CF Montreal Recap: A Nothing Burger (17th July 2026)

Montréal

0

FT

0

Toronto FC

The World Cup is wrapping up in the next couple of days which means that the MLS is back on the menu for many soccer fans.

The first day back for the MLS has seen many rivalry games being played all around the league, but one not more interesting than CF Montreal vs Toronto FC

The Canadian Classique is usually a game where fans from both sides go out of their way to get under each others skins in the best way possible, so this match was destined to be a barnburner, but this time it wasn't.

Lineups

CF Montréal: HC: Philippe Eullaffroy (4-3-3): Thomas Gillier; Luca Petrasso, Brayan Vera, Jalen Neal, Dawid Bugaj; Matty Longstaff, Samuel Piette, Victor Loturi; Noah Streit, Daniel Ríos, Hennaddiy Synchuk

Toronto FC: HC: Robin Fraser (5-3-2): Luka Gavran; Kobe Franklin, Walker Zimmerman, Zane Monlouis, Jackson Gilman, Richie Laryea; Alonso Coello, Dániel Sallói, Theo Corbeanu; Derrick Etienne Jr, Josh Sargent

Key Players Gone on Both Sides

Before the game was even able to start, both teams were missing key players on each side.

CF Montreal were missing their key striker, Prince Owusu, who has scored 9 of the teams goals while also having 6 of their assists. This is a major blow for a team who has been struggling all season.

To make matters even worse, CF Montreal will also be without their 2nd leading scorer Wiki Carmona, due to a knee injury. He currently has 4 goals and 2 assists on the season.

This seems like some major losses for CF Montreal but it doesnt not get any better on Toronto FCs side. Jonathan Osorio will also be missing the game due to accumulating too many yellow cards. This is a key loss for their teams midfield.

The list doesn't even end their as on their injury list they are missing: Markus Cimermancic, Nicksoen Gomis, Nelson Palacio, Matheus Pereira and Lazar Stefanovic.

This causes many lineup changes for both CF Montreals interim manager Philippe Eullaffroy and Toronto FCs manager Robin Fraser.

The Game

The game was incredibly one sided offensively as Montreal was able to rub off the rust of the break and generate more shots, with a 15-7 lead in that regard. Toronto FC's goalie Luka Gavran provided a much needed life line countless times for the struggling team as CF Montreal just coun't get past him.

Early doors into the game, Hennadiy Synchuk was able to go between the legs on Toronto FC defender Jackson Gilman before sailing the ball high.

CF Montreal's best chance came from Synchuk, who in the 66th minute was able to cut inside from the right and take a high-danger shot which Gavran was able to save confortably.

Near the end of the game Synchuk missed another opportunity on the corner when the ball fell to his feet in the penalty area. He just wasn't able to get the ball past defender Alonso Coello.

This game was a snoozefest for a large majority of it as both teams weren't able to build up any rhythm besides the short bursts that Synchuk was able to bring for the CF Montreal side. Almost all the chances came from Synchuk’s side, showing how clinical of a game he had.

Hennadiy Synchuk

After the previous section, I feel like Synchuk needs his own section today with how unispiring alot of the game was for both sides of the ball.

He seemed to be the only player in the entire game today that truly showed he had some heart left and was actually generating and pushing the ball up to provide actual offense.

He was able to generate opportunitions by generate offensive passing chances to the middle of the box which, if it was Prince Owusu and Wiki with him up top, it probably would've produced better offensive chances. This is all just absolutues and something that we shouldn't base into hypotheticals but in a game where little to nothing happened, it's one of the only positives.

Dani Pereira

In some encouring news, in the 60' minute, CF Montreals new signing Dani Pereira made his debut. Dani was one of the stadnout players at Austin FC in which CF Montreal just acquired via a trade.

He started his debut with getting a yellow card in the 64' minute. Besides that, he played a solid game not doing anything groundbreaking but looked very at home and in place at middle of the field where he was able to complete 90% of his passes while also generating meaning interceptions all game.

I would like to see more for Dani, but as a first game this is something that he can build on in future games.

In the End

CF Montreal's tie puts them in T-11th in the Eastern Conference with Toronto FC. This game was incredibly boring for the gravitace that this matchup should have, but it had some flashing spots with Synchuk generating alot of the offense.

Hopefully for the next game, CF Montreal will generate more offense as Prince Owusu suspension will be up, meaning that Le CFM will finally have their talisman back to hopefully generate some offense alognside Synchuk and maybe Carmona if he is back.

Next Game

CF Montréal returns to Stade Saputo on Saturday, July 25 at 7:30pm to take on Inter Miami CF.