MONTREAL — After tying the Major League Soccer record for most consecutive shutout wins at home with six, CF Montreal is looking to duplicate that success on the road.
Montreal will look for just its second road win of the season when it faces Charlotte FC on Saturday.
Most MLS teams struggle away from home, given the amount of travel in the league. Only Cincinnati FC and Los Angeles FC have winning road records.
Montreal (8-9-1) has taken this principle to the extreme, standing out as one of the best teams in the league while playing at Stade Saputo (7-1-), but the second-worst away record (1-8-1), winning just four points in 10 games.
"It’s easier said than done to just say 'OK guys let’s play the same way we play at home,'" said head coach Hernan Losada. “Every team in the league is struggling on the road right now, but that’s not an excuse so we just have to keep working at it.”
Charlotte (6-8-5) is still trying to find its footing in MLS. While new MLS teams have often hit the ground running over the past five years, the 2022 expansion club missed out on the playoffs in its inaugural season and has struggled of late.
Charlotte has won a single game in its last seven, getting dumped out of the U.S. Open Cup by second-division Birmingham Legion FC in the process.
The game against Charlotte presents an opportunity for Montreal to pick up rare points on the road and get some separation over a rival in the MLS playoff race. Not only has the second-year club struggled at home, winning three of nine games, it sits just two points behind Montreal in the Eastern Conference standings.
Montreal enters Saturday's game in eighth spot in the East, with teams one through nine making the playoffs. If one team can take three points on Saturday, it could prove to be a vital separation should the race for a playoff spot come down to the wire.
“There’s for sure will be a playoff race but hopefully in the next few weeks we can pick up a lot of points and not have to worry about that at the end of the season,” said striker Mason Toye. “Points away from home are massive obviously and that’s the only thing we’re worried about right now, this is crunch time.”
One potential solution is a different configuration to the midfield. In the last two games, Montreal has deployed Victor Wanyama as the lone pivot in front of two central midfielders with great success.
The lack of a designated attacking midfielder also means that the team can return into its defensive shape much sooner and be less prone to getting caught in possession.
Montreal will have to navigate this important run of games with significant losses at the right wing back position. Both Aaron Herrera and Zachary Brault-Guillard have been called up to the Guatemalan and Canadian national teams respectively for the CONCACAF Gold Cup. The tournament will run from this weekend until July 16th at the latest.
Along with an injury to Lassi Lappalainen, Losada will have to get creative with his lineups for the next few games which could result in breakout star Mathieu Choinière being moved out of the midfield and onto the flank.
“It’s unfortunate because of how good he’s been in the middle of the park and this is definitely a special situation that we’re in,” said Losada. “We’ll see what the options are closer to a game time.”
Choinière has worn many hats in the last few years, including backup wing back, but the adjustment could make way for others to step up.
After a difficult start to the season that saw him struggle with the jump from semi-professional soccer to MLS, Nathan Saliba has shown significant improvement in recent weeks. The homegrown academy player has made several impressive substitutions appearances and even helped spark an attempted comeback in the Canadian Championship Final two weeks ago.
Charlotte made a move to shore up its midfield earlier this week by adding former Canada captain Scott Arfield.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 23, 2023.
Elias Grigoriadis, The Canadian Press
