CF Montreal v St. Louis City SC: Critchley demands attacking efficiency

St. Louis City's interim head coach, David Critchely, is aiming to use the disappointment from his team's 1-1 draw with FC Dallas as fuel against CF Montreal this weekend. 

Critchley watched on as Celio Pompeu's opening goal was quickly cancelled out by Petar Musa, with Dallas having seen goalkeeper Michael Collodi sent off in the 16th minute. 

St. Louis dominated proceedings, registering a mammoth 42 shots that generated an expected goals (xG) total of 3.64, but they were unable to find a way through. 

That result further dampened their slim hopes of reaching the playoffs, with St. Louis down in 14th in the Western Conference, 13 points adrift of a place in the postseason. 

"Yeah, it feels like a loss," Critchley conceded. "Regardless of them having the goalkeeper sent off early in the game, their style of play was something we prepared for. 

"It was something we expected. We knew that they were going to be in a low block. We needed to create moments from those chances and the execution was not there.

"We had them pinned back all the way to their own box, and then we made a big mistake on a throw-in deep in our own half and all of a sudden we turned the ball over. 

"Overall, we couldn't find a way to win the game. We have to look at ourselves and think about how we can have that number of chances and not come away with three points."

St. Louis make the trip to Stade Saputo to face a Montreal side who are well rested, having not played a league fixture since August 30, when they drew 1-1 with Toronto FC. 

Jonathan Osorio's 88th-minute equaliser saw Toronto snatch a point, and with it, ending Montreal's already slim hopes of a place in the playoffs with five games remaining. 

But results have been better for Montreal of late, not tasting defeat since July 19 against the Chicago Fire, while also picking up wins against the New England Revolution and Austin FC in their five-game unbeaten stretch. 

And fresh from the September international break, Montreal's interim boss Marco Donadel believes his side are feeling refreshed to attack their final league fixtures. 

"It has been a bit more relaxed, especially within the staff because we have gone through a period of not having a match to prepare for in the MLS," Donadel said. 

"We're trying give our best for the team to succeed in the remaining games of the season. We took two days off to gain some energy and we returned on a beautiful day. 

"We have enjoyed training this week without talking about the last game. That is not our focus. We are thinking about the next game and we are back in our normal routine."

PLAYERS TO WATCH

CF Montreal – Prince Owusu

Owusu has starred for Montreal in what has been a disappointing season for his team, scoring 12 goals in 29 appearances so far.

But he has been helped by Dante Sealy, who has netted six times, with the pair contributing to over half of Montreal's 29 goals in the MLS.

Since the beginning of July, the duo has scored nine of the team's 12 goals, with Owusu scoring five and Sealy finding the back of the net four times.

St. Louis City – Eduard Lowen

Lowen provided the assist on St. Louis' only goal in their last match, as he has registered a goal contribution in three straight MLS matches (two goals, one assist).

There have been two longer such streaks in club history – five straight by Joao Klauss and four straight by Rasmus Alm, both in 2023.

MATCH PREDICTION: CF MONTREAL WIN

Montreal and St. Louis are meeting for the first time. This weekend's visitors are winless in their last five matches (D1 L4) against Canadian MLS clubs and have one win all-time on the road in Canada (at Toronto in July 2023).

Montreal are, however, unbeaten in their last five regular-season matches (W2 D3), equalling the team's longest unbeaten run across the last three seasons. They last had a longer unbeaten streak when having an eight-game run to end the 2022 season.

And after playing out a draw with FC Dallas, St. Louis will be hoping to have found their shooting boots since. 

They recorded 42 shots in their last game, 15 more than they have had in any other MLS game in team history. It was the second-most shots ever taken by a team in an MLS game (San Jose Earthquakes – 43, August 2019 against the Vancouver Whitecaps).

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

CF Montreal – 43%

Draw – 26.7%

St. Louis City – 30.3%