A defensive error hurt CF Montreal, who were shut out 1-0 by D.C. United in their final game of the Coupe des Ligues group stage on Wednesday night at Stade Saputo.
Everything seemed to be going well for the Bleu-blanc-noir in this confrontation, when Mathieu Choinière tried to put the ball behind him to Jonathan Sirois. His pass lacked strength and Erik Hurtado took the opportunity to score the only goal of the game.
The Montreal team tried everything in the second half to tie the game and force a shootout, but the opposing defense resisted.
CF Montreal could have secured their place in the knockout stage of the tournament by claiming a victory, either on par or on penalties, but they will now have to wait for the outcome of the duel between D.C. United and Pumas UNAM on Saturday, July 29 .
The Montrealers slipped to second place in Group 2 of the East Section. They beat the Mexican club in a penalty shootout on Saturday to take the top spot.
Should Hernán Losada’s men manage to slip through to the next round, they would have to travel to Philadelphia to take on Union, who won both games in Group 1 East.
Both teams started the match with a bang and orchestrated a few attacks in the final period. The visitors, however, were the most insistent.
Forgotten on the right side of the penalty area, Ruan fired a powerful shot which was repelled with the right hand by Jonathan Sirois in the fifth minute of play.
Five minutes later, on a corner kick, the ball was deflected with a header by Choinière and it fell just outside the goal line, but no D.C. United player was able to push him to the back of the net.
In the 19th minute, Brendan Hines-Ike served a fine pass into the penalty area to Christian Benteke, who fired in on reception. Sirois closed the door by diving to his right.
CF Montreal’s offensive breakthroughs then rarely lifted the fans from their seats, except late in the first half. Gabriele Corbo made a long run to escape three opponents and he handed the ball to Kwadwo Opoku in front of the penalty area. The Ghanaian spun around and fired a good shot that missed the target.
It was the Montrealers who set the tone in the first 20 minutes of the second half, but their finishing was lacking.
Chinonso Offor first missed a golden opportunity in front of the net, as he saw the ball pass between his legs. Corbo then tried his luck when he was set up about 20 yards from the net, but goalkeeper Alex Bono took the shot safely. The D.C. United keeper pulled off his best save yet, sticking out his right leg in front of a left-footed shot from Zachary Brault-Guillard.
The sky fell on the head of the Bleu-blanc-noir a few moments later, when Choinière gave Hurtado a gift. The latter got rid of Sirois to score in an abandoned net.
Choinière tried hard to recover when he delivered a superb cross to Bryce Duke, left alone in the penalty area, but his deflection of the header ended its momentum in the hands of Bono.
The Quebecer was also robbed by defender Derrick Williams when his low shot escaped Bono’s attention.