MONTRÉAL – CF Montréal shut out Orlando City SC 2-0 on Sunday night at Stade Saputo to advance to the Eastern Conference semifinals of the 2022 MLS Cup playoffs.
In front of another sellout crowd, Ismaël Koné ultimately found the breach in the Floridian backline, lifting fans off their feet in the 68th minute. Djordje Mihailovic then sealed the win with a penalty kick goal (90'+9).
Montreal will play its semifinal on Sunday, October 23, at 1pm against the winner of the match between New York City FC and Inter Miami CF.
Tickets for Montreal's Eastern Conference semifinal will go on sale on Monday, October 17 at noon.
COMPLETE SUMMARY HERE
GAME NOTES
-Pantemis, Piette, Lappalainen, Koné, Waterman, Wanyama and Choinière all featured in their first MLS playoff game.
-It was Montreal’s third playoff shutout at Stade Saputo in four games (MLS).
WILFRIED NANCY
“There is nothing different about the way I organize my team for a playoff game. Miami was different. As was Orlando. The objective is to try to maintain what we’ve done in the season. The more we are challenged, the more I like it because I can push my players’ boundaries. Today the objective was to persevere in the face of great adversity.”
ISMAËL KONÉ
“It was special to score. I have never scored at Stade Saputo. It was a good time to score a first. I try to score as much as possible in different roles. Sometimes the tactic for me is to stay higher and sometimes lower so it's not always possible. We were expecting a little bit of a different game plan from Orlando. For us it was important to stay focused and not get carried away by our emotions.”
DJORDJE MIHAILOVIC
“Stade Saputo was incredible tonight. It was the best atmosphere I have ever played in my professional career. And we know that next week is going to be even better. The crowd helps us as the game progresses. I think it was important that our preparation for this game was not to get ahead of ourselves. We knew the importance of the game, but we’ve also proved in the regular season that we’re one of the best teams in the league and we deserve these moments. Only a handful of us have playoff experience. Now that we all have this win, we can move on to the next one.”
