Prince Owusu scored two first-half goals to help CF Montreal qualify for the Canadian Championship final, beating the Vancouver Whitecaps 2-1 on Wednesday and 3-2 on aggregate.
Montreal (5-14-6) will be participating in their first Canadian Championship final since 2023, knocking off the defending champions, as Vancouver’s (14-6-4) run of consecutive titles ends with four.
With the game effectively a single-elimination tie after the first-leg draw at BC Place, neither team took many risks in the opening phase. As both teams settled into their game plans, Vancouver had the majority of the ball, but it was Montreal who was finding spaces in the final third against the run of play.
At the half-hour mark, their counterattacks paid off as Montreal opened the scoring. While both were going up for a header in the penalty area, Sam Adekugbe elbowed Daniel Rios in the head.
While the penalty wasn’t called on the field, Montreal interim head coach challenged the play, which was overturned. Owusu — with five goals from the spot to his name already this season — made no mistake in adding a sixth.
Just before the stroke of halftime, Montreal doubled their lead through yet another counterattack. Matty Longstaff caught out the Vancouver defence with a ball in behind to Owusu, who outwaited goalkeeper Isaac Boehmer and slotted the ball into the left-hand corner.
With their tournament on the line, Vancouver doubled their efforts in the second half in a desperate search for a way back into the game. What they were met with instead was a resolute defensive block from Montreal that gave very little in the way of space to exploit.
In fact, Montreal on many occasions looked more likely to find a third than Vancouver was to pull one back.
Vancouver finally found their way past goalkeeper Sebastian Breza in the first minute of added time. Emmanuel Sabbi carved out enough space to get on the end of a cross and fired a powerful volley into the bottom right corner.
Montreal will now have to wait a month before hosting Forge FC in the final of the Canadian Championship on Oct. 21 at Stade Saputo.
UP NEXT
Vancouver: Return to MLS action on the road against Real Salt Lake on Saturday.
Montreal: Return to MLS action by hosting the Columbus Crew on Saturday.