HARRISON, New Jersey – FC Montreal lost 4-0 Saturday night against the New York Red Bulls II, already crowned USL champions of the regular season, Saturday night, at the Red Bull Arena.
David Najem, Florian Valot, Derrick Etienne and Stefano Bonomo scored for New York.
The New Yorkers applied a lot of pressure from the beginning of the match and took the lead in the 20th minute. On a cross from the left flank, touched by goalkeeper Maxime Crépeau, David Najem took the rebound from outside of the box and scored the first goal.
Despite many chances for Montreal, the Red Bulls added a second goal in the 55th minute, when Florian Valot scored from a header on a cross from Derrick Etienne.
Montreal was close to cutting in half the Red Bulls II lead in the 72nd minute, when Anthony Jackson-Hamel flicked the ball with his head for Michael Salazar, who was alone in front of the net, but his shot was blocked by goalkeeper Kyle Reynish.
The locals added a third goal in the 75th minute on a counter-attack. Defender Zach Carroll cleared the ball from his zone for Brandon Allen, who flicked the ball with his head for Derrick Etienne. The forward was alone against Crépeau, whom he beat with a perfect shot in the top of the net.
In the 92nd minute, Stefano Bonomo scored on a volley after a cross from the left flank to bring the score to 4-0, just before the final whistle.
Despite all the goals scored by the Red Bulls II, Crépeau made many key saves.
“If you don’t do the basics well enough against the best team in the league, they will punish you,” said assistant coach Simon Gatti. “We made individual mistakes that we can’t do in a game of this level. I still think the result doesn’t reflect the way we played. Every time we had a counter-attack, it was a chance to score.”
“The opponent was better than us on certain aspects,” said defender Jems Geffrard. “They had us on when we were not focused. We also lacked intensity in the end and the goalkeeper made key saves on our chances.”
FC Montreal will play its last game of the season on Saturday, September 24, at 2pm, against the Harrisburg City Islanders, at the Claude-Robillard Sports Complex.
LINEUPS
FC Montréal: Maxime Crépeau; Amadou Dia (Zachary Sukunda 60’), Thomas Meilleur-Giguère, Mele Temguia (Jems Geffrard 73’), Janouk Charbonneau; Mastanabal Kacher (Alessandro Riggi 63’), Louis Béland-Goyette, Ballou Jean-Yves Tabla (Jimmy-Shammar Sanon 87’), Heikel Jarras (Philippe Lincourt-Joseph 46’), Michael Salazar; Anthony Jackson-Hamel
Subs not used: David Paulmin, Yacine Ait Slimane
MLS players
New York Red Bulls II: Kyle Reynish; Kevin O’Toole, Timothy Schmoll (Konrad Plewa 64’), Zachary Carroll, Tyler Adams (Noah Powder 46’); Daniel Metzger, David Jajem, Vincent Bezecourt (Zoumana Simpara 78’); Derrick Etienne, Brandon Allen, Florian Valot (Stefano Bonomo 66’)
Subs not used: Rafael Diaz, Justin Bilyeu
GOALS
NY: David Najem 20’
NY: Florian Valot 55’
NY: Derrick Etienne 75’
NY: Stefano Bonomo 92’
CAUTIONS
MTL: Heikel Jarras 40’
