June 19, 2024
CF Montreal and New York Red Bulls battle to a draw at Stade Saputo in a heat wave
Following a nil-nil draw at home against Real Salt Lake in their last outing, CF Montreal remain in the playoff hunt are now haven’t lost a match in their last five games.
While several key players like Samuel Piette, Joel Waterman, Ariel Lassiter and Mathieu Choiniere are away on international duties at the Copa America – CF Montreal have a slew of players returning from injuries.
See Also: Real Salt Lake and CF Montreal play to a goalless draw
Matias Coccaro returned in CF Montreal’s last match as a second half substitute and immediately made an impact on the game – his first since returning from a serious leg injury.
The New York Red Bulls will also be missing some key contributors with Carlos Coronel at the Copa America and leading scorer Lewis Morgan and Emil Forsberg on international duties at the Euro Cup in Germany.
Injuries and international duties aside; there is another factor that came into play tonight – an extreme heat wave that saw temperatures soar to the mid-40⁰C’s when accounting for the humidex. Something very few players find comfortable to do anything in, let alone play a competitive match in.
CF Montreal opened the scoring early on, when Sunusi Ibrahim finished off a chaotic and messy scramble in front of the net, heading the ball in from the goal line in the 11th minute of the game. The play began off a free kick taken by Raheem Edwards, that was headed by both Gabriele Corbo and Joaquin Sosa, but Sosa’s attempt was blocked by Daniel Edelman before falling like a gift to Ibrahim, who put away his 5th goal of the season.
Due to the extreme heat and humidity, the game was briefly paused on two occasions, one in each half, to allow the players and officials to hydrate.
Late in the first half, Edwards again began a play that lead to a Montreal goal. This time, he sent a cross in for Kwadwo Opoku, who recently returned from injury, and Opuku showed impressive skill in dekeing out New York Red Bulls defender John Tolkin before firing a low hard shot into the bottom corner of the net, passed an outstretched goalkeeper Ryan Meara.
Montreal’s second goal seemed to spark the Red Bulls, who finished the half with a barrage of attempts, putting five balls on target, but none that troubled goalkeeper Jonathan Sirois.
The Red Bulls carried that momentum into the second half, and ran rampant over CF Montreal in the early minutes. Playing pressing balls in, New York was placing a plethora of pressure on Montreal’s defense, who showed weakness with Joel Waterman away on international duty.
Again, Ibrahim found himself heading a ball off the goal line, this time helping out his keeper, Sirois, who had been beaten by a floating header from Sean Nealis that sailed over top of Sirois, but was headed away by Ibrahim. A few short minutes later, at the hour mark of the contest, the Red Bulls found the back of the net when Carmona gathered a loose ball in the box and buried a shot into the top left corner.
In the 80th minute, Matias Coccaro was brought down in the box on what looked to be a blatant foul – but referee Lukasz Szpala kept his whistle firmly lodged in his pocket. The near sold-out crowd showed their displeasure by booing the non-call and were left to wonder about could have been had the penalty call been made.
Eight minutes later, 16-year old Julian Hall scored the first Major League Soccer goal when he headed the ball beyond Sirois and equalized the game at two goals a piece.
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With the draw, CF Montreal are unbeaten in their last five matches, as they chase the final play-in post-season spot. During that span, Montreal has earned just one win and have had to settle for the draw on four occasions. Giving up a two-goal lead tonight, will surely sting and hamper their chances at making the play-offs.
CF Montreal are next in action on Saturday when they visit the Colorado Rapids, while the New York Red Bulls return home to host the visiting Toronto FC, also on Saturday.
