MONTRÉAL – CF Montréal earned its first win of the 2023 season, defeating the Philadelphia Union 3-2 in its home opener Saturday night at Olympic Stadium.
Romell Quioto opened the scoring for the Montrealers on a penalty kick in the third minute of play. However, Mikael Uhre equalized for the Union early into the second half (46').
Uhre then collected a brace on the hour mark on a counter-attack, but a late header from CF Montréal forward Chinonso Offor in the 90th minute leveled things at 2-2.
Quioto ultimately gave Montreal the win in extra time (90'+8'), as the Union with 10 men since the 69th minute.
After the international break, CF Montréal will be on the west coast to take on the Vancouver Whitecaps on Saturday, April 1 at 10:30pm EDT at BC Place (Apple MLS Season Pass, BPM Sports, CJAD 800).
COMPLETE SUMMARY HERE
MATCH NOTES:
-Romell Quioto's brace was his 32nd and 33rd goals with CF Montréal, while Chinonso Offor scored his first career goal with the Club.
-Attendance for the game was 23,353, a record for the Club in a home opener match since 2018 against Toronto FC (26,005).
-Mason Toye played in his 40th regular season game with the Club
HERNÁN LOSADA
“The game tonight is hard to explain, but the best answer is that this is soccer. That's why the fans come to the stadium. The victory feels good, but especially the way we earned it because we didn't deserve to lose this game. We found solutions with the substitutions, and we went for it. There can be a lot of planning before a game, but game days can turn out very differently. I'm happy for the group. They gave it their all. The win is the least we could do for the fans who were there tonight.”
VICTOR WANYAMA
“A game against Philadelphia is always tough. We are developing a rivalry with them. We were ready to fight tonight. I'm glad we were able to get as many points as possible. We had to push. We were down for a lot of the game, but we fought back. We knew a draw wasn't enough at home. The fighting spirit is still there in the team, and we showed character.”
JONATHAN SIROIS
“I will remember this game with all that drama for the rest of my life. I feel like I'm getting better with each game. I'm trying to improve a few things here and there, but it was an indescribable feeling to hear the support from the crowd. Even though the Union was playing short a man, we were also down a goal. We showed a lot of mental strength by staying locked in and continuing to push. It has been a rough start to the season, but we took a step in the right direction tonight.”
