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Apr 06, 2024

CF Montréal's playoff aspirations hit a speed bump in New York

Montreal conceded two quick first-half goals and never recovered in humbling 2-0 loss to squad chasing them. Postmedia may earn an affiliate commission from purchases made through our links on this

Montreal conceded two quick first-half goals and never recovered in humbling 2-0 loss to squad chasing them.

Postmedia may earn an affiliate commission from purchases made through our links on this page.

CF Montréal prepared well for their duel with New York City FC, but ultimately failed the test on Wednesday night.

The bleu-blanc-noir conceded two first-half goals and lost 2-0 to the New Yorkers at Yankee Stadium.

In the days leading up to the match, head coach Hernan Losada had spoken of the narrow, small pitch on which NYCFC plays, and had also mentioned the new players who had recently joined the team. Unfortunately, his squad did not seem to heed his warning.

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Montreal found some life in the second half, but New York City FC (6-10-11) already seemed to have gone into a defensive shell. The damage had already been done in the space of seven minutes in the first half.

“Obviously, there was a difference between the first half and the second. In the beginning, it was complicated for us. I don’t know if it’s because of the pitch, but that’s for both teams. Our team managed to improve, but their two goals were scored in situations we can avoid,” Losada said.

The two goals in question were scored by Andres Jasson and Monsef Bakrar. It was a first career MLS goal for Bakrar, who arrived in New York in mid-July.

The common denominator of these two scores was that CF Montréal (11-13-2) was lackadaisical in applying defensive pressure, despite the smaller pitch, and was unable to intercept long balls from the opponents.

Losada had targeted midfielders Andres Perea and Keaton Parks for NYCFC’s attacking relaunches, but they were able to create attack with ease in the first half.

“We were pressing Perea and Parks because we knew they were the two players involved in creation, but when they played the long ball to avoid pressure, our midfielders weren’t there in time. We had to be closer under pressure. Even when there was a bad touch, they had the chance to recover the ball because we were far away. That’s what the two goals were,” Losada said.

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The match might have been different had Lassi Lappalainen hit the target in the 19th minute, rather than seeing the ball hit the crossbar. Goalkeeper Matt Freese also saved a Mathieu Choinière shot that could have cut the deficit to one goal in the second half.

Montreal suffered its 10th defeat in 14 MLS road games and CFM was blanked for the 10th time on opposing fields in 2023.

“We need too many chances to score,” Losada said simply. When we’re away, we need to be efficient.”

Despite suffering its first defeat in their last four outings, CF Montréal missed an opportunity to distance the squad from NYCFC and other teams in the race for the Eastern Conference playoffs.

Wednesday’s favourable results elsewhere kept them in eighth place.

CF Montréal will return to action on Saturday night, hosting former head coach Wilfried Nancy and the Columbus Crew. This will be Nancy’s first game at Stade Saputo Stadium since taking over the Crew’s reins in the off-season.

CF Montréal were able to counter enemy attacks early in the game, and managed to buzz on the attack. Lappalainen’s right-footed shot beat Freese, but not the horizontal bar.

New York City FC hit back a few minutes later, when Braian Cufre curled a powerful left-foot shot just over the crossbar.

The home team struck with two quick goals in the 30th and 37th minutes.

After accepting a pass in the middle, Cufre sent the ball to his right to Jasson, who caught defender Gabriele Corbo off guard before unleashing a precise left-footed shot. NYCFC added to their lead when Bakrar broke free of Joel Waterman to beat Jonathan Sirois with a low shot.

Trailing by two goals, the Montrealers upped the tempo in the second half, but without success.

The New York side thought it had scored a third goal when Maximiliano Moralez huddled behind the Monrteal defence to score in the 69th minute, but the referee on the sidelines ruled that the Argentine was offside.

The bleu-blanc-noir was unable to threaten in the final quarter of the game, when play was herky-jerky because of numerous stoppages in play.

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