The Bleu-blanc-noir only needed a draw to ensure their involvement in the Eastern Conference playoff game, but they did even more to finish in eighth place.
Laurent Courtois’ men will therefore welcome Atlanta United, who secured ninth place from DC United thanks to a win in Orlando on Tuesday, with a first-round duel against Lionel Messi and Inter Miami CF at stake.
As has been the case for several weeks, the offensive trio made up of Caden Clark, Josef Martinez and Bryce Duke did well for CF Montreal (11-13-10).
Clark had a goal and an assist, Martinez scored once and Duke had an assist. The three players were great architects for the good end of the season for the Montreal team, which lost only one of its last seven outings (5-1-1).
The Bleu-blanc-noir also took advantage of this great performance to beat New York City FC (14-12-8) for the first time since July 7, 2021.
The “Pigeons” had won their last three games, but missed a chance to get home advantage for the first round. Instead they slipped to sixth place, following Charlotte FC’s victory in Washington.
CF Montreal was without midfielder Nathan Saliba, who missed the game due to a suspension for collecting yellow cards. Joel Waterman took his place and Gabriele Corbo was inserted in central defence.
A confident performance
Neither team chose to be cautious at the start of the first half and the game was lively from start to finish.
In the second minute, Alonso Martinez saw Hannes Wolf in the penalty area, but a good retreat from Raheem Edwards saved the furniture. On the other side, after a free kick, Clark had a chance to get a violent shot, but it went over the net.
Then NYCFC increased the pace for about ten minutes, bringing some anxiety to the stands of the Saputo stadium.
Goalkeeper Jonathan Sirois first got hold of Santiago Rodriguez’s shot before Keaton Parks missed the target just after Waterman’s conversion. But the best chance came from the bottom of Tayvon Gray, but Sirois made a good save by diving to his left.
Perhaps energized by this stoppage, the Montrealers opened the scoring in the 18th minute. In the second tries from Bryce Duke and Jahkeele Marshall-Rutty Duke won the ball back on the right. He made a cross towards Martinez, but the Venezuelan drew the defensive cover before leaving enough space for Clark, who hit the target.
CF Montreal’s defense was hot at times for the remainder of the first half, but the sacrifices of several players as well as Sirois’ composure led to a brilliant performance before returning to the locker room.
With just seconds left, Gray made a turn and the ball sailed down the sideline. Clark redoubled his efforts to beat Thiago Martins and slipped the ball to Martinez, who narrowly tipped it into the net.
The visitors were determined in the second half, but the Bleu-blanc-noir defensive curtain did not allow many good scoring opportunities. And when sights were aimed at Sirois, the latter had no problem catching them.
With a standing ovation from the crowd, the Montrealers were able to close the books and confirm the shutout.
2024-10-19 18:23:00
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