August 23, 2025
CF Montreal beat Austin FC at home by a score of 3 to 2
A depleted CF Montreal roster, having transferred some key players out in the last few days, welcomed Austin FC to Stade Saputo on a day filled with ripe darkened skies and threats that rain could tumble down at any given moment.
Two new players were also brought into the fold, but neither of the two were available to start the match, nor did they dress as substitutes – yet CF Montreal still found a way to defeat Austin FC. Ivan Jaime, the squads new designated player, did make a quick appearance on the field at half-time.
See Also: CF Montreal send Joel Waterman to Chicago Fire
With Joel Waterman now a member of the Chicago Fire, and Caden Clark transferred to DC United, few would have given Montreal much of a chance tonight against Austin FC, who are currently sitting in the 8th spot of the Western conference, with playoff aspirations ahead of them.
A letter from CF Montreal management to the fans a month ago, promised things would change following a disastrous season and that the team would enter a rebuilding phase. So far, the casualties from that letter include long-serving Joel Waterman, Caden Clark, Jules-Anthony Vilsaint, Nathan Saliba, Dominic Iankov and Greg Campbell – and Emil Gazdov was loaned to Canadian Premier League club Valour FC until the end of the 2025 season.
Needless to say, there is a feeling of uncertainty about the Stade Saputo grounds of late, as no one knows who is the next out the door. Even interim head coach Marco Donadel hasn’t had his future with the club confirmed yet.
Montreal opened the scoring when Hennadii Synchuk smashed the ball into the back of the net in the 9th minute of play. Synchuk accepted a long pass from Olger Escobar and found himself with a lot of room to maneuver, and just one defender in his path. Cutting quickly left, Synchuck opened up enough of a gap to fire a tricky bouncing shot that beat an outstretched Brad Stuver, the Austin FC goalkeeper had no chance at getting to the ball.
It was Synchuck’s first goal in the MLS, but more impotently, it was a moment where the youth of the club starting clicking. It was Synchuck, who is just 19 years old, scoring off a great pass from Escobar, 18 years old, in his start for CF Montreal. These two young men are the future of the team.
At the other end of the pitch, CF Montreal goalkeeper Thomas Gillier was forced to make some stellar saves for his squad, but Austin FC eventually found the equalizer when Myrto Uzuni beat Gillier in the 39th minute. Uzuni got his head to a crossed ball a millisecond before the gloves of Gillier could parry it away, and got enough of the ball to knock if over the goalkeeper and into the net.
Three minutes into the added time at the end of the first, Dante Sealy put CF Montreal back in front with a hard low strike that beat an outstretched Austin FC. The play came from a heads-up play from Prince Owusu, who saw Dawid Bugaj streaming down the offside line unchallenged, who then placed a perfect long pass through the box for Sealy who was all alone with a gapping net in front of him, and he tapped the ball right into it.
Prince Owusu increased Montreal’s lead to a pair of goals in the 67th minute, from the penalty spot after a blatant handball in the box off a corner kick gave referee Allen Chapman, who had made some very questionable decisions all night long, no choice but to award the penalty kick. Owusu tried a stutter shot, that didn’t fool goalkeeper Stuver, but Owusu’s shot went left and Stuver went right, and Montreal had doubled their lead.
Austin FC pulled the game back to within reach ten minutes later when Owen Wolff chipped a shot over a diving Gillier and into the net. Following the goal, a pushing match between the two sides broke out which resulted in Gilllier being shown a yellow card. In all, nine yellow cards were handed out throughout the match, including one to head coach Marco Donadel and back up goalkeeper Sebastian Breza, from CF Montreal’s bench.
Read More:
>> DC United and CF Montreal draw at Stade Saputo
>> CF Montreal acquire Matty Longstaff from Toronto FC
>> Atlanta United and CF Montreal play to a draw at Stade Saputo
This was just Montreal’s second home win of the season, and keeps them the team starve off post-season elimination for a little while longer. This victory, also, came off the hard work and strong play of several of the newer members of the team. Next time the team takes to the field, they’ll have two more new members in the fold.
Next, CF Montreal will close out the month of August when they visit Toronto FC on August 30th, in a match that will more than likely see Matty Longstaff and Jules-Anthony Vilsaint face one another for the first time since being swapped. Meanwhile, Austin FC return home to host the San Jose Earthquakes, also on August 30th.
