It was in a somewhat strange atmosphere that CF Montreal suffered their first setback at Stade Saputo this season, losing 1-0 to Nashville SC.
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Trailing late in the game and deprived of its fiercest supporters, the Ultras, due to the closure of Section 132, the Montrealers tried everything to create a tie, but they were perhaps missing the little one. push that the Ultras would have brought.
In the first two clashes, Montreal had taken the lead before seeing Nashville come back up, but this time the visitors got into the mark first in the 66e minute when a free kick from Hany Mukhtar was extended with a header by Walker Zimmerman, giving James Pantemis no chance.
CF Montreal tried to match the mark and got their best chance in the 74e minute thanks to a clever heel from Djordje Mihailovic for Mustafa Kizza whose full-axis shot was stopped by Joe Willis.
Pantemis ready
After giving way to Sebastian Breza in the last five games, James Pantemis has returned to his starting position in front of the net.
The Kirkland goalkeeper showed he was not rusty at all as he reacted well throughout the game.
He was quickly tested by Daniel Rios early in the game, but it was CJ Sapong that he reserved his best saves.
Twice in the second half he frustrated the Nashville forward. He first stretched his foot to make a good reflex stop. Then about fifteen minutes later, at the turn of the hour mark, he jumped up to deflect a powerful strike from Sapong which finally ended up in the stands.
Armored defense
Photo Martin Chevalier
Walker Zimmerman was the only goal scorer of the game for the benefit of Nashville SC.
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Montreal rubbed shoulders with the best defense in the MLS Eastern Conference and we understood why Nashville is claiming the title.
Despite a strong Montreal possession, the very compact defensive block of the Tennessee team remained very difficult to break.
We tried the deep passes, knockdowns, crosses, breakthroughs in excess, but nothing helped.
What’s more, Wilfried Nancy’s men were responsible for several losses of balls in their territory, which sometimes unnecessarily complicated things.
Beaten by a good defense
A good opponent and a somewhat average match, that’s how we can sum up this defeat for CF Montreal.
Despite a superiority in terms of possession, it was still Montreal that suffered the game rather than the visitors.
“What they do, they do it very well, they defend very well and they put speed in attack”, began
Wilfried Nancy.
“We had possession, but we were rough, we lacked precision in our passes. There were some good things, but I would have liked to have had more doubts about the opponent. “
Lack of structure
Facing such a well organized team defensively, Nancy mentioned that the connections between the players had to be almost perfect, which was far from the case.
Rather, he found his team disjointed on several occasions.
“There are times when I find that we allowed positions too much, you have to have the right structure to do it and we didn’t always have it.
“And since we were not well positioned, we found ourselves outnumbered.”
Pantemis was ready
With a little surprise, Wilfried Nancy chose to give the net back to James Pantemis, who had ceded it to Sebastian Breza in the last five meetings, and who has done very well.
“James had COVID and if he hadn’t had it he would have played DC He did what he had to do and it didn’t feel like he hadn’t played for five weeks “, Explained Nancy who also let it be known that Breza will be her right-hand man for the Canadian Championship.
As for Pantemis, he has had one of his very good games since the start of the season.
“Honestly, I didn’t feel like I was away for five weeks. I was ready from the start and was good at reading the game. ”
The Johnsen Mystery
We continue to swim in full mystery when it comes to Bjørn Johnsen. The great Norwegian striker scored his only two goals in the same match on May 12, four months ago to the day.
He has a good build, but he is often invisible and does not make himself disturbing enough for the opponent.
“We have already spoken of Bjørn several times,” said Wilfried Nancy. He wants to do well and to progress.
“The objective is to put him in the box more often so that he has chances, but there was a team in front who did not leave room. “
Guardian:
J. Willis.
Defenders:
E. Miller (replaced by A. Johnston at 64e minute), W. Zimmerman, D. Romney.
Environment:
D. Lovitz, M. LaGrassa (replaced by A. Godoy at 46e minute), H. Mukhtar (replaced by A. Danladi at the 90e +1 minute), T. Anunga, T. Washington.
Attacker:
CJ Sapong (replaced by A. Muyl at 81e minute), D. Rios (replaced by A. Loba at the 65e minute).
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Guardian:
J. Pantemis.
Defenders:
K. Miller, J. Waterman, Z. Bassong (replaced by S. Ibrahim at 73e minute).
Environment:
M. Choinière, V. Wanyama, A. Hamdi, Z. Brault-Guillard (replaced by M. Kizza at 65e minute), D. Mihailovic, J. Torres.
Attacker:
B. Johnsen (replaced by R. Quioto at 61e minute).
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But
MONTRÉAL :no
NASHVILLE :Zimmerman (66e – goes to Mukhtar)
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Cartons
MONTRÉAL :Bassong (44e)
NASHVILLE :Mukhtar (41e), Anunga (58e), Willis (85e)
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TIRS |
STOPS |
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NSH |
8 |
3 |
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MTL |
3 |
7 |
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FAULTS |
EXCLUDING GAMES |
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|
NSH |
10 |
2 |
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MTL |
9 |
3 |
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COINS |
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NSH |
4 |
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MTL |
1 |
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Bulletin
James Pantemis
Even though his last game was over a month ago, he didn’t look rusty at all. He can’t help Zimmerman’s goal.
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Kamal Miller
He wanted to take the initiative defensively in the absence of Struna and Camacho and he effectively acted as the dean of the brigade.
Victor Animals
Once again weighing in midfield. He’s clearly disturbing Nashville.
Zachary Brault-Guillard
He has a clear will to play forward and because of this he often supports the attack.
Mathieu Choinière
He goes on attack, he shows more and more confidence as he gets minutes.
Zorhan Bassong
He plays fearlessly with more and more confidence, but he must limit the losses of the ball.
Joel Waterman
Not a bad game overall. He is effective when he stays within the limits of his talent.
Ahmed Hamdi
Not always precise in its distribution, but it shows a good fighting spirit.
Djordje Mihailovic
Not his best game, he’s a bit off by the opacity of the Nashville defense.
Joaquin Torres
He wants to liven up the attack and shows a lot of determination in a duel, but he needs to improve his decision making and distribution.
Mustafa Kizza
He had a golden chance to draw the tie, but his shot was lacking in balance.
Bjørn Johnsen
Create a few sparks in the second half before going out, but it’s still too little.
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