March 15, 2024
Columbus defeat Montreal at home by a score of 3 – 1
It is no secret that CF Montreal are off to a rough start, but there are positives among the difficulties as well. Montreal was fresh off a home loss to Inter Miami in front of a packed house that had shown out to see international superstars Luis Suárez and Lionel Messi.
Yet, despite the loss, Montreal had scored twice in the first half of that game and held a lead at the break. Inter Miami surged back in the second half, scoring three unanswered goals to snatch the win from under the feet of CF Montreal.
See Also: Montreal Alliance select Ismaël Diouf 1st overall at 2024 CEBL draft
Early on, Montreal controlled the play and looked to have the better chances. At around the ten minute mark of the first half, Sunusi Ibrahim sent a well-timed cross that found Ariel Lassiter all by himself in the box, and his effort was almost converted but ultimately ran wide of the goal post.
Just shy of ten minutes later, Columbus took the lead when the Crew found a large gap in Montreal’s defense and exploited it. Max Arfsten found himself wide open with the ball on his foot that he tapped effortlessly into the gapping net to give the Crew the opening goal and the lead.
Moments later, Columbus seemed the have doubled their lead when Christian Ramirez beat CF Montreal goal keeper Jonathan Sirois low, placing the ball strategically into the bottom right corner – but upon review, the play was found to be offside and the goal was called back. A lucky break for Montreal whose defense had been exposed again on the play.
In the dwindling moments of the first half, Joaquin Sosa was brought down in the penalty area by Columbus goalkeeper Patrick Schulte, whose glove caught the Sosa’s ankle instead of the ball. Mathieu Choinière collected up the ball upon being rewarded a penalty kick and he made no mistake firing it into the top right corner of the net and drawing CF Montreal equal at the half.
The second half though, saw the game taken over by Columbus who dictated the play and took charge of the match. Fifteen minutes in, Christian Ramirez floated a cross in for Diego Rossi to strike into a wide-open net. Again, Montreal’s defense was out of position and again they paid the price.
“We lost the ball in a rather silly way and it caught us out of position. One or two passes and they were in on us. I don’t know if there was missed coverage or who’s to blame, but lose possession in a way we shouldn’t that high up the field can hurt us,” said captain Samuel Piette.
While Montreal’s defense was being exposed, that of Columbus was solid in shutting down attacks and keeping what offense CF Montreal could muster to the outside and away from the box. The Crew began to play keep-away and hold off Montreal’s advances, and that lead to desperation and Montreal again found themselves exposed as Marino Hinestroza snuck in and put the game away in the 89th minute, scoring the third Columbus goal of the evening.
Montreal’s woes are seemingly leaking off the field too, with Choinière allegedly asking for a trade request. Choinière, 25, was born and raised in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu which is located about an hour from Montreal, and a trade would take him from the team he grew up supporting. When pressed about the issue, Choinière responded “I do my talking on the pitch, and I’m just focusing on my soccer and giving my all for this club as long as I’m here.”
“Of course, I think we can do better, this is a new style of play for us and we’re not getting the results we want right now but we’re working hard in training and putting the right things in place,” said Choinière. “The season has still just started and slowly but surely we’re growing into it, we just have to be more lethal in the final third.”
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Montreal incurred two more injuries tonight, adding both Joaquín Sosa and Mason Toye to the list of players that won’t be available for upcoming tilts. Montreal now has ten injured players in a season that is just twelve games old – including tonight’s match-up.
CF Montreal hits the road to take on Toronto on Saturday while Columbus will visit the windy city to play the Chicago Fire.
