CHICAGO, Illinois - CF Montréal lost for the first time this season following a 4-3 defeat to Chicago Fire FC on Saturday afternoon at Soldier Field.
Montréal opened the scoring in the 8th minute with a penalty converted by striker Matías Cóccaro. The Uruguayan scored his second goal of the season and found the back of the net in his second consecutive game.
Cóccaro won a second penalty a mere few minutes later. The striker converted once more to give Montréal a 2-0 lead in the 12th minute. These were the two fastest converted spot kicks in the Club’s MLS history.
With 10 minutes added to the first half, Chicago trimmed their deficit to one goal through midfielder Maren Haile-Selassie.
Montréal regained its two-goal cushion in the 70th minute thanks to a combination between Dominic Iankov and Josef Martinez. The Bulgarian-Canadian scored his first CF Montréal goal, while the Venezuelan picked up his third point in as many games (one goal, two assists).
Chicago won a penalty after defender Raheem Edwards was shown a red card. Midfielder Brian Gutíerrez converted his penalty in the 84th minute to bring the game back to a one-goal margin.
The Bleu-blanc-noir will return to Montréal to spend the international break on home soil. Montréal’s next match will be on Saturday, March 30 as they take on D.C. United at Audi Field at 7:30pm EDT.
COMPLETE SUMMARY HERE
MATCH NOTES:
- Forward Matías Cóccaro scored the two fastest penalties in CF Montréal's MLS history. Montréal became only the third club in MLS history to convert two spot kicks in the first 15 minutes of a game.
- Matías Cóccaro is the third CF Montréal player to score two penalties in one match, after Patrice Bernier (2013) and Saphir Taïder (2020). He is also the 21st Club player to score a brace on the road.
- A substitute player scored for CF Montréal in a third consecutive game.
- Midfielder Dominic Iankov scores his first goal for CF Montréal.
- Defender Ruan has earned his 110th career start in MLS.
- Midfielder Bryce Duke played his 30th game in a CF Montréal uniform.
- Forward Sunusi Ibrahim collected his first start of the season.
- Midfielder Nathan Saliba and defender Ousman Jabang played their first game of the season.
LAURENT COURTOIS
“I'm proud of the guys. Getting to 3-1 the way they did, I reiterate that in the near future and in the medium term we'll be able to maximize chances a little more often. Getting to 3-1 in the 84th minute was huge in itself, and I'm very proud of them. But there were some external factors that made it complicated.”
MATHIEU CHOINIÈRE
“We are keeping our heads high. We didn't have a bad game. Unfortunately, we didn't come away with all three points, but if you look at the big picture, we were ahead for most of the game. We weren't really in danger, but unfortunately circumstances meant we lost the game in the final minute. But I think everyone is remaining very positive and we know that we put in a good showing.”
SAMUEL PIETTE
“Obviously, we're frustrated and disappointed with the result and the way the game turned out, but I think we can be proud of this game. It wasn't perfect on our side. There are things we can do better. The conditions were really tough. An ultra dry pitch, a lot of wind, as you saw with that last goal. It's very difficult, but they were the same for both teams. We were in control and in the end it all got away from us and we leave Chicago with no points, despite the fact that we did some very good things.”
