MONTREAL -- A 1-0 lead, five minutes of added time, at the end of the second half, in a major duel against Toronto FC is a situation that could have brought back bad memories to CF Montreal players.
This time, though, they brought it home.
CF Montreal won the Voyageurs Cup with a 1-0 victory over Toronto FC in the Canadian Championship final on Sunday afternoon at Saputo Stadium.
On his first start in the CF Montreal uniform since October 2, Romell Quioto scored the only goal of the game in the 72nd minute of play.
The goal capped off a spectacular performance from the Honduran, who attempted six shots on goalkeeper Quentin Westberg, including four on-target within 79 minutes.
The fourth got through -- a goal Quioto celebrated by looking towards the crowd, stretching out his arms, smiling and placing his finger on the circular CF Montreal logo on his jersey.
Quioto's goal put an exclamation mark on a dominant performance by CF Montreal who directed 23 balls to Westberg, nine of which were on-target.
Meanwhile, goalkeeper Sebastian Breza had a calmer afternoon. That is, until the final minutes of play.
He battled a close-call when a shot from Jordan Perruzza rolled over the post to his left, while out of position, in the 90th minute.
“For me, the guys did well. Yes, it took a while to score that goal, but I didn't feel my players were in danger. They were in control of the situation,” said CF Montreal Manager Wilfred Nancy.
“The goal arrived. It's normal for the opposition to turn up the pressure, but I felt my players were strong,” he said.
CF Montreal's goalkeeper Sebastian Breza makes a save against Toronto FC's Nick DeLeon during second half Canadian Championship soccer action in Montreal, Sunday, November 21, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graham Hughes
After the final whistle, the CF Montreal players hugged each other and jumped for joy in the middle of the field, under the eyes of fans who had already been standing in anticipation.
After the game, Breza earned the title of MVP of the Canadian Championship.
Breza played in all three CF Montreal games during this tournament and conceded only one goal.
He also scored the decisive goal against Forge FC in the 11th round of the semi-final shootout on October 27.
Despite that, Breza said he was surprised to receive the honour.
“We only played three games and I touched the ball maybe 15 times,” he said.
“We’ll take it,” he said, speaking of the cup. “I have a flowerpot now!”
Sunday marked the end of Montreal’s 11th conquest of the Voyageurs Cup, which it also won against Toronto FC in 2019.
With this victory under its belt, CF Montreal will play in the Concacaf Champions League tournament in 2022. The draw is due to take place in mid-December and the first matches are expected to start in the third week of February.
-- This article was first published by The Canadian Press in French on Nov. 21, 2021.
