MONTREAL – CF Montréal fell 3-1 to the Columbus Crew on Wednesday evening at Stade Saputo.
The visitors were the first to open the scoring with a 19th-minute goal from Maximilian Arfsten.
The Bleu-blanc-noir then equalized on a penalty converted by Mathieu Choinière late in the first half (45'+2) following a foul committed in the 18-yard box against defender Joaquín Sosa.
However, the Crew scored two unanswered goals to seal the result via Diego Rossi (59') and Marino Hinestroza (89').
CF Montréal's busy schedule continues this weekend with the first Canadian Classique of 2024 when the team visits Toronto FC this Saturday at 7:30pm at BMO Field (MLS Season Pass, BPM Sports, TSN 690).
COMPLETE SUMMARY HERE
MATCH NOTES:
-CF Montréal played a fourth consecutive match in front of a sell-out crowd to begin its home season, tying a record set in 2016.
-Mathieu Choinière, Samuel Piette and Joel Waterman are all currently on four yellow cards each.
-Choinière scored his first goal of the season. It was his 10th in MLS. He becomes the second Homegrown player to reach this plateau.
-Alessandro Biello played his first MLS minutes with the Club.
LAURENT COURTOIS
“I'm disappointed to concede the last goal like that. But it's up to me to find the winning formulas and identify the phases of the game. We have to grit our teeth and find solutions. Although, the difficult stretch we are going through is helping me identify my roster. I want to get to know the players better. From all the negative that we might see, I can identify a few individual aspects to improve the game or improve the roster itself. Columbus has an impressive mastery of their collective. Even so, I thought the guys gave them problems. There's also a necessary rotation phase that gives opportunities to players who haven't had the playing time they'd hoped for.”
MATHIEU CHOINIÈRE
“I want to give 100% and give everything for this club. I'm focused on my game and I want to help my team play at their best. We need to be more decisive. We also need to be more consistent, create more chances and solidify our defensive shape. We're building something positive in the Montreal midfield. And we're not outplayed either. Columbus came back strongly in the second half. We tried to adapt, but we weren't able to. We worked hard and we were still in the game right up to the end. We have to believe in what we're doing. We can hurt any team at any time.”
SAMUEL PIETTE
“We were looking forward to returning home, but it's not ideal not to pick up any points. It's frustrating. We're doing some good things. But we're punished for our mistakes. Tonight, we had moments of commitment. But we lacked it at other times. To get a result in Toronto, we're going to have to be more present, both in duels and mentality. We pressed harder in the second half. But we got caught out on the counterattacks. We need to have more bite and show that we're in it for the three points.”
