FC Cincinnati stunned in 5-4 loss at CF Montreal: 'We cannot lose this game'

Major League Soccer's midweek decision to stage Saturday FC Cincinnati-CF Montreal match in Quebec, Canada looked to present the biggest obstacles to a successful outcome for FC Cincinnati.

In the end, its was the on-field, in-game issues that resulted in a 5-4 FC Cincinnati loss to Montreal on Saturday at Stade Saputo.

Even after FC Cincinnati encountered hindrances in preparing to cross the Canadian border amid the COVID-19 pandemic, including not knowing the definitive location of the match until Wednesday, FCC managed to build leads of 2-0 and 4-2.

It was during the periods when those leads were intact, that it appeared FC Cincinnati could circumvent the complications of having four players miss training Monday in order to obtain work visas necessary to travel for the game.

FCC also appeared to be in line for the points despite missing other players that were unavailable for the match due to restrictions at the Canadian border. 

Both leads, as well as the first four-goal offensive output in a single match since FCC joined MLS, were lost. 

Ahmed Hamdi's goal for Montreal in the 87th minute capped the nine-goal thriller. The close-range shot meant three scores uninterrupted for the hosts, who played their first regular-season match on Canadian soil in 2021 on the night.

Prompted after the match about the challenges faced in the days prior to kickoff, FC Cincinnati head coach Jaap Stam focused his remarks mostly on FCC's shortcomings. 

"We also need to be honest to ourselves... you went two-nil up in a very good way. They come back into the game, 2-2, and then you go 3-2 up and then after halftime you scored a fourth one," Stam said. "At that moment, in how you're playing and what you're doing, you're disciplined. Yeah, you're giving up a little bit the ball away to them but you don't give them too many opportunities. And then I think for some reason, we still want to go and be stepping out at times and then they've got the ability, that's what we've seen as well, and the quality... But it's not that difficult in terms of that they need to score. You look back on the goals –we also need to defend better. As individuals, at times as well, we need to be very disciplined and keep playing very disciplined for a full (97) minutes to get something out of this game, and we should have handled certain situations better."

More:FC Cincinnati: Jaap Stam's opinion of playing in Montreal 'not one to share'

More:MLS notebook: FC Cincinnati will face CF Montreal in Canada at Stade Saputo

Cincinnati's Haris Medunjanin and Brenner Souza da Silva scored in the sixth and 14th minutes, respectively, to go up 2-0 – a lead that was cancelled out by the 34th minute on goals from Mason Toye and Joaquin Torres.

FC Cincinnati still managed to take a lead into the intermission, though, when Gustavo Vallecilla scored off an Alvaro Barreal free-kick just prior to halftime. 

Brenner's second goal of the night less than a minute into the second half – a classy back-heel strike that dribbled into the goal from about 14 yards out – restored the two-goal advantage for Cincinnati. 

Montreal broke the match back open in the 72nd minute, though, when Toye netted his sixth goal of the season from the penalty spot.

Cincinnati goalkeeper Kenneth Vermeer hauled him down on a play in which Vermeer came rushing off his line, was injured when he slid in to disrupt Toye, and received a yellow card but remained in the match.

Two minutes later, Hamdi finished a gallivanting rush on FCC's goal to bring the hosts level again.

That goal confirmed the third blown two-goal lead for FCC in a two-match span dating back to the July 9 2-2 draw against Columbus Crew.

"When you score four goals away against a team that is doing well in the Eastern Conference, you know, you need to keep this lead," Medunjanin said. "It's the second game you give two goals away, you know, like, two-goals lead. You can't have that. We made progression but we played today against a good team and they score (five) goals, I think you need to secure that... You score four goals away, you need to keep that lead. You cannot give goals away and we cannot lose this game. 

"If you want to make steps as a team, you need to be disciplined. You need to fight for each other."

Thirteen minutes after that, Hamdi deposited the winner after a failed defensive clearance by Cincinnati fell to him in a close-range situation.

There were no further goals to be found over the balance of the 90 minutes, plus seven minutes of added time.  

