FT. LAUDERDALE, Florida - In its 400th MLS regular-season match, and 200th road game since 2012, CF Montréal earned a 3-2 victory over Inter Miami CF on Sunday at Chase Stadium.
Laurent Courtois's side opened their season with seven points from a possible nine (2-0-1) and remained unbeaten in three road games, their second-best start since joining MLS. The Club also improved its overall record against the Herons to 6-2-1 and 3-2-0 at Chase Stadium.
Montréal opened the scoring in the 13th minute with Fernando Álvarez's header from a corner, his first career goal.
Miami levelled the score in the 71st minute when striker Leonardo Campana headed home his first of the season.
Montreal quickly regained the lead thanks to striker Matías Cóccaro, who also scored his first goal for the Bleu-blanc-noir with a header from a free kick by midfielder Mathieu Choinière.
Striker Sunusi Ibrahim scored Montréal's third goal in the 77th minute to give the visitors a two-goal lead.
Miami cut CF Montréal's lead in the 80th minute with a shot from outside the box by Jordi Alba.
The Bleu-blanc-noir will play their next match against Chicago Fire FC on Saturday, March 16 at Soldier Field at 2pm EDT.
MATCH NOTES:
- Defender Fernando Álvarez and forward Matías Cóccaro scored their first MLS goals.
- Laurent Courtois won the most points in his first three away games for a first-year MLS head coach (seven) since Phil Neville (seven) in 2021.
- CF Montréal have not trailed in the last six halves in MLS.
- Striker Sunusi Ibrahim scored his first goal of the season (8th in MLS).
- Defender Joel Waterman and midfielder Bryce Duke played their 90th MLS match.
- Midfielder Ariel Lassiter played his 125th MLS match.
- Midfielder Mathieu Choinière made his 75th MLS start.
- Bryce Duke, Ariel Lassiter and forward Josef Martínez returned to Chase Stadium after playing for Inter Miami CF in 2023.
LAURENT COURTOIS
"Romuald Peiser and Laurent Ciman spend a lot of time on defensive set-ups, David Sauvry works a lot on offensive set-ups and I'm glad we've been rewarded because that's also the mark of good teams. You try to have an identity and ideas for the game that enable you to create those moments and then make sure you minimize them. Credit to the staff for performing well in both boxes and for putting in a lot of effort, energy and concentration. It's not easy when you're tired not to make bad moves and do things that are a bit dangerous. I'm happy for them that they've been rewarded for their efforts."
FERNANDO ÁLVAREZ
“To be honest, the strongest part of the team is that it doesn't matter who plays, everyone has the same idea. I am feeling comfortable with every single man in my team. It doesn't matter if I'm playing with Lassiter, with Raheem, with Joel, with Gabriele, with George. It's all the same, they're on the same page. They're gonna give the same effort. That's the best thing that we have. We have a really compact team, it doesn't matter who plays. The other team also deserves the two goals because they were working for that but we deserve the win more because we were managing the game. It was tough for us, with the weather, to be away, it was difficult for us but we always try to do our best. We still have other away games but we'll try to win every single match.”
SAMUEL PIETTE
"Big result. It wasn't easy, we knew it was a very hostile place, but I'm especially proud that everyone contributed. Whether it was Fernando who scored his first goal, or Matías who was in the starting line-up and scored his first goal. It's going to do him a lot of good after those two little chances he missed in the first half. Sunusi (Ibrahim) too, we saw that whether it was Raheem (Edwards) who came on or even Josef (Martínez) who helped us get a result. We don't just have 11 or 13 players, we really have a complete team and we're all on the same page and everyone's producing in some way. Whether it's scoring goals, making passes or with physical effort, I'm very very happy. We remain unbeaten in a very difficult place in Miami with their superstars, they're the team of the moment, so to come and get a win there and remain unbeaten, it's good for our spirits and I'm very proud of everyone.”
