MONTREAL — After a commanding victory in the biggest club competition in CONCACAF against one of the most storied teams in Mexico, CF Montreal appears to have hit a bit of a slump.
Montreal is still winless through two games in MLS after falling 2-1 in its home opener to the Philadelphia Union on Saturday afternoon, 10 days after defeating Mexican side Santos Laguna 3-0 in the Champions League.
CF Montreal then lost 2-0 to Orlando City SC in its MLS season opener last weekend. Montreal now shifts its attention back to the Champions League as the team heads to the Estadio Azteca to face Cruz Azul in the first leg of the quarterfinal on March 9.
“It was just an off day for us. It’s the second game of the season and my first with these guys. I’m sure we’ll connect and click when the time comes,” said Kei Kamara, who made his first start for Montreal. “We learned from last week and we’ll learn from this week, and it’ll push us into Wednesday (against Cruz Azul)."
Philadelphia’s (1-0-1) goal scorers were Alejandro Bedoya and Daniel Gazdag while Montreal’s (0-2-0) lone goal came through Lassi Lappalainen.
Montreal started off controlling possession and dictating the pace but were unable to break through Philadelphia’s two banks of four.
The first major chance of the game was Philadelphia’s when a defensive mix-up led to Julian Carranza’s shot, point blank, forcing a crucial save from Sebastian Breza 15 minutes in.
Just after the half-hour mark, Lappalainen’s shot surprised everyone, including himself when it deflected off Nathan Harriel, soaring over everyone and opening the scoring for Montreal.
While Philadelphia gradually started to impose their will on the game, neither team threatened to add to the scoreboard.
“Some games it’s just not there and things don’t click as well,” said Zachary Brault-Guillard. “We’ve got great players all over and just stick to the system, we know how to play. We’re more analyzed than ever and teams figure out ways to play against us.”
Five minutes into the second half, Djordje Mihailovic picked up the ball at midfield and ran through the entire Philadelphia defence before slotting the ball into the bottom corner.
Controversially, the goal was disallowed as VAR decided Mihailovic had committed a foul before his goal.
“This VAR thing, we all love it, and we all hate it,” said Kamara. “The referee is in the middle of the pitch and saw the play and he let it go. That’s what happens, it’s physical and you let it go. So it’s kind of shocking that he was then told to go look that play over again.”
Only three minutes later, following a mad scramble for the ball in the Montreal penalty area, Bedoya found a loose ball and smashed it into the right corner, tying the game at one.
Things only got worse for Montreal as Philadelphia added another goal three minutes later. Carranza was played in behind the Montreal defence and squared it for Gazdag who gave the Union the lead.
The crowd at Olympic Stadium was stunned as what appeared to be a 2-0 lead dissipated into a 2-1 deficit in the span of less than 10 minutes.
“Is it a question of mental aspect or tactical aspect, I think it’s all connected,” said Montreal head coach Wilfried Nancy. “I don’t know if it’s because they disallowed the goal, but everything in a game plays into momentum.”
As Montreal continued to push for an equalizer, a rocket from Lappalainen was headed straight for the top corner, forcing an acrobatic save by Andre Blake, waking up the 13,000 fans in attendance.
Less than a minute later, Carranza’s studs-up tackle on Brault-Guillard saw him get sent off for his second yellow card offence and reducing Philadelphia to 10 men.
With less than 10 minutes to go, Kamal Miller was gifted a wide-open header, but could not hit the target.
“I have the options I have at the moment,” said Nancy when asked about a lack of attacking players. “I decided to switch things up to prioritize crosses into the box, but we just have to play to our strengths.”
Montreal failed to generate any chances after that, with Philadelphia sitting deep and repelling every wave of attack.
