Montreal CF put up a good fight but lost 2-1 to the Columbus Crew on Saturday night and had their hearts broken even more minutes later.
Just as the game was over and the team was clinging to ninth and last place in the Eastern Association, the New York Red Bulls scored a second-half penalty in stoppage time in Nashville, robbing the Montrealers of the last available spot.
This was a major blow for Montreal CF (12-17-5), who have only themselves to blame for their exclusion from the playoffs. The team posted a 1-5-3 record in its last nine games of the campaign.
Sunusi Ibrahim scored a goal in the opening minutes of the game to give CF Montreal the lead. Cucho Hernandez and Darlington Nagbe struck back to give the Crew a 16-9-9 victory.
Thanks to their triumph, the Columbus team secured third place in the Eastern standings. It also broke its team record for most points amassed at home in a single season, with 40.
Montreal CF suffered its first defeat of the season after scoring the first goal of a game (12-1-1). It ended the campaign with the second-worst away record in MLS (2-13-2).
The club played without Quebecer Mathieu Choinière, who was absent due to a hamstring injury. Losada had mentioned on Thursday that their midfielder had been injured during his stint with the Canadian national team last week.
CF Montreal couldn't have asked for a better start. After resisting a few Crew attacks, they opened the scoring in the seventh minute.
Set up in midfield, Nathan Saliba played a superb pass down the right to Zachary Brault-Guillard, who beat an opponent to the ball. Brault-Guillard fed a ball from the left to Ibrahim, who fired home. Goalkeeper Patrick Schulte blocked the attempt, but not enough to keep it out of the net.
The Crew kept their cool, however, and quickly went on the attack. Hernandez had a great chance to score in the 16th minute, following a fine cross from Steven Moreira, but his foot deflection missed the target.
The Colombian recovered a minute later. Following a defensive mix-up in the Montreal box, Moreira slipped the ball to Hernandez, who curled a magnificent shot against the post to the left of Jonathan Sirois and into the net. It was Hernandez's MLS-leading 10th goal since the start of September.
The goal energized the home team, who orchestrated a number of attacks in the final third. However, the defensive bloc blocked several Crew shots, the most important of which came in the 31st minute, when Joel Waterman threw himself in front of a fierce Hernandez shot.
CF Montreal started the second half in the opposite way to the first. The Crew moved the ball forward thanks to several lively passes, and Nagbe accepted a delivery from Malte Amundsen to beat Sirois in the 50th minute.
Wilfried Nancy's team was buzzing just seven minutes later. Alexandru Matan made a spectacular run into the penalty area, but Sirois reached out to knock the ball away before blocking Hernandez's shot.
The Montreal team stepped up the pressure for 10 minutes or so. They managed to get a few corner kicks and a few shots on target, but without breaking through the opposing defence.
Hernandez had one last golden opportunity in the 73rd minute, but was frustrated by Sirois.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on Oct. 21, 2023.
