Forge FC edges CF Montreal in first leg of Telus Canadian Championship quarterfinal

Winnipeg Free Press

21-05-2025

HAMILTON – Brian Wright's 78th-minute goal lifted Forge FC to a 1-0 win over CF Montreal in the first leg of their Telus Canadian Championship quarterfinal Tuesday.
After a lacklustre first half dominated by the Canadian Premier League side, Montreal offered more to start the second half with spells of possession.
But Forge broke the deadlock with Ghanaian winger Nana Opoku Ampomah curling a glorious ball over defender Brandan Craig's head for Wright to run onto in the Montreal penalty box. Goalkeeper Jonathan Sirois came off his line but Wright beat him to the ball, flicking it over the 'keeper before heading it into the open goal.
It was a rare scoring chance on the night at Hamilton Stadium.
The return leg is July 9 at Stade Saputo. The away goals rule is not in effect in the Canadian Championship.
It marks the fifth straight year that Montreal and Forge have met in cup play.
Montreal won the first three of those meetings — via penalty shootout in the 2021 semifinals (8-7 after the game ended in a scoreless draw), 3-0 in the '22 quarterfinal and 2-0 in the '23 semifinal.
Forge edged Montreal 3-2 in last year's two-legged quarterfinal. After dispatching Montreal last year, Forge fell to Toronto FC on the away goals rule after the two-legged semifinal finished knotted at 2-2.
In the other quarterfinal Tuesday, the defending champion Vancouver Whitecaps visited Valour FC.
On Wednesday, it's CPL champion Cavalry FC at Vancouver FC. Atletico Ottawa hosts York United on June 11.
Semifinal matchups will be redrawn following the conclusion of the quarterfinals.
Coming off a 2-2 draw May 13 against league-leading Atletico Ottawa, Forge (2-0-4) is one of only two unbeaten teams in the CPL. But wins have been hard to come by and the Hamilton side sits fourth in the eight-team league.
Forge has played four straight league draws, rallying from deficits to tie three of them.
Montreal (1-9-4) is mired at the bottom of Major League Soccer's Eastern Conference.
Forge had the better of the first half with 63 per cent possession and Montreal offering little more than hopeful long balls up the field. The CPL side outshot Montreal 4-2 but neither team managed a shot on target.
Montreal's xG (expected goals) was 0.07 in the first half, compared to 0.37 for Forge.
Noah Jensen put the ball in the Montreal goal in the 11th minute, picking up the scraps after Wright failed to make proper contact on a Mo Babouli cross into the penalty box. But Wright went early and the goal was called back for offside.
Forge came close in the 18th with three players in the Montreal box trying unsuccessfully to put a shot on target through traffic in front during a wild sequence.
Fernando Alvarez had Montreal's first chance off a corner in the 35th minute but his close-range shot was blocked by a defender.
There was some bad blood in the 66th when Samuel Piette shoved Wright, who was blocking Sirois, on a Forge free kick. A scuffle ensued but broke up without incident.
Interim Montreal coach Marco Donadel made seven changes to the starting 11 that was thumped 6-1 by Toronto FC in league play Saturday. Canadian defender Joel Waterman, sent off in the 21st minute Saturday, captained Montreal for the cup game with Piette starting on the bench.
Montreal won its preliminary-round matchup via penalty shootout after Giacomo Vrioni's 88th-minute goal tied the game at 2-2. Forge downed Halifax Wanderers 3-1 in its opener.
Both teams started five Canadians.
Montreal was missing injured defender George Campbell and midfielders Bryce Duke, Fabian Herbers, Dominic Iankov and Hennadii Synchuk.
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Forge was without injured attackers Tristan Borges and Mathieu Choiniere and influential midfielder Alessandro Hojabrpour.
Forge coach Bobby Smyrniotis made just two changes to his starting lineup with defenders Marko Jevremovic and Malik Owolabi-Belewu returning from injury. Alexander Achinioti-Jönsson moved into the midfield from the backline to fill in for Hojabrpour.
The Canadian Championship winner hoists the Voyagers Cup, earns $50,000 and a berth in the CONCACAF Champions Cup.
Montreal has won the cup competition five times, most recently in 2021, and finished runner-up three times. Forge made the cup final in the pandemic-delayed 2020 edition, losing to Toronto via penalty shootout in a tournament reduced to a championship game.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 20, 2025.