By Canadian Press

CF Montreal faces crucial game against visiting Portland Timbers

Oct 6, 2023 | 11:11 AM

MONTREAL — After managing to steal a point in a game against Houston earlier this week with a goal deep into added time, CF Montreal now faces a must-win scenario against the Portland Timbers on Saturday night at Stade Saputo.

Montreal (11-16-5) currently sits in ninth place in Major League Soccer’s Eastern Conference — the final play-in position — with 38 points, staying ahead of New York City FC by having the tiebreaker of more wins. 

After consecutive disappointing draws at home, Montreal now finds itself in a position where they must claim all three points before their season-ending matchup against the Columbus Crew on the road.

“There have been a lot of missed opportunities to pick up more point and give ourselves a bit of breathing room and book a ticket to the playoffs to remove some of the pressure,” said captain Samuel Piette, who was called up to the Canadian national team for the upcoming international window along with teammate Mathieu Choinière. 

“Thankfully, there have been a few times where when we drop points, the teams behind us have as well. This next game is crucial, so we’ll be going in guns blazing and see where we stand after that.”

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Given Montreal’s troublesome form on the road and Columbus’ reputation as one of the most successful and offensively dangerous teams at home, it would be a worst-case scenario arrive at Lower.com Field in need of a win.

Portland (11-11-10) is another team that has begun to peak at the right moment, having gone unbeaten in its last seven MLS games, winning five of them, and jumping five places in the table within just one month. 

The Timbers have also been far above the league standard for performance on the road during that run. In their last five away games, they have taken six points and lost just once. Good results notwithstanding, their defence on the road still leaves much to be desired, ranking towards the bottom of the league. 

That could present another opportunity for a stalled Montreal offence to gain some momentum and convert on its chances. Montreal has scored more than one goal just once in its last eight games, which could be the difference should it miss the postseason.

“(Portland) has a lot of individual quality and are a very physically team and they’re in the middle of a playoff race just like us,” said head coach Hernan Losada. “They’re also a team that really needs points right now so once again, there are no easy games in MLS.”

The midweek 1-1 draw with Houston was striker Romell Quioto’s first full 90-minute performance since March 19 when Montreal beat the Philadelphia Union 3-2 with the Honduran scoring the late winner.

Some key Montreal players who missed time due to injury, illness, or suspension are expected to be back and available, including Gabriele Corbo and Jules-Anthony Vilsaint. Aaron Herrera, Róbert Thorkelsson, and Ahmed Hamdi are still out with an ankle, adductor, and thigh injury respectively.

“It’s been like this for almost the entire season, we lost our best attack er roughly 90 per cent of the year,” said Losada. “This group, with all the ups and downs that we’ve had really deserves to make the playoffs. They fought against so much adversity all season and it’s something I really hope for them and the fans.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 6, 2023.

Elias Grigoriadis, The Canadian Press