Struggles continue for reeling CF Montréal

CF Montréal was no match for a dominant Columbus Crew side that left Saputo Stadium with a 3-1 win on Wednesday evening.

Mathieu Choinière found the back of the net for Montreal (3-63), while Maximilian Arfsten, Diego Rossi and Marino Hinestroza were the goal-scorers for Columbus (4-2-6).

Montreal now has only one win in its last 10 games across all competitions.

“It just comes down to a lack of execution. The final cross, the final run, it's just that last piece we're missing,” Montreal head coach Laurent Courtois said.

The hosts started the game on the front foot, generating the majority of the offence. At the 10-minute mark, a cross from Sunusi Ibrahim found Ariel Lassiter all alone in front of goal, but his first-time effort was put wide.

Columbus broke through only nine minutes later against the run of play. After finding a gap in the Montreal penalty area, a lapse in coverage left Arfsten with an open goal, giving the visitors the lead.

Christian Ramirez thought he had doubled his side's lead just five minutes later, but the goal was called back on an offside.

As the game slowed down toward halftime, Montreal found an equalizer when Joaquin Sosa was brought down in the penalty area by Columbus goalkeeper Patrick Schulte. Choinière stepped up and fired the penalty shot into the top right corner in first-half stoppage time.

“I was feeling confident to take it, so I wanted to,” said Choinière, who has been in the news all week for an alleged trade request that would take him away from his boyhood club. “I do my talking on the pitch, and I'm just focusing on my soccer and giving my all for this club as long as I'm here.”

The second half began with the same cautious approach, with neither team pushing too hard for the go-ahead goal. It took 15 minutes for an opening to be created as Columbus took full advantage to score its second.

While hitting back on the counter, Ramirez found a cross into Rossi, who slotted the ball into a wide-open net.

“We lost the ball in a rather silly way and it caught us out of position . ... I don't know if there was missed coverage or who's to blame, but lose possession in a way we shouldn't that high up the field can hurt us,” Montreal captain Samuel Piette said.

Montreal continued to look for chances, but struggled to penetrate the Crew's defensive shape, resorting instead to shots from outside the penalty area and crosses that were comfortably handled.

Columbus — seemingly unfazed by Montreal's search for a late equalizer — held on to the ball throughout the closing stages of the game, capping off the match with a lengthy stint of possession that was finished off by Hinestroza in the 89th minute.

“Of course, I think we can do better, this is a new style of play for us and we're not getting the results we want right now but we're working hard in training and putting the right things in place,” Choinière said.

Montreal's injury crisis has reached new depths as Sosa and Mason Toye left the game with non-contact injuries.