June 28, 2025
CF Montreal finally earn their first home win of the season, beating New York City FC at Stade Saputo
It had to happen eventually – CF Montreal have finally earned their first home win of the season, by beating the visiting New York City FC by a score of one-nil at Stade Saputo.
While Montreal has struggled this season, their play of late has been greatly improved and it looks as if the team is starting to gel and once some of their key players like Bryce Duke, Giacomo Vrioni and Fabien Herbers begin to return from injuries, CF Montreal might be able to climb out of the Eastern conference basement and past Toronto FC – which isn’t a lot to shout about but any time a Montreal team can surpass a Toronto rival, that’s something worth celebrating.
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In the seventh minute, New York City FC came within an inch of scoring the first goal of the game, when Agustín Ojeda fired a hard shot that deflected off of Montreal defender Luca Petrasso and gave CF Montreal goalkeeper Jonathan Sirois a lot of trouble. The outstretched keeper dove to get to the ball, bringing it down on the goal line where it bounced and threatened to roll in until Siriois got a glove on it and prevent it from going in. New York City FC were less than an inch from scoring.
The fixtures only goal came in the twenty-second minute, when Dante Sealy made a slick move to sweep left into the box, drilling a hard low shot on goal that was parried away by New York City FC goalkeeper Tomás Romero, but the ball found its way onto the boot on Victor Loturi who fired home a low shot to the opposite corner from about eighteen yards out. The goal was Loturi’s first goal at Stade Saputo as a member of CF Montreal.
The second half was dominated by New York City FC who pressed hard but couldn’t find a solution for Jonathan Sirois and the CF Montreal defense corps. New York City constantly tried to chip balls over Montreal’s back line and chase them down, but that strategy seldom yielding any opportunities, and when they did, Sirois was there to shut them down.
In extra time, Prince Owusu almost doubled Montreal’s lead, but goalkeeper Tomás Romero came out of his net to challenge and dove into the path of Owusu’s shot, keeping his team in the game.
“We need this kind of night to get something back from what we are working for, said interim head coach Marco Donadel. “The players, especially today, gave everything against every kind of difficulty. They really gave everything, they kept with the game plan. It was a very good performance. The sensation that the players gave me was that we were completely in control of the game until something happened and then when something happened, the players’ reaction, because they were very confident, was to push. It was a great performance from Owen Graham-Roache. He followed the game plan and at times followed it better than older players.”
This win represents the first home win of the 2025 season, in a year that hasn’t gone CF Montreal’s way. Still, with this first win under their belts, perhaps CF Montreal can build upon it.
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Now, in their twentieth match of the season, CF Montreal have finally earned their first home win of the season – third in total, which keeps them firmly in last place in the Eastern conference. Still, there are signs of progression upon which Montreal can build – but the gap between them and the final playoff spot is monumental and growing larger by the game.
CF Montreal will remain in la belle province to host the visiting Lionel Messi and Inter Miami in what should be a sold out crowd at Stade Saputo. Meanwhile, New York City FC will head home and await Toronto FC, who will travel to challenge them on July 3rd.
