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CF Montreal’s Late Surge Powers Them Past Orlando City SC
By On Saturday night at Saputo Stadium CF Montreal extended its winning streak to three games after beating Orlando City SC.
An own goal and an insurance marker from Romell Quioto, who made his return from injury in the second half, aided CF Montreal to a 2-0 victory over Orlando City SC.
It wasn’t the best start for the home team as the visitors who before tonight were the best team on the road not losing a single road game up to gate came out of the gates flying.
Despite the many chances Orlando got, they weren’t able to get a shot on target and lacked finish all night in the final third. Jonathan Sirois earned a third straight clean sheet.
In the 21st minute, the first shot on target belonged to Ariel Lassiter who fired a shot at keeper Pedro Gallese who made his first save of the night.
11 minutes later off a Montreal corner, Rudy Camacho managed to get a header on target but it went right into the hands of Gallese to keep the game level 0-0.
In the 60th minute, Quioto made his return after missing the last three games due to an injury and made an immediate impact on the game.
Two minutes later CF Montreal opened the scoring after a chaotic sequence where Camacho found himself in front of an empty net and managed to hit the post and the ball went to Aaron Herrera who fired a shot that went off Orlando’s defender Robin Jansson and into the back of the net.
Four minutes later Herrera who had an outstanding game ran up the flank and found Quioto with an amazing pass and he was able to finish the play beating Gallese to make it 2-0.
After the game in his post-game press conference, head coach Hernan Losada gave credit to the opponent and says it is another step forward.
“We must not forget that Orlando is a very strong opponent”, Losada said. “They hadn’t lost on the road until tonight. The rivals also have quality. It’s true that Jonathan wasn’t called upon much during the game, but with the changes made after an hour of play, we were better in the right moments, we took our chances, and we were able to maintain our block. That gives confidence to the defense and the goalkeeper. We want to create the feeling that it is impossible for the visitors to take points here. Tonight was another step in the right direction.”
Herrera was asked about where he was positioned tonight and said it was a matter of adjustment and getting used to the position.
“In the first half, we were still solid defensively”, Herrera said. “The wingback position is not so cut and dry. The coach tried to put me in simpler positions after halftime. You can see that I had more freedom in the second half. What matters is the execution on the field. The addition of Lassiter and Duke has given us a new dynamic on the field. At the beginning of the season, we were creating chances, but we were struggling to score. We couldn’t catch a break. Now we’re managing the games better. The puzzle pieces are starting to come together.”
CF Montreal will have a busy two weeks ahead playing five games starting on Tuesday when they will face Toronto FC at BMO Field in the Canadian Championship before a rematch in MLS next Saturday at Saputo Stadium.