Early own goal sinks CF Montréal in Cincinnati
Waterman's gaffe helps end six-game winning streak
Returning to action after serving a one-match suspension for an accumulation of yellow cards, defender Joel Waterman scored an own goal in the opening minutes of the game and CF Montréal (5-7-0) was unable to recover in a 3-0 loss to FC Cincinnati on Wednesday night.
Luciano Acosta and Brandon Vazquez were the other goal scorers for Cincinnati, which leads Major League Soccer with an 8-13 record.
On a free kick in the second minute, Alvaro Barreal lobbed a long ball to the far post. While fighting for defensive position, Waterman misdirected the cross behind Jonathan Sirois to allow FC Cincinnati to open the scoring.
“We start by giving them a goal from a set piece after one minute. When you give up a goal like that at the start of the game, it's a completely different game,” said Montreal head coach Hernan Losada. “It's a shame because we were well prepared. We came here with the right mentality. Even at halftime, the game was not over. We made three changes to be able to get back in the game because at 2-0 everything is still possible. But after the third, the game was over and we started to think a lot more about Saturday's game.”
Montreal saw its six-match win streak in all competitions — its longest since joining the league in 2012 — come to an end. The team also allowed its first goal in more than 400 minutes, having recorded four straight clean sheets.
The victory moved Cincinnati (8-1-3) three points ahead of the idle New England Revolution atop the Eastern Conference standings.
Cincinnati snapped a threegame losing streak to Montreal and evened the all-time series at three wins apiece. Cincinnati entered play unbeaten at home with six one-goal victories — the first team in league history to do so.
Cincinnati is the sixth team in league history to win its first seven home matches. The Philadelphia Union did it most recently — winning nine in a row in 2020.
Cincinnati had a 14-10 advantage in shots, but Montreal had a 5-4 edge in shots on target.
Roman Celentano finished with five saves to earn the clean sheet for Cincinnati. Jonathan Sirois stopped two shots for Montreal.
Montreal travels to play the New York Red Bulls on Saturday, while Cincinnati will host the Columbus Crew.