Quioto’s irrationalism, CF Montréal’s defensive blunders cost team in season opener

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Wilfried Nancy has stated the importance of keeping the frequently-injured Romell Quioto on the pitch this season, realizing the relevance of the offense the Honduran international provides.

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And now, CF Montréal’s manager has one more reason to address Quito: his apparent lack of composure.

Quioto, who led CFM in goals last season, with eight, was ejected in the 66th minute of Sunday’s MLS regular-season opening 2-0 defeat to Orlando City at Exploria Stadium.

Quioto, who appeared to be playing on the edge throughout the match, was initially involved in a shoving match with Antonio Carlos. Carlos’s teammate, Robin Jansson, quickly arrived on the scene, only to fall to the ground after being shoved in the chest by Quioto.

Whether the action was embellished or not, referee Marcos de Oliveira immediately dispatched Quioto, leaving his club short a man and already trailing by two. The red card also means the 30-year-old veteran won’t be eligible for next Saturday’s home opener, against Philadelphia, at Olympic Stadium.

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With Mason Toye still recovering from injury, and Kei Kamara rounding into shape following his recent signing, Nancy might be left with limited attacking options.

“I’m going to talk with (Quioto),” Nancy admitted on a post-game video conference. “I trust my players and I trust him as a leader. We have to manage our emotions. For that, we have to be better.”

Alexandre Pato opened the scoring for the Lions in the 49th minute before Benji Michel added an insurance score 10 minutes later. Both goals resulted from poor defensive plays by CFM, which surely could have used the presence and steadying influence of veteran French defender Rudy Camacho.

He was suspended after receiving a red card in the 2021 season finale, also against Orlando City. The Lions are missing 20 goals from last year’s side, following the departures of Nani and Daryl Dike, but had more than enough offense against CF Montréal, perhaps still coming off the emotional high of last Wednesday’s Champions League series victory against Santos Laguna?

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“Romell’s an experienced player and he knows what he’s doing,” said captain Victor Wanyama. “I tried to control him, but it’s not only Romy. The guy (Carlos and/or Jansson) tried to get him angry. He said a lot of things. I have provoked him. It should have gone both ways. He (Quioto) will learn from it and next time he’ll do better.

“We need to be cool in our heads,” Wanyama added. “We need to try and bury our chances. Today, we had a few chances that we didn’t take advantage of. We can be better and do better, I think. Football’s a game of chances. They took their chances. We didn’t. We need to learn quickly and move forward.”

CF Montréal had been unbeaten in six consecutive visits to Orlando, dating back to October 2016. The team also lost a season opener for the first time since 2018. With five of its first six matches on the road, the margin for error will be slim , especially considering CFM won just three road games last season. A slow start to the season could create a hill too vast to ascend.

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“This was definitely a welcome back to the MLS,” said Canadian international Alistair Johnston, new to the team this season following his arrival last December from Nashville SC for US$1-million in general allocation money. “Coming on the road’s never easy in this league, especially the first game of the year against a team that likes to play a physical style. They like to get in your face early.

“We have to learn from it and move on. I thought it was a pretty good performance. Even down to 10 men, we performed pretty well. As long as we can progress and move on, I think it’s a good start.”

CFM held its own in the first half, Quioto coming close in the 16th minute, and came out fresh and opportunistic following the intermission. But then everything fell apart over 10 minutes, the visitors burned by repeated defensive blunders.

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“We didn’t defend well on the first goal,” Nancy said. “And then we made a mistake on the second goal.”

Even trailing by two, CF Montréal came close: Joaquin Torres from a distance sat a shot off the top of the bar in the 63rd. If the momentum was on the Montreal side at that moment, Quioto ensured any advantage would soon dissipate.

“The final third needs to be better as a team,” Wanyama said. “On the second goal, everyone was out of position.”

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