A lack of speed and aggressiveness in the first half. Waking up too late and a lack of opportunism in the second half.
That sums up CF Montreal’s 2-0 loss Wednesday night in the Big Apple.
New York City FC’s last MLS victory was on July 1 against… Montreal. Decidedly, it was not a day of revenge for the CFM, which nevertheless had the opportunity to amass valuable points in the standings.
As Hernán Losada summarized at the end of the evening, this match, which took place in two stages, is “to be analyzed, but to be forgotten as quickly as possible”.
The first half was catastrophic for the Montrealers, who were struggling to find their rhythm. Does Yankee Stadium’s narrow field have something to do with it? Without a doubt. It remains that the CFM lacked aggressiveness. He was consistently second on the ball.
“I found that we were a little hesitant, noted Samuel Piette. For some, it was a first at Yankee Stadium. […] We are coming back from a match against New England where we may have stayed a little lower, something that helped us. Maybe we had the same idea of defending a little lower. »
Too often, at the start of the match, the CFM offered too much space to Andres Jasson on the left flank. He took the opportunity to score with a shot from the left in the 30th minute, thwarting a Gabriele Corbo who lacked insistence.
New York pulled away seven minutes later through Monsef Bakrar, who sped past Joel Waterman to find himself alone ahead of Jonathan Sirois.
“Both goals are avoidable situations,” Losada said. “Even when they had poor control, they always had a second chance to control the ball because we were away from the players. The two goals happened like that. »
The Montrealers appeared much more convincing, vigorous and authoritative in the second half. First on the ball, they finally created scoring opportunities. Mathieu Choinière, twice rather than once, and Kwadwo Opoku both missed good chances. But that wasn’t enough.
“We were able to win a lot of balls and play forward, to put the game a little more and make our game offensively, summed up Piette. It’s a shame because the reaction is a bit late. Two goals that we foolishly take, but where we don’t attack the ball carrier too much. We give him time to make a decision, to play that ball. »
This game was further evidence of a major shortcoming in the CFM: the attack is struggling to score. As Losada summed it up: “When it’s up to us to come back, it’s always complicated. »
“We know that we have a team that, with the advantage, wins, argued the head coach. […] We are not a team that can score a lot, but we have created a lot. There were plenty of chances to finish with a shot on goal. Unfortunately, this is a point for improvement. We will continue. »
Samuel Piette, as a good captain, held back the effort of his team which, he noted, was able to recover despite a difficult start to the match.
“We only needed one goal to turn the wind around and make New York a little more nervous. I liked the reaction of the guys, we pushed. Unfortunately, we couldn’t get that goal, but the reaction was there. This is something we should be proud of. »
Otherwise, this defeat, the 10th outside this season, goes directly to oblivion.
With all that, CF Montreal remains in 8th place in the standings, with a three-point lead over Chicago Fire FC and five points over D.C. United and Charlotte FC. He has his work cut out for him if he wants to secure his place in the playoffs. Next game: Saturday, at Stade Saputo, against the Columbus Crew and Wilfried Nancy.
“We’re going to do everything to take the points on Saturday,” Losada said. It is important to end on a positive note before the international break. »
