La défaite du CF Montréal contre le Columbus Crew scelle son exclusion des éliminatoires de la MLS

Columbus 2 – Montréal 1 (Final Score): CF Montréal will not make the playoffs.

COLUMBUS, Ohio – CF Montréal fought hard but was defeated 2-1 by the Columbus Crew on Saturday night, and a few minutes later their hearts were broken even more.

As the match was over and the Bleu-blanc-noir held onto the ninth and final spot in the Eastern Conference, the New York Red Bulls scored a penalty goal in stoppage time of the second half of their match in Nashville, snatching the last available spot from the Montréal team.

This is a tough blow for CF Montréal (12-17-5), who will have only themselves to blame for their exclusion from the playoffs. The team had a record of 1-5-3 in their last nine matches of the season.

Sunusi Ibrahim scored in the early minutes of the game to give CF Montréal the lead. Cucho Hernandez and Darlington Nagbe responded to give the victory to the Crew (16-9-9).

Thanks to their triumph, the Columbus team secured third place in the Eastern Conference standings. They also set a team record for the most points accumulated at home in a season, with 40.

CF Montréal suffered their first defeat of the season after scoring the first goal of a match (12-1-1). They finished the season with the second worst away record in the MLS (2-13-2).

The club was without the services of Quebecois Mathieu Choinière, who was absent due to a hamstring injury. Losada had mentioned on Thursday that his midfielder got injured during his time with the Canadian national team last week.

Imperial Hernandez

The Montréal team couldn’t have asked for a better start to the match. After resisting some attacks from the Crew, they opened the scoring in the seventh minute.

Positioned in midfield, Nathan Saliba made a superb pass to the right to Zachary Brault-Guillard, who outpaced an opponent. Brault-Guillard played a ball from the left side to Ibrahim, who shot on the rebound. Goalkeeper Patrick Schulte blocked the attempt, but not enough to keep it out of the net.

However, the Crew kept their cool and quickly launched their attack. Hernandez had a good scoring opportunity

in the 16th minute, following a nice cross from Steven Moreira, but his deflected shot missed the target.

The Colombian made up for it a minute later. After a defensive confusion in the Montréal penalty area, Moreira slid the ball towards Hernandez, who curled a magnificent shot against the post to the left of Jonathan Sirois and into the net. This was Hernandez’s 10th goal since the beginning of September, a record in the MLS.

This goal energized the home team, who orchestrated numerous attacks in the final third. However, CF Montréal’s defensive block blocked several shots from the Crew, including the most important one in the 31st minute, when Joel Waterman threw himself in front of a powerful shot from Hernandez.

CF Montréal started the second half in the opposite way of the first. The Crew managed to advance the ball with several swift passes, and Nagbe accepted a pass from Malte Amundsen to beat Sirois in the 50th minute.

Wilfried Nancy’s team buzzed just seven minutes later. Alexandru Matan made a spectacular run into the penalty area, but Sirois extended his arm to make him lose control of the ball before blocking Hernandez’s shot.

Feeling the pressure for the playoffs, the Montréal team increased the pressure for about ten minutes. They managed to earn a few corner kicks and take some shots towards the goal, but couldn’t break through the opposing defense.

Hernandez had one last golden opportunity in the 73rd minute, but was frustrated by Sirois.

And the “Decision Day” that played out in the final moments

Despite their defeat against the Crew, CF Montréal still found themselves in the playoff picture at the end of their match.

In ninth and final place for the playoffs, CFM was scheduled to face Charlotte in a play-in match on Wednesday.

However, the Red Bulls had the opportunity to save their season in stoppage time. John Tolkin converted a penalty in the 94th minute to propel them into the playoffs.

Charlotte confirmed their spot in the playoffs with a 1-0 victory over Inter Miami. The presence of Lionel Messi in Miami’s starting eleven was not enough to turn the tide in their favor. Charlotte will therefore face the Red Bulls in the play-in match.

Meanwhile, New York City FC also had slim chances of being among the last nine teams in the East. New York’s 1-0 victory over the Chicago Fire did not qualify them for the playoffs.