The loss ended FCC's four-match unbeaten run and saw the club fall to 3-6-3 in 2021.

Montreal's (6-3-4) unbeaten run moved to six games on a night that saw the club return to playing in its home market after playing in the United States the entire 2021 season.

FC Cincinnati will attempt to rebound with a scheduled Wednesday night match at TQL Stadium against Atlanta United.

"We had everything to win this game and everything was going well, and we scored four goals which is great away but then we let five goals in which is unacceptable," Brenner said via a team translator. "So, right now, it’s really about reviewing game play, preparing for Wednesday (against Atlanta United) because we don’t have a lot of training left until the next game. But it’s all about focusing on the next game.’’

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For in-match updates and analysis of the FC Cincinnati versus CF Montreal match, refresh this page throughout the match. For further updates, follow Cincinnati.com FC Cincinnati beat reporter Pat Brennan on Twitter (@PBrennanENQ).

In-match updates:

FINAL: CF Montreal 5, FC Cincinnati 4. 

• 87th minute – GOAL, CF Montreal (5-4): Ahmed Hamdi. 

• 74th minute – GOAL, CF Montreal (4-4): Ahmed Hamdi pulled Montreal level back from its second two-goal deficit of the night. 

• 72nd minute – GOAL, CF Montreal (4-3): Mason Toye scored from the penalty spot for his second goal of the night after being hauled down by Cincinnati goalkeeper Kenneth Vermeer. 

• 46th minute – GOAL, FC Cincinnati (4-2): Brenner Souza da Silva restored FC Cincinnati's two-goal lead with his second of the night and third of 2021 less than a minute after the first half started.

• 42nd minute – GOAL, FC Cincinnati (3-2): Gustavo Vallecilla second goal of the season (both have come against Montreal) restored a lead for Cincinnati. The play was checked by the match officials but never went to a video review. Vallecilla hit a volley from close range and appeared to be in an offside position, but he was played in onside after an Alvaro Barreal free-kick deflected off a Montreal player. 

• 34th minute – GOAL, CF Montreal (2-2): Joaquin Torres' first career MLS goal pulled Montreal back to level terms after they trailed 2-0 just 15 minutes into the game.

• 21st minute – GOAL, CF Montreal (1-2): Mason Toye got on the end of a centering feed and snuck in between FC Cincinnati's center backs to finish cleanly, halving the club's deficit. 

• 14th minute – GOAL, FC Cincinnati (0-2): Brenner Souza da Silva is back in the goals as he took the ball off Montreal goalkeeper James Pantemis as the hosts failed at playing the ball out of the back. The goal was Brenner's second of 2021 and first since the April 17 season-opener at Nashville SC. 

• 6th minute – GOAL, FC Cincinnati (0-1): Haris Medunjanin scored early and from the top of the penalty area for FC Cincinnati to put his side in front. The goal was Medunjanin's first of 2021 and second with FCC. 

Pre-match updates:

• FC Cincinnati starting XI (bench): Kenneth Vermeer (GK), Joseph-Claude Gyau, Gustavo Vallecilla, Nick Hagglund, Tom Pettersson, Edgar Castillo, Haris Medunjanin, Yuya Kubo, Alvaro Barreal, Luciano Acosta, Brenner Souza da Silva (Isaac Atanga, Avionne Flanagan, Franko Kovacevic, Ben Mines, Arquimides Ordonez, Tom Pattersson, Beckham Sunderland Przemysław Tytoń).

• FC Cincinnati made two changes to its starting lineup, subtracting midfielder Isaac Atanga and center back Geoff Cameron. In taking Atanga out, FCC added a third center back in the defensive line. That defensive line was also altered as Nick Hagglund and Tom Pettersson will play next to Gustavo Vallecilla, with Cameron not dressed for the match. 

Asked about Cameron's availability, a source indicated that FC Cincinnati expected this game against Montreal to be played in Fort Lauderdale, just as the May 22 match was when Montreal was the host team to FC Cincinnati. With the league decision to play the game in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, not all FC Cincinnati players were able to reach compliance with Canadian border restrictions.