CF Montreal 0 – Columbus Crew 0 | “A very good draw”

Laurent Courtois would have preferred to leave the home of his former team with three points, but his men gave everything to at least bring one back in their suitcases.

CF Montreal held off the reigning MLS champions and recorded a 0-0 draw against the Columbus Crew on Saturday evening at Lower.com Field.

Playing a match at the home of the Crew (3-1-6) is not an easy task, but during the first 45 minutes, the Bleu-blanc-noir seemed calm and in control of its means. Then, caution gave way to recklessness.

Both teams opened the game, sometimes even giving the opposition very good scoring chances, but when the final whistle sounded, no ball had crossed the goal line.

For Courtois, this was a logical result that once again showed that his team could compete with anyone in the MLS.

“It could have gone one way or the other,” analyzed the head coach.

Courtois returned to Columbus, where he managed Crew 2 in MLS Next Pro for two years. Before the meeting, he took the time to chat with his counterpart Wilfried Nancy.

“We talked about everything. From the family, the city, from my first steps as head coach in the MLS and from his second year here, with the challenges that it represents to be part of lots of competitions,” noted Courtois.

CF Montreal (3-3-3), which will now head to Tennessee to face Nashville SC next Saturday, had its third outing in a row without defeat (1-0-2).

On the other side of the field, the Crew recorded a fifth consecutive draw and remained unbeaten at home for 21^e straight game (15-0-6). He has not lost in front of his supporters since April 29, 2023.

In addition to attackers Matias Cóccaro, Josef Martínez and Kwadwo Opoku, midfielder Lassi Lappalainen and defender Joaquin Sosa were absent for Montreal.

The game comes alive

Carried by their supporters, the Crew started the game well, but their offensive thrusts were slowed down by the Montreal defense.

After a corner kick from both sides, the Bleu-blanc-noir managed the only shot on target in the half, in the 12th^e minute. On the left flank, Ariel Lassiter fired a powerful shot, but goalkeeper Patrick Schulte was ready.

The visitors had a better chance to score, around 10 minutes later. Defender Yevhen Cheberko committed a turnover in his penalty area, but teammate Malte Amundsen came to save the day by preventing Mason Toye from shooting.

The rest of the half turned out to be a real trench war, combined with a game of chess in the middle of the field. Midfielder Raheem Edwards was notably involved in several physical duels with Mohamed Farsi, including one in his penalty area, when he made a surgical tackle which caused the Quebecer to lose the ball.

The Crew opened the valves in the second half with four dangerous shots in the first four minutes.

Marino Hinestroza started the fire when he hit the horizontal bar while Alexandru Irinel Matan had done everything for him in front of George Campbell and Joel Waterman.

Moments later, Jacen Russell-Rowe, Aidan Morris and Max Arfsten took turns forcing goalkeeper Jonathan Sirois to put his hands out to block their shot.

The chaos continued at 61^e minute. On the counterattack, Russell-Rowe put it back in front of the penalty area to Morris, but his shot was blocked by Samuel Piette. On the return, Russell-Rowe headed the ball, but onto the horizontal bar.

The Montrealers also knocked on the door, a few minutes later. Bryce Duke launched Jules-Anthony Vilsaint well into the penalty area, but his right-footed shot was saved by diving by Schulte.

At the 82^e minute, Yaw Yeboah broke away from Ruan somewhat in the penalty area, but as he struggled to keep his balance, his shot went to the left of Sirois and out of bounds.

The Crew gave a final warning shot in stoppage time, but Arfsten came up against Sirois, who made a spectacular save with his right hand.

“We knew they were going to come out in the second half and give us something different. They didn’t have many chances in the first half. For us, it was about managing the storm. We had to ensure that our collective effort was good and that our counter-pressure was also good. Columbus is a very good team. Under the circumstances, it’s a very good draw,” Waterman stressed.