MONTREAL — After a blazing start, CF Montreal could not seem to get anything going as they suffered their second consecutive 2-1 setback against Real Salt Lake on Sunday afternoon.
It is the first time Montreal has dropped points at Stade Saputo this season.
“We knew what we were coming up against. They didn’t really surprise us,” said Montreal defender Rudy Camacho. “We got an early goal and that was great, but we stopped playing. We didn’t do what was needed so it’s annoying and it’s frustrating, but we just have to keep moving.”
Djordje Mihailovic scored the only goal for Montreal (6-5-2) while Justen Glad and Sergio Córdova scored just 12 minutes apart for Real (6-3-4).
Montreal wasted no time getting forward when Ahmed Hamdi found Mihailovic unmarked in the box, giving Montreal the lead 43 seconds in — the club’s third-fastest goal in MLS.
It seemed as though Montreal had pulled ahead even further 15 minutes later when Mihailovic found a streaking Romell Quioto, but the goal was ruled offside and disallowed.
After that call it seemed as though Montreal had taken their foot off the gas, conceding large portions of possession to a team that rarely keeps the ball for long spells.
“It’s not like us to just give up possession like that,” said Montreal head coach Wilfried Nancy. “We didn’t press, and we didn’t sit so they found players in-between the lines. They wanted us to lose the ball quickly and we kept on rushing the play when we didn’t have to.”
Neither team threatened the other’s keeper much until the end of the first half. After a defensive mishap on the Montreal backline, Bobby Wood found himself face-to-face with Sebastian Breza, forcing an incredible desperation stop to keep the home side ahead at the break.
Real would continue applying pressure at the start of the second half and would finally get their breakthrough less than nine minutes in. An inch-perfect corner from Pablo Ruiz met Glad’s head who scored his second goal of the season.
“We knew what they were going to do on set pieces, but they still got it in,” said Camacho. “This is just a bad game, and we’ll get back up. We’ve learned our lesson and now it’s back to getting wins at home.”
They would be inches away from taking the lead two minutes later when Córdova was played through on goal but couldn’t hit the target.
Córdova would eventually get his goal. Right after the hour mark, he was played through again and converted a powerful shot into the bottom right corner.
As Montreal looked for an equalizer, they couldn’t find more than a half chance as Real managed the rest out the game for their first win against the home side since 2014.
“We struggled to keep our tempo and enforce it on the game. You have to make the opponent move and adjust to your speed but, we didn’t sustain it long enough,” said wingback Mathieu Choinière. “This is a loss that hurts obviously, we’re back from the road in front of our home crowd and wanted to get them a win.”
Montreal will stay at home to host the CPL’s Forge FC on May 25 in the quarterfinals of the Canadian Championship while Real welcomes the Houston Dynamo on May 28.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 22, 2022.
The Canadian Press
