Torreon, Mexico – CF Montréal suffered a 1-0 loss to Santos Laguna on Tuesday night at Estadio Corona in the first leg of the Concacaf Champions League Round of 16. Alberto Ocejo scored the only goal of the game in the 88th minute. CF Montréal forward Romell scored in the 6th minute but his goal was called off by VAR due to a foul in the middle of the pitch.
CF Montréal will play the return leg of this aggregate-goal series at the Olympic Stadium next Tuesday at 8pm ET. Individual tickets for that game are available for purchase starting at $20 (plus applicable tax) exclusively through the club website.
COMPLETE SUMMARY HERE
*
GAMES NOTES:
*-With seven saves, goalkeeper Sebastian Breza tied the fourth-best performance by a Montreal goalkeeper in a Concacaf match.
-Midfielder Rida Zouhir and defender Gabriele Corbo earned a first career start across all competitions with CF Montréal.
-Eight of 11 players in CF Montréal’s starting XI were starting a Champions League game for the first time with the Club.
-Mathieu Choinière and Rida Zouhir became the sixth and seventh Homegrown players in club history to start a Concacaf match.
Post-game comments from head coach Wilfried Nancy and midfielder Mathieu Choinière are available here.
WILFRIED NANCY
“It’s unfortunate to concede that goal in the end but I told the players that we had four halves to play. We could have done better in the first but I liked the second half with more personality in our game and we created more chances. We had good moments collectively. I’m happy because this is who we are, and this is how we want to play at home or on the road but we lacked that final pass. We will now focus on the next game and we will have to win.”
MATHIEU CHOINIÈRE
**“We played well tonight as a team and we worked hard but unfortunately we allowed that goal. It will be nice to play in front of our fans next week. It’s a team that plays fast offensively so we need to manage their counters by being well organized. With the energy from the 12th player I think that we will win these balls.”
