CHARLOTTE – FC Montreal lost 2-0 against the Charlotte Independence Friday night, at the Ramblewood Soccer Stadium, putting an end to its series of three wins.
Goalkeeper David Paulmin made some key saves throughout the night, but the Independence scored on two of their 20 shots to win the game.
“David was left to himself in the first half,” said head coach Philippe Eullaffroy. “He’s the one who kept us in the game.”
In the 30th minute, Enzo Martinez passed to Daniel Jackson who was positioned at the right side of the box. Jackson took a low shot to the near post to give his team the lead.
In the second half, on a similar play, Carlos Alvarez passed to his left connecting with Alex Martinez’s on his run, who also scored with a low shot.
At the beginning of the game, Paulmin came out of his net on two separate occasions to challenge Charlotte’s forwards who were all alone. He blocked Jackson’s shot in the 2nd minute and did the same in the 18th minute against Enzo Martinez.
The Bleu-blanc-noir pushed forward in the second half, creating more chances, but the shots were still rare. In the 86th minute, winger Victor Omar Ndiaye passed to Frédéric Lajoie-Gravelle in the box. He beat the defender before cutting back to the middle, but his left-footed shot was stopped by goalkeeper Matt Lampson.
“I think we let frustration take over our concentration,” said defender Jems Geffrard. “It was a tough first half. But when we started thinking in the second, it was better.”
“It was not our opponents who made it difficult for us, it was ourselves,” added Eullaffroy. “We took 45 minutes to wake up. It wasn’t enough. We lacked humility, intensity, rage and reflection.”
FC Montreal will play its next game on August 1st against the Charleston Battery, at Blackbaud Stadium, at 7:30pm.
LINEUPS
FC Montreal: David Paulmin; John Dinkota (Zachary Sukunda 69’), Jems Geffrard, Mélé Temguia (Nazim Belguendouz 89’), Janouk Charbonneau; Mastanabal Kacher (Philippe Lincourt-Joseph 63’), Marco Dominguez, Alessandro Riggi, Zakaria Messoudi (Charles Joly 69’), Victor Omar Ndiaye; Fabio Morelli (Frédéric Lajoie-Gravelle 55’)
Subs: James Pantemis, Zachary Sukunda, Chakib Hocine, Nazim Belguendouz, Charles Joly, Philippe Lincourt-Joseph, Frédéric Lajoie-Gravelle
Charlotte Independence: Matt Lampson; Mechack Jerome, Ben Newman, Raphael Cox (Henry Kalungi 82’), Bilal Duckett; Andrew Ribeiro (Mamadou Kansaye 84’), Enzo Martinez, Paolo Del Piccolo, Alex Martinez; Daniel Jackson (Carlos Alvarez 56’), Tomasz Zahorski (Ryan Finley 46’)
Subs: Eric Ati, Caleb Calvert, Ryan Finley, Jack Thompson, Mamadou Kansaye, Henry Kalungi, Carlos Alvarez
GOALS
CLT : Daniel Jackson 30’
CLT : Alex Martinez 86’
CAUTIONS
MTL : Mastanabal Kacher 40’
MTL : Alessandro Riggi 47’
MTL : Marco Dominguez 64’
MTL : Victor Omar Ndiaye 64’
CLT : Enzo Martinez 75’
MTL : Janouk Charbonneau 90’
