Olympic Stadium, Montréal, Québec
A couple of stoppage-time goals from Chinonso Offor and Romell Quioto saw CF Montréal pick up its first points of the MLS season in a back-and-forth 3-2 win over Philadelphia Union on Saturday night at Olympic Stadium.
Quioto scored a brace and Offor added another in Montréal ‘s (1-3-0) home opener, while Mikael Uhre scored a pair for Philadelphia (2-2-0).
The Québec boys started with the pressure very early and it paid off when they won the ball high up the pitch multiple times. Less than two minutes into the game the aggressive pressure paid dividends as Lassi Lappalainen laid the ball off for Mathieu Choiniere whose shot was blocked by a handball. It was on Quioto to convert the penalty and he did so convincingly by hitting a thunderous kick into the top left corner.
Following the goal, Philadelphia looked for an equalizer and began pushing further upfield. While Montreal spent large spans of the first half on the defensive, they enjoyed two more golden opportunities through Mason Toye and Quioto.
Approaching the end of the first half, Philadelphia began asking questions of Montréal keeper Jonathan Sirois with shots from every angle. The youngster performed brilliantly and turned them all away, much to the delight of the home crowd and preserved the lead going into halftime.
Philadelphia would strike back just as quickly as Montréal opened the scoring. Daniel Gazdag intercepted a pass at the top of the Montreal penalty area and found Uhre, who made no mistake and slotted the ball into the bottom left corner.
When Montréal began to reassert itself, it was the home boys’ turn to suffer at the hands of the counterattack. Gazdag once again picked out Urhe, playing him through on goal and giving Philadelphia the lead at the hour mark.
Montréal was then let back into the game when Julian Carranza was given his second yellow card for a late challenge on Joel Waterman.
This was the spark the Montréal team needed as Offor scored an equalizer that was initially allowed, but then called offside by VAR, only for the goal to be permitted following a second VAR consultation.
With the Montreal crowd in raptures, the home team pressed for the winner, which they got when Quioto got on the end of a Mathieu Choiniere cross, delivering the stunning come-from-behind win.
Philadelphia will return home to host Orlando City SC on March 25 while Montréal will use the week off to recover before travelling to BC Place and a match against the Vancouver Whitecaps on April 1.