CF Montreal got their playoff run off to a good start with a narrow 2-0 win over Orlando City SC on Sunday night.
In an atmosphere of great evenings, Stade Saputo was ready to explode even before the interpretation of the national anthems.
However, we had to be very patient since it was not until the 68th minute that Islmaël Koné opened the scoring with his first career goal in the playoffs and it was also the very first shot on target of the match.
Laurent Duvernay-Tardif was then able to ring the bell while the packed house of 19,619 spectators jubilant.
Mihailovic scored the second goal on a penalty shot he himself caused in stoppage time (90+9), it was the only other shot on target of the game. The shutout went to James Pantemis.
This first playoff victory in Montreal since 2016 allows the Bleu-Blanc-Noir to extend its season as it will play in the Eastern Conference semi-final next weekend.
The identity of the opponent for this match will be known tonight following the duel between New York City FC and Inter Miami CF.
On the bench as a reserve, Romell Quioto did not play, which means that he will take advantage of another week to recover from his thigh injury.
Kei Kamara left the match at the end of the meeting shaken following a contact with the head.
CF Montreal completely dominated the first half and dictated the pace of the game as Orlando played defensively to seize opportunities on the counterattack.
Despite Montreal’s dominance, it was the Floridians who had the three best chances to score in the engagement.
But that’s not what caught the eye. We can rather look at the work of Ismael Elfath. He was very patient at first with goalkeeper Pedro Gallese who took forever to get the ball back into play. He would have deserved a yellow card early in the game.
Then, at the very end of the first half, César Araujo brought down Lassi Lappalainen who was outmaneuvering him and Elfath kept his whistle in his pocket. It was a blatant penalty shot and we didn’t even make it to the video review. For the record, Ismael Elfath has just been named official of the year in MLS and he will be at the World Cup.
