Before the start of the game on Saturday afternoon, the CF Montreal players trained with jerseys on which the number “10” and the name “Lafleur” were written. The organization also thought of paying tribute to the former legend of the Montreal Canadiens and enforced a moment of silence. About two hours later, number 10 of CF Montreal played the heroes.
Joaquin Torres found the back of the net in the 82nd minute to lead CF Montreal to a tough 2-1 win over Atlanta United at Stade Saputo.
Called into the fray early in the second half, Torres scored his second goal of the season when he headed a Kamal Miller cross past goalkeeper Bobby Shuttleworth.
“We needed Joaquin’s profile to push the opponent to defend a bit more,” explained head coach Wilfried Nancy when asked about his decision to send the Argentinian onto the pitch when he left. did.
“With his profile, I know that Joaquin is able to cast doubt on the opposition when he plays. »
Miller, absolutely sparkling on Saturday, had scored the first goal for CF Montreal in the fourth minute of play.
“He thought he was a striker, so I hope he doesn’t think it’s Zidane now! “Launched Nancy, in jest.
Seriously, Nancy called Miller’s defensive performance “heavy,” but not perfect.
“He knows that I am demanding with him, but I am very happy for him because, with the staff, we talk a lot, and he has a lot of room for improvement. If he manages to be consistent, it can be of a very high level, ”analyzed the head coach of CF Montreal.
The visitors’ response came from Marcelino Moreno, early in the second half against Sebastian Breza, solid in front of his net.
With this sixth straight outing without defeat, CF Montreal (4-3-2) equaled a team record first set in 2015, and repeated in 2016 and 2021.
He got there, however, in the course of a scrappy and even slightly underwhelming display against a rival who continually gets him into trouble even if, as was the case on Saturday, that rival was without several key players, including the forward Josef Martinez and goalkeeper Brad Guzan.
“The guys found a way to win that game, like football is irrational at times. It worked in our favor today,” admitted Nancy.
“I was happy for them, really happy. We played against a team where there is quality. Even if they have absentees, they still have players who are there. »
CF Montreal will play a second straight game at Saputo Stadium next Saturday, this time against Orlando City SC. However, he will be deprived of Victor Wanyama and Ismaël Koné, who will be suspended due to an accumulation of yellow cards.
Another quick goal
CF Montreal has had a bad habit, since the beginning of the season, of conceding the first goal to the opponent when playing abroad. To his credit, he doesn’t repeat this mania in front of his followers.
As they did two weeks ago against the Vancouver Whitecaps, Wilfried Nancy’s men sowed joy among their fans just moments after kickoff.
Following a Djordje Mihailovic free-kick, Miller jumped high in the air and deflected the ball past Shuttleworth for his first goal since November 3, 2021.
However, it was the only good shot for CF Montreal, in terms of attack, during the first 45 minutes of play.
CF Montreal was so ineffective in the first half that they only had the ball 27.3 percent of the time. And when he had it, he struggled to show cohesion as evidenced by his pass completion percentage of less than 70 percent.
“We didn’t have the ball, so the players worked on something else, on the defensive aspect, defending a little longer, defending without the ball longer. They were strong, they were very strong mentally. They were also very strong in conceding only one goal,” praised Nancy.
In fact, the key player of this first half for the Montreal team was Breza, who had to make two quality saves, first against Thiago Almada, in the 11th minute, then against Moreno, in the 32nd.
The latter recovered by scoring the equalizer in the 51st minute thanks to a low shot which first gave against the vertical rod to the right of Breza before rolling into the net.
This goal seemed to wake up the Montreal players, who were much more dynamic and threatening afterwards.
Their efforts paid off when Torres rattled the strings following a superb play from Miller.
Breza then made a key save in the 90th minute to secure the win.