(Montreal) In less than 24 hours, CF Montreal has gone from a great feeling of happiness to a little worry for the next few weeks.
It was not a full house at Saputo Stadium on Wednesday night, but the atmosphere was still festive when the Bleu-blanc-noir defeated Forge FC to advance to the Canadian Championship final. Fans were able to celebrate with head coach Hernan Losada, unaware that he would deliver any bad news the very next afternoon.
Minutes after the team practiced at Center Nutrilait on Thursday, Losada confirmed that forward Romell Quioto will be sidelined for an extended period with a hamstring injury.
Quioto, who hasn’t played since May 13 against Toronto FC, suffered pain in training two weeks ago and had to undergo an magnetic resonance imaging test on Tuesday. The results didn’t show anything good.
Losada nevertheless came forward, saying that Quioto’s injury was more severe than the leg injury he suffered earlier this season. The Honduran had then missed almost a month of activities.
The Montrealers are therefore once again deprived of their best scorer. A forward who had threaded the needle 15 times in 30 MLS games in 2022 and three times in seven games since the start of the campaign.
Against Forge FC, CF Montreal got going in the second half, after Losada decided to add a striker to accompany Sunusi Ibrahim up front. Chinonso Offor was the lucky one, but despite several great things to move the enemy defense, the Nigerian missed many golden opportunities.
The appearance of young Quebecer Jules-Anthony Vilsaint, in the 84th minute, was intriguing. Fast and dynamic, the 20-year-old striker quickly gave himself an opportunity to score.
“Lassi Lappalainen or Ariel Lassiter can also play higher as a second striker. We will also look at the work of our attacking midfielders. It’s not just about passing between the lines or to the sides, I want these players to be decisive. They have the freedom to take risks and shoot. That’s what we’re going to improve,” expressed the head coach.
That risk-taking and that desire to get back to midfield and shoot served Lassiter’s cause on Wednesday night. His shot hit a Forge FC defender and the ball stopped its momentum in the net. From then on, the Bleu-blanc-noir completely dominated the game.
Still, CF Montreal must be able to maneuver with the ball and make their way into opposing territory. Last Saturday against the New York Red Bulls, Losada’s men tried to tie the game in the second half, but the defense was tight.
It seems that it is still a process for the offensive players of the Montreal club.
“Sometimes it’s harder to make those shots depending on the team we’re up against. I agree that we need to shoot more often because that’s how you score goals and win games. It has to be better in the final third and we have to capitalize on our chances. It starts with me and all the other players up front,” said midfielder Bryce Duke.
And it will be important for CF Montreal to create their chances away, as they have been able to do so at home since the start of the season. The team have scored just three away goals in eight outings and have been shut out six times.
Last year, the Bleu-blanc-noir notably set an MLS record for the most road wins (11) in a single season.
“The goal is for us to be more confident on the road and to be more collective in the way we play. You have to go outside as we did before, without having fears or having to adapt to our opponent. We have to fix our idea of play and stick to it,” defender Rudy Camacho observed.
Besides Quioto, striker Mason Toye was absent from training with a knee injury. Quebecer Samuel Piette, injured in the adductors, for his part ran around the training grounds with a physiotherapist.
