Montreal beats Cincinnati in long-awaited home opener

Updated: Apr 13, 2024, 10:25 pm

Josef Martínez scored a goal and assisted on the match-winner Saturday night as CF Montreal celebrated its home opener by stopping FC Cincinnati 2-1.

The Eastern Conference foes were tied 1-1 in the 62nd minute when CF Montreal suddenly countered through the back. Martinez sent Ariel Lassiter in down the left wing and Lassiter struck brilliantly from the top of the box on the left side, lasering a shot that had a goal expectancy of just 7 percent past Alec Kann.

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CF Montreal (3-3-1, 10 points) held off the visitors in the last 28 minutes plus stoppage time to end a three-match losing streak. It was the second consecutive loss for FC Cincinnati (3-2-3, 12 points), which was outshot 17-8.

Still, FC Cincinnati executed a brilliant sequence to level the match in the 58th minute. Luciano Acosta played an excellent through ball down the middle to Yuya Kubo, and he flicked a right-footed shot past Jonathan Sirois for his second goal in as many matches.

But that was it for FC Cincinnati's dangerous attacks. They never got a shot on frame after Kubo's goal as CF Montreal rebounded from a humiliating 5-0 loss on April 6 in Seattle that ended its six-game road trip.

Players and coaches from CF Montreal pledged to deliver a more detailed, determined effort than the one they gave in Seattle, and they followed through. They controlled most of the first half but didn't really convert that advantage into dangerous chances until Martinez entered the lineup in the 26th minute to replace the injured Matías Cóccaro.

Martinez put the first marker on the board in the fourth minute of first half stoppage time. Taking a pass from Raheem Edwards, Martinez whirled around in the box and slotted a left-footed shot past the diving Kann into the right corner of the goal to give CF Montreal the halftime edge.