CF Montreal suffered their third loss in as many MLS outings in 2022, falling 4-1 to New York City FC Saturday afternoon at Yankee Stadium.
In a game played in brutal weather for soccer, Zachary Brault-Guillard scored the only goal for the Montreal team in the second half.
Alexander Callens and Santiago Rodriguez beat Sebastian Breza in the first half.
Forward Talles Magno scored a stunner after a dominant 15 minutes of CF Montreal play in the second half. Thiago Andrade added an insurance goal in the 83rd minute.
This is only the second time in its history that Montreal has started an MLS season with three straight losses. The Impact started in the same miserable way in 2014.
After the Mexican altitude and the New York cold, CF Montreal will be back at home on Wednesday in the cozier environment of the Olympic Stadium.
They will try to erase a one-goal deficit and upset Cruz Azul in the second leg of the CONCACAF Champions League quarterfinals.
Three days later, Wilfried Nancy's men will travel to the Mercedes-Benz Stadium, where they will face Atlanta United.
HOME SUPREMACY
On Friday, during his video conference, Nancy pointed out that his team had seven bad minutes out of 180, which led to four goals and two losses. On Saturday, it would be safe to say they played 40 bad minutes out of 45 in the first half.
After the first 20 minutes of play, NYCFC had six shot attempts to Montreal's two, and two shots on target to none. Worse, both shots on target found the back of the net.
Callens took advantage of two failed clearance attempts to open the scoring in the seventh minute. Less than 15 minutes later, in the 20th minute, Rodriguez capitalized on a mistake by Victor Wanyama not far from the Montreal box to score the second goal of the game.
New York rounded out the first half with three more shots on target, all of which required key saves from Breza.
VISITORS WOES
Limited to four shots attempted and none on target in the first half, Montreal started the second half with aplomb. In fact, they were unrecognizable.
Djordje Mihailovic and Brault-Guillard, who had been inserted into the game after the break, combined to cut the home team's lead in half. Brault-Guillard hit the target in the 52nd minute, following a precise cross from the American midfielder.
CF Montreal kept the pressure on in opposition territory and came close to tying the game in the 55th minute, with back-to-back shots from Mihailovic and Matko Miljevic being expertly saved by goalkeeper Sean Johnson.
Against all odds, however, New York City FC regained their two-goal lead on their first shot of the second half, thanks to a header from Magno in the 64th minute.
That goal dampened Montreal's spirits and hopes of a comeback, as they conceded a fourth goal with about seven minutes left in regulation.
-- This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on March 12, 2022.
