June 15, 2024
CF Montreal hold the surging Real Salt Lake to a goalless draw – welcome several players back from injured reserves.
Fresh off of a two-week break, including a bye week, CF Montreal had a slew of options available to them as they host the surging Real Salt Lake tonight at Stade Saputo.
At one point not so long ago, CF Montreal had as many as ten players out of their line-up due to injuries. Strikers Matias Coccaro, Josef Martinez and Kwadwo Opoku are healthy, as are forward Mason Toye and winger Lassi Lappalainen. Midfielder Ousman Jabang and wingback Raheem Edwards, striker Jules-Anthony Vilsaint remain side-linded to injuries although Vilsaint has resumed training. Winger Ariel Lassiter will be absent tonight against Salt Lake to serve a one-game suspension after receiving a red card in his last match.
See Also: CF Montreal thump DC United at Stade Saputo
Despite struggling to win in recent weeks, the draws that CF Montreal have stock-piled have kept them in the playoff picture, where they currently sit just two points shy of a play-in spot. For a team that went nine consecutive games without earning a win, including a loss to a lower-level team, Forge FC, that knocked them out of the Canadian Championship, still being so close to a post-season spot has to be motivational.
However, tonight they faced the hottest team in Major League Soccer. Real Salt Lake are currently on a rampage, a thirteen game unbeaten streak that has been going since they beat the Vancouver Whitecaps on March 23rd. Real Salt Lake Captain Cristian Arango leads the league in scoring, ahead of Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez while his teammate Andres Gomez is on eight goals and also sits high up on the scoring leaderboard.
The early going was tentative from both sides, with a lot of feeling each other out and some solid defensive play at both ends of the pitch. Both teams struggled to find any offensive gaps yet the action was solid throughout.
The best scoring chance of the first half came when CF Montreal’s Dominic Iankov received and cranked a cross hard at goal, but the ball was caught by Real Salt Lake goal keeper Zac MacMath.
“I’m torn between regretting the chances we missed and not being too greedy because there was a very good team in front of us, so there are some mixed feelings,” said CF Montreal head coach Laurent Courtois. “I’m really happy for the guys who came back and put in a great effort, just like the staff to come back at a good level, that brings a whole new dynamic to training, too.”
While Real Salt Lake were getting chances from less than ideal positions, Montreal were slowly creeping into the game and able to get chances of their own. Using their speed and pace, Real Salt Lake attempted to stretch Alvarez and Waterman – but were constantly turned away or saw CF Montreal goal keeper Jonathan Sirois come out with incredible saves.
Perhaps the key reason for the draw, was the match-up that saw Cristian Arango, the leagues top goal scorer, up against CF Montreal defender Joel Waterman. For the entire match, Waterman shut down Arango as Real Salt Lake continuously looked to start advances through either Arango or Andres Gomez – and nothing got through.
“It’s complicated when you play at home because the guys want to go hard and play with some rhythm, but you have to keep in mind who’s in front of you,” said Courtois. “It was a little too cautious in my opinion, but I can’t blame them because it’s a really thin margin until you get open too fast.”
Diego Luna thought he had found a breakthrough just after the hour mark but his shot rang off the post after beating Sirois.
Midway through the second half, CF Montreal’s substitutes saw the return of four key players in Matias Coccaro, Mason Toye, Mahala Opoku, and Lassi Lappalainen who had all missed significant time through injury. With the score at a deadlock, bringing on Coccaro helped turn the play in Montreal’s favour and the majority of th chances lte in the game went Montreal’s way. Still, it wasn’t enough to earn a goal and take the win and three points.
Read More:
>> Forge FC stun CF Montreal at Canadian Championship
>> CF Montreal struggle in loss to Columbus Crew
>> Messi madness hits Montreal
At the end of the day, earning a point and a draw against the highest scoring team in Major League Soccer, with the leading goal scorer – and a team that hasn’t lost now in fourteen matches counting tonight’s, is something to be happy about.
CF Montreal will next face the New York Red Bull at home at Stade Saputo on Wednesday while Real Salt City travel to Kansas City to face Sporting KC at Children’s Mercy Park also on Wednesday, June 19th.
