MONTREAL — CF Montreal are still winless in MLS after falling 2-1 at home to the Philadelphia Union on Saturday afternoon.
Philadelphia’s (1-0-1) goal scorers were Alejandro Bedoya and Daniel Gazdag while Montreal’s (0-2-0) lone goal came through Lassi Lappalainen.
Montreal started off controlling possession and dictating the pace but were unable to break through Philadelphia’s two banks of four.
The first major chance of the game was Philadelphia’s when a defensive mix-up led to Julián Carranza’s shot point blank forcing a crucial save from Sebastian Breza.
Just after the half-hour mark, Lappalainen’s shot deflected off Nathan Harriel, arcing over everyone and opening the scoring for Montreal.
While Philadelphia gradually started to impose their will on the game, neither team threatened to add to the scoreboard.
Five minutes into the second half, Djordje Mihailovic picked up the ball at midfield and ran through the entire Philadelphia defence before slotting the ball into the bottom corner.
Controversially, the goal was disallowed as VAR decided that Mihailovic had committed a foul before his goal.
Only three minutes later, following a mad scramble for the ball in the Montreal penalty area, Bedoya found a loose ball and smashed it into the right corner, tying the game at one.
Things only got worse for Montreal as Philadelphia added another goal three minutes later. Carranza was played in behind the Montreal defence and squared it for Gazdag who gave the Union the lead.
As Montreal continued to push for an equalizer, a rocket from Lappalainen was headed straight for the top corner, forcing an acrobatic save by Andre Blake, waking up the 13,000 fans in attendance.
Less than a minute later, Carranza’s studs-up tackle on Zachary Brault-Guillard saw him get sent off for his second yellow card offence and reducing Philadelphia to 10 men.
With less than 10 minutes to go, Kamal Miller was gifted a wide-open header, but could not hit the target.
Montreal failed to generate any chances after that, with Philadelphia sitting deep and repelling every wave of attack.
Montreal will now shift its attention to the CONCACAF Champions League quarterfinals as the team heads to the Estadio Azteca to face Cruz Azul in the first leg on March 9.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March. 5, 2022.
Elias Grigoriadis, The Canadian Press
Note to readers: CORRECTS: Union sted United in lede, Montreal record to 0-2-0