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Montreal Gazette
15 hours ago
- Sport
- Montreal Gazette
CF Montréal remains winless at home with 3-1 loss to FC Cincinnati
Club de Foot Montreal Prince Owusu can feel the pressure building with losses piling up at Stade Saputo. CF Montreal remains winless at home after losing 3-1 to FC Cincinnati in Major League Soccer action Wednesday night. 'We want it so much that I feel like we get stiff,' the German forward said. 'We have to get this stiffness away, communicate more and be brave. 'We play too hectic, or too nervous, at home than away. I think we have to find solutions for that.' Brazilian midfielder Evander scored twice to reach nine goals on the season while fellow star player Luca Orellano also found the back of the net for Cincinnati (11-5-3), which ranks second in the Eastern Conference. Cincinnati had one victory in its previous five games. Owusu converted his third goal in two games for Montreal (2-12-5). The club failed to carry momentum into the match after earning its second win this season, 3-1 on the road over the Houston Dynamo on June 14. Montreal, which sits last in the East, fell to 0-5-3 at Stade Saputo. 'The confidence that we usually need to have as the home team is right now not there,' Owusu said. 'It's a mental thing, to be honest, because away you could see — we play.' Assistant coach David Sauvry filled in for Marco Donadel along the touchline while the interim head coach served a one-match suspension for an accumulation of yellow cards. Sauvry said his squad played a solid first 30 minutes, but a breakdown late in the first half changed the course of the match as Montreal tried to erase a deficit. 'For me, the moment you concede the first goal, it's not the same,' he said. 'The energy level when you're pushing to come back and when you're trying to score and exploit some moments, it's not the same.' Evander opened the scoring just before first-half injury time when he controlled a hard cross from DeAndre Yedlin and slotted a left-footed finish past Montreal 'keeper Jonathan Sirois on a balmy, 25 C evening. Yedlin broke down the right side, overlapping a confused Montreal defence, before finding Evander, who was named to the MLS all-star roster earlier Wednesday. 'We have to be more focused,' centre back George Campbell said. 'We can't just pick our target and then let them run in behind us or dribble past us.' Adding to the defeat, centre back Jalen Neal, attacking midfielder Caden Clark and captain Samuel Piette exited the match with apparent injuries. Piette's ailment seemed to be the least serious of the three. Sauvry did not have an update post-game. 'It's terrible for the team,' Campbell said. 'But we have other guys ready to play and we need to be encouraged that those guys can do the same job, if not better.' Montreal substitute Dante Sealy, moments after coming on the field in the 55th minute, nearly equalized by cutting inside to his left foot, but sent his shot from the top of the box just over the bar. After Cincinnati top scorer Kévin Denkey failed to convert a quality chance, Orellano dribbled through Montreal's defence for a flashy goal to double the lead in the 65th minute. Evander made it a brace in the 83rd, finishing Lukas Engel's low pass from the centre of the box to make it 3-0. 'They have a lot of quality, but I think they didn't play their best game today, so it was a big chance for us to win this game,' Owusu said. 'Sometimes I had the feeling we had too much respect for them.' Owusu got Montreal on the board with a beautiful header off Jules-Anthony Vilsaint's cross in the 89th minute. Cincinnati looked like the stronger side in the first half, edging Montreal 7-5 on the shot count, including 5-1 on target. Montreal created chances early in the first 45 minutes. Clark sent a superb through ball with Tom Pearce streaking down the left side in the seventh minute, but Pearce shot wide on a golden opportunity. Pearce was at it again in the 13th minute. This time he blasted down the left wing and fired a sharp-angle attempt at the near post, but Celentano turned it aside with his right arm. 'We have to analyze this game tomorrow and take the good parts, learn from the mistakes,' Owusu said. 'That's a big thing this season. To learn from the mistakes, because we do too many individual mistakes again and again and again.' Montreal has the lowest payroll in the league once again, according to figures released Wednesday by the MLS Players Association. The roster's total salary adds up to US$11.99 million, roughly 1.3 million less than the next-closest Philadelphia Union. Cincinnati, meanwhile, has the league's fourth-highest payroll of $23.18 million. Cincinnati: Visits Orlando SC on Saturday.
Montreal Gazette
27-05-2025
- Business
- Montreal Gazette
Despite abysmal record, CF Montréal sticking with developmental philosophy
Club de Foot Montreal By La Presse Canadienne CF Montréal's development project is here to stay, and the results of the 2025 season won't change a thing. Fans who turned out at Saputo Stadium last Saturday night saw a number of star players. The problem was, they were all wearing Los Angeles FC jerseys. One of them, Olivier Giroud, made the difference and tied the game in the second half, only five minutes after coming on as a substitute. That's the kind of tangible impact a player earning US$2.8 million — roughly two-thirds of the bleu-blanc-noir's payroll — can have. Nevertheless, that's not what's going to convince CF Montréal president and CEO Gabriel Gervais to go on a spending spree. If a star player were to arrive in town, he would have to fit in very well with the club's philosophy without undermining youth development. 'If there's a concrete opportunity that doesn't sacrifice everything else, and it's a veteran who can help drive progress, we'll take it,' Gervais said on Monday at a news conference that took stock of the team's very difficult start to the season. I'm not going to hide from you, either; we're going to bank on investments from the under-22s, like Hennadii Synchuk.' Pulling out the chequebook for Giroud, or even Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and company would not be viable for the Montreal market, not least because ticket prices could double, Gervais argued. In the meantime, fans will have to make do with watching those types of stars when they face off against CF Montréal. And what to make of the strategy Gervais and senior management are betting on? The objective is clear: Acquire young players, develop them and then sell them. And the wheel turns. If, in the meantime, the team can manage to qualify for the MLS playoffs, as it did last year, then that's a bonus. This season, that goal appears far out of reach. Montreal's 1-9-5 record in MLS and defeat in the first leg of the Canadian Championship quarterfinals against Hamilton's Forge FC might have raised doubts, but Gervais insists the team's philosophy has not wavered. The president did say, however, that the desire to win was still very strong within the organization and that introspection had been carried out on how to get there. 'We want to develop young players, have a local flavour, graduate players from the Academy, but we want to win,' he said. With the Montrealers occupying second-to-last place in the overall MLS standings, fans are entitled to wonder whether the losing environment might be hindering the progression of the team's youngsters. While he's not happy about the current situation, Gervais says the experience the organization's young players have had this season could serve to build character. 'It's possible to develop under any circumstances. We're in a difficult period, but our young players are going through it. If you always develop by winning, do you know how to get through the tougher times? Obviously, we'd like to be in a better situation, but every defeat is an opportunity to learn. Of course, when the collective is successful, it's easier for the personal project,' the president said. In the short term, Gervais is optimistic he can field a competitive team and turn things around. 'There's still a lot of soccer to be played,' he noted. 'Anything can happen during the rest of the season; I talked about that last year, too, when we had very little chance of making the playoffs. The players, coaches and organization believe in it, and we're asking our fans to believe in it. There's the return leg of the Canadian Championship, too, and the League Cup is coming up. We're aware that we need to make changes to improve the team on the field.'
