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CF Montreal Lose to Columbus, Are Out Of Playoffs
By After making it to the second round of the post-season last year, CF Montreal find themselves in a spot where they were two seasons ago – missing the playoffs by two points after a 2-1 loss on the road to the Columbus Crew.
To make matters worst, that means they lost it against former CF Montreal head coach Wilfried Nancy and former player Rudy Camacho, who were major reasons why CF Montreal had such a good and record-breaking season last year.
“We were in a playoff spot for the past 6-8 weeks,” Hernan Losada said when asked about the emotions he felt after the game. “At the last minute, a result we needed didn’t go our way. Football is like that.”
CF Montreal needed a win to assure themselves a spot in the playoffs, but with the loss needed help from Charlotte FC, who beat Miami 1-0. Even still, a last-minute penalty converted by the New York Redbulls ended all hope.
“We said before the game we wanted to come out and do everything possible to get a win and clinch a spot. You can’t rely on other results to go your way.”
CF Montreal, oddly enough, started on the front foot and in the seventh minute of the game took the early lead when Sunusi Ibrahim got a quick cross pass from Zachary Brault Guillard and buried the ball into the net.
“We did everything we could up until the last minute. We warranted a spot in the playoffs, at least a wild-card game, and it hurts… but it is up to us to get back up.”
It didn’t take long for the home team, in front of a boisterous crowd at Lower.com Field, to level the game at 1-1. The equalizer came just 10 minutes later when Cucho Hernandez from the top of the box curled a shot into the top corner of the net.
“We arrived on Decision Day with a chance and we felt we controlled our own narrative. It’s because of that the pain is even stronger. We didn’t want to finish the season like that.”
The Columbus Crew took the lead five minutes into the second half when Darlington Nagbe got a ball at the top of the goal circle and powered a shot into the back of the net past Jonathan Sirois.
“Our objective was to make the play in game, and hopefully a game Wednesday night at home… but unfortunately it didn’t go as planned.”
Despite the result and the elimination, Losada feels a lot of players took big strides and became better as the season progressed.
Losada has one more guaranteed year on his contract but was asked if he feels he will be back next season. The Argentine coach said it’s up to his boss.
“We will have a discussion in regards to that and with Olivier Renard, who is my boss. It’s a collective analysis and we are all in the same boat.”
I asked Geroge Campbell what he felt went wrong this season and what needs to be improved to be successful next season.
It’s a long season,” Campbell told me. “There is no excuse for any of the games and maybe it takes more time to get this group on the same page and playing better together.”
Campbell was asked what the feeling was after the game knowing they had zero control of the outcome in the other game.
“Everyone was disappointed, but you have to keep your head up and try to improve as much as possible for next season.”
I also asked Joel Waterman about the tough result tonight and failing to make the playoffs.
“I think we need to win some more games on the road,” Waterman answered. “There were a couple of games that we should have won that basically determined the outcome of the season.”
Header Image Photo Credit: Columbus Crew