Montreal beat Atlanta (MSL) 2-1

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MONTREAL – Joaquin Torres scored in the 82nd minute to lead Montreal to a difficult 2-1 win over Atlanta United on Saturday afternoon at Saputo Stadium.

Torres scored his second goal this season with a header from Kamal Miller’s cross past goalkeeper Bobby Shuttleworth.

Miller, who starred on Saturday, scored the first goal for Montreal in the fourth minute of the game, and the visitors’ response came from Marcelino Moreno, early in the second half against Sebastian Briza, strongly in front of his net.

With this sixth straight game unbeaten, Montreal (4-3-2) equaled the team’s record for the first time in 2015, and repeated in 2016 and 2021.

However, he got there in a choppy and somewhat underwhelming show against a rival who constantly gets him into trouble.

Montreal Football Club will play its second game in a row at Saputo Stadium next Saturday, this time against Orlando City. However, Victor Wanyama and Ismail Kone will be denied due to the accumulation of yellow cards.

Another quick goal

The Montreal club, since the start of the season, has been accustomed to receiving the opponent’s first goal while playing abroad. To his credit, he does not repeat this obsession in front of his followers.

As they did two weeks ago against the Vancouver Whitecaps, Wilfried Nancy’s men sowed joy among their fans just moments after the opening kick.

After a free kick from Djordje Mihailovic, Miller jumped high in the air and caught the ball past Shuttleworth to score his first goal since November 3, 2021.

However, Montreal’s only good move, in terms of attack, was during the first 45 minutes of play.

Montreal Football Club were so ineffective in the first half that they only possessed the ball 27.3 percent of the time. And when he got it, he struggled to show consistency as evidenced by his less than 70 percent pass completion rate.

In fact, the main player in this first half for the Montreal team was Briza who had to save twice well, first against Thiago Almada, in the 11th minute, and then against Moreno, in the 32nd minute.

The latter recovered by scoring the equalizer in the 51st minute thanks to a low shot that first gave the vertical bar to Brezza’s right before rolling into the net.

This goal seemed to wake up the Montreal players, who were much more dynamic and threatening after that.

Their efforts paid off when Torres shook the strings after a brilliant play by Miller.

Then Brezza saved a key in the 90th minute to protect the win.