C.F. Montreal shook off some early nerves and dominated the Vaughan Azzurri to win 2-0 at Saputo Stadium in the first round of the Canadian Championship Tuesday night.

Whitewashed six times in seven MLS games this season and winless in their last three outings, the Montrealers took a little while to find their rhythm but dominated the game when they hit their stride.

Sean Rea and Sunusi Ibrahim threaded the needle in the first half for C.F. Montreal, which fired 25 shots on goal, 11 of them on target.

In his first start in a Montreal uniform, Logan Ketterer recorded the shutout, although he was not really tested during the game.

Hernan Losada's men will now advance to the quarter-finals of the Canadian tournament, where they will meet Toronto F.C. The game will take place between May 9 and 11.

In the meantime, Montreal will return to MLS action when they host the New York Red Bulls at Saputo Stadium on Saturday night.

The Vaughan Azzurri were known to be tough opponents, having won the League1 Ontario title without a loss in 2022, and the Toronto club gave the first warning shot in the fifth minute.

Omar Marzouk got away from Rudy Camacho and came in front of Ketterer, who made the save.

The much-needed creativity of C.F. Montreal since the beginning of the season came to the fore after about ten minutes. Bryce Duke, Ariel Lassiter, Ilias Iliadis and Rea made many offensive moves, but goalie Gianluca Catalano shut the door.

Rea, however, opened the scoring in the 31st minute. Following a corner kick, Gabriele Corbo redirected the ball to him, and the small Quebec player beat Catalano with a low shot.

The Blue-White-Black doubled their lead only five minutes later through Ibrahim. Mathieu Choinière set up Lassiter on the left flank, and Lassiter made a great pass on the other side to Ibrahim, who polished off the goal.

C.F. Montreal continued to apply pressure late in the first half, but Ibrahim was denied by Catalano.

In the second half, the crowd favourite made several inroads into the opponent's territory but did not add to his lead. At the end of the game, Chinonso Offor thought they had scored, but the referee on the sidelines called it offside.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on April 18, 2023.