CF Montreal forward Ariel Lassiter (11) takes the ball upfield past Charlotte FC midfielder Kamil Jóźwiak (7) during the second half of an MLS soccer match, Saturday, June 24, 2023, in Charlotte, N.C. CF Montreal are a single clean-sheet victory at home away from breaking Major League Soccer's all-time record held by the 2000 Kansas City Wizards. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP-Matt Kelley
MONTREAL – CF Montreal are a single clean-sheet victory at home away from breaking Major League Soccer’s all-time record held by the 2000 Kansas City Wizards.
They will be attempting to collect their seventh shutout on home soil on Saturday evening when they host New York City FC at Stade Saputo.
A historically one-sided matchup, New York has won 10 of the two teams’ 17 meetings, drawing another five.
However, while the NYCFC side of years past that had the innate ability to score at a moment’s notice, this one has gone silent. The club has failed to win any of the last 12 matches in all competitions and scoring more than a single goal just twice in that run.
They are also among one of just two teams in the league without a road win this season. However, Montreal does not see it as simply as that.
“That’s one of the reasons we’re so good at home, we have that mentality that, no matter who steps on the pitch here, we’re going to go and find the three points,” said winger Ariel Lassiter. “There’s a bit of history [between the two clubs] but we just have to go out there and play our game.”
The last time New York (4-7-9) visited Montreal (8-9-2) was in last year’s Eastern Conference semifinal where NYCFC used their experience to leave with a convincing 3-1 victory. It goes to show the difference one off-season makes as the two teams look drastically different this time around.
“We don’t have too many players right now who were there last year,” said head coach Hernan Losada, who indicated only three starters from that game are expected to play this weekend: Rudy Camacho, Joel Waterman, and Victor Wanyama.
“Winning the game, maintaining this good record at home, and giving a good spectacle to the fans should be enough motivation.”
One of the newest faces in the squad, homegrown rookie midfielder Nathan Saliba could be one of the new additions to this developing rivalry. After being forced into the starting lineup several times at the beginning of the season due to the club’s injury crisis, Saliba clearly struggled.
“A lot of it just boils down to the psychology,” he said. “In the last few times I’ve played, I’ve been able to let go and take a few more risks with the ball. I get to be myself a lot more on the pitch now.”
With fellow box-to-box midfielders Mathieu Choinière and Samuel Piette still doubtful for Saturday’s game, this appears to be another excellent opportunity for Saliba to show his potential.
“I’m very happy with his progression in such a short time frame,” said Losada. “Obviously the opportunities at the beginning of the season came a bit too quickly, but it was necessary give the state we were in. we want to give minutes to academy players, but we want to see progression, and that’s what we’re getting with Nathan.”
Kickoff at Stade Saputo is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 30, 2023.
