to Nathan Saliba, in the 53rd^e minute. Alex Roldan made it 4-0 10 minutes from time, then Dylan Teves completed the score late in stoppage time.

On paper, however, the Sounders were a viable team. No victory in five games, difficulty scoring goals… These two characteristics took the opposite direction on Saturday evening, courtesy of CF Montreal which created its own misfortune.

Out of luck

Laurent Courtois had reshuffled his line-up for this clash after the frustrating defeat against DC United. Cóccaro and Martínez operated as a duo up front, with the Saliba-Piette-Choinière trio providing a better-balanced midfield.

Montreal thus, at the start, offered a much more fluid game than last week. On the other hand, luck was not on his side, especially in the first half.

At the 20^e Minute, a Ruidíaz shot from the left corner of the area appeared to deflect slightly off Saliba’s foot, taking a lob trajectory into the back of Jonathan Sirois’ net.

At the 25^e, Joel Waterman dropped his spike on Albert Rusnák in the box, which earned him a yellow card, in addition to awarding a penalty to the hosts after a VAR check. Ruidíaz made it 2-0 in the 27th^e.

Montreal continued to play the game during the period, until getting its best chance in the 38th^e with a header from Joaquín Sosa from a corner, brilliantly blocked by goalkeeper Stefan Frei. It was also the very first presence of the Uruguayan defender in the Bleu-blanc-noir uniform. He was not unworthy, despite the appearances of the match scenario.

A gem from Morris, a blunder from Saliba

Encouraged by an interesting game in the first period, the CFM was able to believe in its chances of perhaps getting something from this meeting after returning from the locker room.

Jordan Morris said no. From the 48^ethe Washington State native made it 3-0 by suavely touching the leather by passing his right leg behind his left leg on a cross.

A few moments later, Saliba dashed his team’s meager hopes by receiving a second yellow card.

Despite a few arrows attempted towards Jonathan Sirois, the rest of the hostilities were devoid of any suspense… until Alex Roldan’s success in the 81st^e minute, then that of Dylan Teves at the 97^e. Nightmarish, as they said.

After a more than promising start to the season with seven points recorded in three games, here are three defeats in a row for CF Montreal. It is therefore not entirely full of confidence that he will appear at the Saputo stadium for his local start, next Saturday.