MONTREAL, Quebec, Canada (Sunday, May 22, 2022) – Real Salt Lake (6-3-4, 22 points) earned its second consecutive come-from-behind victory, and second road win this season. The Club rallied for two second-half goals; besting CF Montreal 2-1 for the Club’s first-ever result in Montreal.
Justen Glad and Sergio Cordova each scored their second goals of the season, with assists from Pablo Ruiz and Maikel Chang, respectively, to overcome a first-minute goal scored by Montreal.
Montreal got off to a blazing start, delivering a 1-0 defect within the first minute of play. Djordje Mihailovic connected with Ahmed Hamdi to slam the pass into the back of the net. Montreal nearly doubled its lead in the 16th minute when Romell Quioto slipped one past Zac MacMath, but he was determined to be offsides and the goal was called back.
RSL looked to get back into the match in the 21st minute when Ruiz crossed in a free kick to the head of Justin Meram, but his header bounced wide of the goal. In the 28th minute Bobby Wood connected on a cross from Meram, flying towards goal for a header, forcing Sebastian Breza to make the full-stretch save, pushing out what appeared to be the equalizer. Following Wood’s chance, RSL began to gain momentum, seeing a flurry of chances, one after the other, leading to another point-blank opportunity for Wood in the 44th minute, but his shot landed squarely on the chest of Breza, ending the first half 1-0 in favor of CF Montreal.
Picking up where they left off, RSL continued to press Montreal’s backline, seeking the equalizer. After a series of missed chances Glad found the end of a curling corner kick from Ruiz, heading in the cross to level the score 1-1 in the 54th minute. Just moments later Cordova nearly found the second goal of the afternoon, getting an open breakaway towards goal, but his shot missed the bottom-left corner by mere inches. Cordova finally broke through in the 66th minute when he ran onto a back-heel pass from Chang, driving a shot into the bottom corner of the net from the right side of the frame from outside the six-yard box to take the 2-1 lead. Following Cordova’s goal, Montreal pestered Real Salt Lake’s backline, forcing MacMath to make three crucial saves down the stretch to close out the match, giving the Club its first-ever win in Montreal.
UP NEXT: Real Salt Lake returns home for Military Appreciation Night, hosting Houston Dynamo FC on Saturday, May 28 at 7:30 p.m. MT. The match will mark the return of Designated Player Jefferson Savarino.
GOAL SCORING RUNDOWN
MTL: Djordje Mihailovic (Ahmed Hamdi, Joaquín Torres ) 1st minute: Torres’ sped his way into the box past Marcelo Silva, cutting back to slip a short pass to Hamdi. With the back of his heel, Hamdi chipped a pass to Mihailovic who slammed home the pass into an open net.
RSL: Justen Glad (Pablo Ruiz) 54th minute: Off a corner kick from Pablo Ruiz, Glad rose up over Montreal’s defense to flick the ball over his back shoulder and into the left side of the goal.
RSL: Sergio Cordova (Maikel Chang, Pablo Ruiz) 66th minute: From the top of the center circle, Ruiz threaded a ball towards Chang, who hit a back-heel pass for Cordova to run onto. Storming towards goal, Cordova drew out the goalkeeper, driving a shot into the bottom left corner to take the lead.
NOTES:
- Zack Farnsworth (right ankle), Bret Halsey (ankle), Erik Holt (left foot), Jonathan Menendez (adductor), Anderson Julio (hamstring) and Damir Kreilach (back) were unavailable due to injury.
- Midfielder Scott Caldwell was unavailable due as a result of the caution accumulation.
- Defender Chris Kablan made his Real Salt Lake debut, coming on as a second-half substitute for Justin Meram in the 87th minute, becoming the 26th player to feature for the Club this season.
- Today’s erasure of the one-goal deficit marked RSL’s league-high 8th come-from-behind win across MLS action the last two years
Match: Real Salt Lake vs. CF Montreal
Date: May 22, 2022
Venue: Saputo Stadium; Montreal, Quebece, Canada
Weather: Overcast and 75 degrees
Attendance: 14,205
Scoring Summary: 1 2 F
Real Salt Lake 0 2 2
CF Montreal 1 0 1
MTL: Djordje Mihailovic (Ahmed Hamdi, Joaquín Torres ) 1’
RSL: Justen Glad (Pablo Ruiz) 54’
RSL: Sergio Cordova (Maikel Chang, Pablo Ruiz) 66’
Lineups:
Real Salt Lake (4-4-2): Zac MacMath; Aaron Herrera, Justen Glad, Marcelo Silva, Andrew Brody; Pablo Ruiz, Maikel Chang (Everton Luiz 81’), Jasper Löffelsend, Justin Meram (Chris Kablan 87’), Bobby Wood (Rubio Rubin 91’), Sergio Cordova (Nick Besler 87’)
Subs not used: Tomas Gomez, Johan Kappelhof, Tate Schmitt
CF Montreal (3-2-3-1): Sebastian Breza; Kamal Miller (Kei Kamara 77’), Rudy Camacho, Joel Waterman (Zorhan Bassong 77’); Victor Wanyama (Zachary Brault-Guillard 77’), Ahmed Hamdi (Samuel Piette 58’), Djordje Mihailovic, Joaquín Torres, Lassi Lappalainen (Mathieu Choiniere 46’), Alistair Johnston; Romell Quioto
Subs not used: Gabriele Corbo, Matko Miljevic, Sunusi Ibrahim, James Pantemis
Stats Summary: RSL / MTL
Shots: 13 / 8
Shots on Goal: 4 / 4
Saves: 3 / 2
Corner Kicks: 5 / 5
Fouls: 17 / 8
MISCONDUCT SUMMARY:MTL: Samuel Piette (caution) 71’
RSL: Justen Glad (caution) 75’
RSL: Everton Luiz (caution) 90’
OFFICIALS:
Referee: Ramy Touchan
Assistant Referees: Logan Brown, Ryan Graves
4th Official: Filip Dujic
VAR: Jorge Gonzalez
