Atlanta United loses on the road to CF Montreal 1-0

It was a battle of the blues at Stade Saputo in Montreal, Quebec as Atlanta United traveled north of the border to take on CF Montreal. Atlanta United played from the back with 10 men on the field for most of the second half and left Canada with a 1-0 regular season loss.

The first 15 minutes of the game were evenly matched, but it was CF Montreal that created the most dangerous chances. Josef Martínez, facing his former club for the first time this season, received a warm welcome from the opposition, and it was the veteran forward who took the first shot of the game in the third minute. His right-footed effort was blocked by center back Noah Cobb. Montreal followed up with a shot from Kwadwo Opoku in the 13th minute that flew over the goal.

Atlanta United had a great opportunity in the 28th minute. Playing Daniel Ríos outside the penalty area, Bartosz Slisz passed the ball between two Montreal defenders to a running Saba Lobjanidze. Slisz’s pass was in space towards the end line, but Montreal goalkeeper Jonathan Sirois read it well and collected it before Saba could reach him.

“Playing away is tough,” interim coach Rob Valentino said in his postgame press conference. “The idea was to defend together and look to counter. That was one way to do it. The other way was to link up, whether it was Danny Rios or Xande (Silva), and then get Saba in behind. And we didn’t do that often enough tonight. So that’s my fault.”

The excitement picked up in the final 15 minutes of the first half as both teams created good offensive opportunities. Montreal moved the ball from right to left before finally landing it at the feet of Raheem Edwards. He cut several times to avoid his defender, then placed the ball on his left foot to shoot. Atlanta’s big bald wall, Brad Guzan, silenced the fans on their feet at Stade Saputo and made a spectacular save to keep the score level in the 34th minute.

“I felt like the first half wasn’t always great, but we defended relatively well,” Valentino said.

Atlanta United followed the play with a good chance of their own. Tristan Muyumba sent the ball towards the end line where Xande Silva was running. The winger centered the ball towards the far post where Ríos and Lobjanidze were positioned, but the Montreal goalkeeper deflected the cross to deny Atlanta a chance to score the first goal.

Montreal then committed a foul when Atlanta’s Stian Gregersen was yellow-carded, and the home team was awarded a direct free-kick from about 19 yards out. In a situation familiar to Atlanta United fans, Martínez took the shot for Montreal. He tried to shoot into the top corner of his former teammate Guzan’s goal, but the shot went inches wide.

Atlanta United, a team that often dominates the possession battle, had 34 percent possession in the first half. They finished the first 45 minutes without a shot on goal and with a total of three shots taken. Montreal had nine shots in the first half, three of which were on target.

“I thought we did a good job of staying in the game in that first half, even though we didn’t have a lot of the ball,” starting center back Noah Cobb said.

After the break, the home side opened the scoring. Edwards delivered a long cross to the far post and Ruan fired a header past Guzan to make it 1-0 for CF Montreal in the 51st minute.

“We may have missed a few chances tonight or we didn’t have a lot of chances, but it was a stupid goal that we, the defense, gave up,” Cobb said. “We win together, we lose together.”

Atlanta United found themselves down to 10 men in the 55th minute. Gregersen received his second yellow card of the game and was shown a red card, leaving the visitors one man down by a goal.

Guzan made three more key saves to give Atlanta United a chance. The first came in the 75th minute and prevented Martínez from scoring. During a Montreal attack, the ball landed at Martínez’s feet right in the middle, just inside the six-yard line of the penalty area. The forward tried to place it from close range, but Guzan made the save to prevent his former teammate from scoring.

The veteran goalkeeper made another save in the 80th minute to prevent Montreal from doubling its lead. In the 88th, he extended his lead to deflect a well-struck shot from Montreal’s Mason Toye over the crossbar.

Guzan finished the evening with six saves.

Atlanta United created a few chances in the second half to try to equalize. On a corner kick, Saba found Ríos with a cross shot at the far post that was cleared for a corner. Later in the 68th minute, a ball was played towards Ríos in a dangerous area, but he was unable to shoot. Two minutes later, Saba made a play in a 1-on-1 situation and fired a shot that was blocked. Jamal Thiaré, who came on in the second half, slipped a short pass to Jay Fortune in the 74th minute in the center of the box, but the play did not result in a shot. In the 79th minute, Atlanta United earned a long direct free kick that was eventually blocked for a corner.

In the end, Atlanta United failed to break through. The team finished the night without a shot on goal and was shut out for the first time since May 25.

“It’s a lack of focus and execution,” Valentino said.

Atlanta United entered Saturday’s game looking to bounce back from two straight MLS road losses and last week’s Lamar Hunt US Open Cup exit. Instead, they find themselves on the other side of three straight MLS road games with zero points.

After that long stint away from Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta United returns home for a double-header week. First, Atlanta hosts New York City FC for a midweek match on Wednesday, July 17. Then, they’ll host reigning MLS Cup champions Columbus Crew on Saturday, July 20.