CHICAGO, Illinois - CF Montréal played a 1-1 draw against Chicago Fire FC at Soldier Field on Saturday evening.
The Montrealers collected a point in Marco Donadel's first game as the first team's interim head coach.
Chicago scored the first goal of the game late in the first half with a 40th-minute strike from Philip Zinckernagel.
CF Montréal then levelled the score in the 51st minute. Dante Sealy scored his first goal in a Montreal uniform, volleying home a cross from Luca Petrasso.
CF Montréal will play the final game of a seven-game away stint on Saturday, April 5 at Lower.com Field against the Columbus Crew at 7:30pm EDT (MLS Season Pass, BPM Sports, CJAD 800). The Bleu-blanc-noir will then host Charlotte FC for its home opener at Stade Saputo on Saturday, April 12 at 7:30pm EDT (MLS Season Pass, RDS, TSN, BPM Sports, CJAD 800).
GAME SUMMARY **HERE**
GAME NOTES
-Joel Waterman reached the 10,000-minute mark in MLS in the 58th minute. Waterman became the 6th field player in Club history to reach this milestone.
-George Campbell earned his 50th start with CF Montréal.
-Luca Petrasso registered his first assist for CF Montréal, his fifth in MLS.
Post-match comments from interim head coach Marco Donadel, Luca Petrasso and Dante Sealy are available HERE.
MARCO DONADEL
“We are happy. It's a very good performance. We are pleased with the performance but we are not satisfied with the result. I saw immediately in the eyes of the guys that were, of course, happy and relieved. But at the same time, they weren't really satisfied, and this is a very good thing for me. We want to play with the ball, and we are not satisfied when the opposition tries to play. This is something that they showed and I'm super honoured and happy because tonight I asked them this, and only this, and they did it.”
LUCA PETRASSO
“Right from the beginning of the game all the way to the end of the game, we were fluid. We were enjoying ourselves, creating so many chances, even in the first half. I think the big thing was that even when we conceded in the first half, we came to the locker room and said: ‘We've been playing so well, just go out there and keep showing it, and sooner or later, one of the goals is going to go in.’ And I knew that once we get one goal, then more chances would come. I think the boys just felt happy to be out there and enjoying themselves and the more chances we create, the more confident we get. I think it was, overall, a very good performance. I think it should have been a win, but we're definitely happy with that and going in the right direction.”
DANTE SEALY
“That was a great feeling. It felt good to be back in, in my most comfortable position and as a team, I think we played really well. We fought really hard, we responded and I think it was a positive game for us to build moving forward. We created a lot of chances that we weren't really generating in the first few weeks. So I think that as it goes on, as we keep getting reps and keep building our confidence, I think it will be good for us.”