Martínez Lifts CF Montréal over Atlanta
October 3, 2024 - Major League Soccer (MLS)
Club de Foot Montreal News Release
ATLANTA, Georgia - A brace from striker Josef Martínez helped CF Montréal (10-12-10) defeat Atlanta United (8-14-10) 2-1 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Wednesday night to remain unbeaten in its last five games (4-0-1).
With this first MLS victory on Atlanta's home turf and two games left to play in the regular season, CF Montréal is now in sole possession of 8th place in the Eastern Conference, three points ahead of Toronto FC, Philadelphia Union and D.C. United.
Martínez opened the scoring in the 43rd minute following a free kick from Bryce Duke and an assist from Nathan Saliba. Atlanta striker Daniel Ríos tied the game during the first half stoppage time, but Martínez scored his second goal of the match in the 76th minute, deflecting Tom Pearce's cross to the first post.
In the midst of a stretch of three games in eight days, CF Montréal will play its final road game of the season this Saturday at 7:30pm at Bank of America Stadium, in Charlotte (MLS Season Pass, BPM Sports, CJAD 800).
Laurent Courtois' squad will conclude its regular season at Stade Saputo against New York City FC, following the international break, on Saturday, October 19 at 7:30pm, on MLS Decision Day. (MLS Season Pass, RDS, TSN, TSN690.ca)
GAME SUMMARY HERE
GAME NOTES :
- Josef Martínez scored his 10th goal of the season and the 115th of his MLS career.
- Martínez also scored the 600th goal in Club's MLS history.
- With six saves tonight, goalkeeper Jonathan Sirois recorded his 10th win of the season.
- Pearce collected his first MLS assist.
- With his 30th game played, midfielder Bryce Duke reached the 30-game mark in the same season for the first time in his MLS career.
Post-match comments from head coach Laurent Courtois, Josef Martinez and Samuel Piette are available HERE.
LAURENT COURTOIS
"I knew we had the weapons and abilities. The guys showed composure, quality and resilience even when they were suffering. I am proud of them tonight. It was special for Josef to be here, but he was also eager to have an impact, and you can see that he can execute and do things that nobody else can. With the proper service, he's unstoppable. He's one of the most exciting players I have ever seen, and it is an honour for me to coach him. We have not really changed anything, but we worked on things that we were already doing, but not a lot of people wanted to talk about it at the time. We just added more composure and fixed the hectic that could happen in key moments."
JOSEF MARTÍNEZ
"We fought for this win and it is a very important one for us. Of course, coming to this stadium, these fans and to play against this club was tough. It's always hard and I have a lot of love for them but I am professional and I need to fight for my colours. We are happy with this victory, but we need to focus on Charlotte now. We've had troubles in the past, but I think that when you start to win, everything changes. Now we fight for one reason and it is to make the playoffs. The team is on the same page and this is why we are scoring goals."
SAMUEL PIETTE
"I think we rediscovered the joy of playing together and for one another. When before it was more everybody trying to do their best individually and concentrating on their own game. Now, I feel like we are and look more like a team. We worked a lot tactically on simple things, but that needed to be addressed, simple details such as when there is a long ball in behind, trying to win duels, set pieces, putting good crosses in, etc. I think we are in a good place right now, and we want to keep it that way. The match was not perfect on our side, but we still came away with the points. We also showed a lot of character once again, a close-knit and united team."
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