Competition Review: CF Montréal's Performance in the 2023 Leagues Cup
By: Anthony Tazbaz
CF Montréal's group stage campaign in their first League Cup appearance came to an end on Wednesday, and their place in the competition ended only three days later on Saturday.
Despite winning their opening match two Saturdays ago on penalties against Pumas UNAM (4-2, 2-2 after regular time), they dropped their matchup against DC United, with a 1-0 loss on Wednesday, and then saw themselves get eliminated, courtesy of a 3-0 Pumas win against DC at Audi Field in the US's capital.
A Deeper Look
This set of results effectively pushes Montréal to last place in their group, having only accumulated two points with their win coming in the penalty shootout, rather than in regular time. Pumas' loss in penalties against Montréal and their win on Saturday puts them at the top of the group with four points, with DC United nestled between the two clubs with three points.
Finishing last place in a well balanced group was not the ideal outcome for a young squad with lots to prove, especially considering they had home field advantage for both group matches.
So, What Went Wrong?
First, CF Montréal blew an occasion to not only keep a clean sheet, but take all three points from the first matchup.
Up 2-0 and having played an excellent first-half against Pumas, they slowly let the Liga MX club back into the match. While it was still 2-0 for Montréal up until the 85th minute, Pumas scored two quick goals to level the score by the first minute of stoppage time (91st minute).
Although they had an excellent penalty shoot-out performance by scoring on all four attempts, and Jonathan Sirois coming up big with a massive save on Pumas fourth shot, their five-minute lapse proved quite costly.
Second, their 1-0 home loss dampened their chances at advancing to the Round of 32. Despite dominating possession and obtaining far more chances than DC, almost every scoring chance failed to materialize into a genuine scoring threat.
This is their fourth loss at home in all competitions, each ending in a 1-0 defeat highlighted by significant possession and more scoring chances. Worse, three of their four 1-0 home defeats came in July, meaning they now have three home losses in their last six games.
Bottom Line
These two losses have summarized two significant weaknesses, one which has stuck with the club over the years, and the other being a recurring theme on a weekly basis.
The first, squandering a 2-0 lead, is characteristic of this club, especially in international competitions. We have seen Montréal waste a 2-0 lead in the 2015 CONCACAF Champions League semifinals against Alajuelense, as they ended up losing 4-2 in the second leg after winning the first leg 2-0 at home.
Thankfully, they still advanced to the final thanks to their two away goals. However, on a side note, they knew about the incoming pressure facing them in Costa Rica, and they had already blown a 2-0 lead in their home opener - conceding two goals in one minute - against Orlando City just a month prior to that match.
Other occasions included a 3-0 lead against Toronto FC in the 2016 MLS Cup Eastern Conference finals. While that 3-0 lead only lasted for about 10-15 minutes before Toronto scored two goals to finish the first leg 3-2, they ultimately held a lead for almost all of the 180 minutes of regular time. In the end, they lost 7-5 on aggregate after extra-time.
Despite getting lucky and advancing to the quarterfinals of the 2020 CONCACAF Champions League quarterfinals against Costa Rican outfit Deportivo Saprissa, where they blew a 2-0 lead to tie the first leg 2-2 in Costa Rica and then drew 0-0 at home during the second leg, their most cruel collapse happened in the 2008-09 edition, when they were still an NASL club (2nd division).
Up 2-0 against Liga MX side following a historic performance with a record 55,000 fan attendance, they went to Estadio Corona in Torreón with a two-goal lead, which then expanded into a three-goal lead on aggregate (4-1) by the 38th minute thanks to a goal by forward Eduardo Sebrango, who scored his second of the matchup.
However, Montréal ultimately collapsed due to excellent performances by Vincente Vuoso and Darwin Quintero, both of whom scored a brace. Despite obtaining their revenge against Santos Laguna during last year's Round of 16 victory (3-1 on aggregate), their infamous collapse still haunts many supporters and the club itself, who can never feel too safe when holding a lead, especially one of two goals.
Offensive Woes
Second, their offence has been sorely lacking this season. They rank 25th out of 29 clubs, tied at 22 goals scored with New York Red Bulls and Messi and Miami, who rank 26th and 27th, respectively. Their top scorer, Chinonso Offor, has four goals in 22 games out of a total of 23. At his current pace, he will finish with six goals.
With Romell Quioto, their top scorer from the last three seasons and second top scorer this season (3), is out long-term with an injury and there is no timeline for his return, Mason Toye and Sunusi Ibrahim have not stepped up to the expected standards. Toye only managed to score two goals in the same match against his former clubs Minnesota United, whereas Ibrahim only tallied one MLS goal this season (and three more in the Canadian Championship).
Although Kwadwo Opoku's acquisition and the return of Lassi Lappalainen from injury could bring life to a lacklustre offence, they have not quite hit the ground running. While Opoku at least scored his first goal two weekends ago against Charlotte FC, he has yet to materialize into a consistent scoring threat, and Lappalainen is not fit enough to play 90 minutes, and has not shown much out there.
Maybe Montréal are looking at acquiring another forward. Maybe not. However, if they stick with this current core and they do not yield better performances, this will be one of the worst offences we will have seen since Montréal entered the MLS in 2012.
