Chance sometimes does things well, and CF Montreal would certainly not say no to lightning striking the same place twice.
A little over a month ago, the Montrealers were adrift, having won only one of their first seven games of the season. Then, the arrival of the Canadian Championship offered a spark to the club.
The Vaughan Azzurri’s move to Saputo Stadium kicked off a six-game win streak for the Bleu-Blanc-Noir, including four by shutout, in MLS. He even took the opportunity to beat Toronto FC and continue his quest for a 12e Voyageurs cup.
However, things have taken a different turn lately. Hernán Losada’s side returned to earth last week after suffering two losses and allowing five goals.
It only remains to be seen whether Forge FC’s stop at CF Montreal’s home on Wednesday night for the semi-finals of the Canadian Championship will have the same catalytic effect for the next games in MLS.
“It’s a good match to give us a spark, but it’s also the next step to win this tournament. When we got out of our bad streak, we had changed our work ethic. It was a question of being more combative and wanting a little more victory,” explained Losada on Tuesday, before training for CF Montreal at Center Nutrilait.
“I think you could see that we were working harder than our opponents during our winning streak. That’s what we’ll try to do again tomorrow,” defender Aaron Herrera said.
This will be the third Canadian Championship meeting between the two teams in the past three years. In the previous two, CF Montreal emerged victorious to advance to the next round.
Like the game against the Vaughan Azzurri, it would be easy to largely favor the Montrealers, because they play at a higher level. Forge FC, which plays in a circuit lower than MLS, is not the latest comer, however.
The Hamilton-based squad have appeared in all four finals in the history of the Canadian Soccer Premier League (CPL), and have been crowned champions three times. She also gave Toronto FC a hard time in the 2020 Canadian Championship final, won in a shootout by the “Reds”.
“Le Forge is a very interesting and experienced team. It’s no coincidence that they are the champions [dans la PLC]. I respect their head coach a lot because he developed their game identity, expressed Losada. We are in the semi-finals of the Canadian Championship, so when you have reached this point in the tournament, you have a good team. »
“It’s a team that is renowned in PLC. She likes to play ball and she offers a lot of things offensively. We expect very good opposition on Wednesday,” added midfielder Mathieu Choinière.
Choinière has had the opportunity to watch Forge FC on several occasions over the past few years. David, his brother, who has already played five MLS games with CF Montreal between 2016 and 2018, has been wearing the colors of the Ontario team since 2019.
David even scored the insurance goal for Forge FC in their 2-0 victory over Atlético d’Ottawa in the PLC final last October. The table therefore seems set for a third Choinière derby in a row.
“It’s true that it’s been three times in three years and it seems like it’s becoming normal, but it’s always fun. It’s a special event and I’m very excited to face my brother tomorrow, underlined Mathieu Choinière. We talked about it when we were younger, and now that it’s happening, it’s fun. The whole family will be there and we expect a good game, so I can’t wait. »
Mathieu Choinière is one of the rare CF Montreal players to have obtained all of his team’s starts during the five games in May. Losada has had to diversify his formation and give minutes to several different players, but he is not at the end of his troubles.
The Bleu-Blanc-Noir enter a third week in a row in which they have to play two games, and if they manage to beat Forge FC, that total would increase to five.
Despite everything, the head coach of the Montreal club intends to prioritize the Canadian Championship rather than the MLS.
“It’s always a new opportunity to use players who have had fewer minutes, but you have to know that it’s a more important game than in MLS. Le Forge said it was his most important game of the year, but so are we. There will be plenty of other games to give players those chances, so it’s going to happen,” he said.
In addition, Losada confirmed that midfielder Samuel Piette and striker Mason Toye have at least two to four more weeks before returning to action. He also indicated that striker Romell Quioto, who has injured in training, was due to undergo an imaging test on Tuesday to find out the severity of his injury.