CF Montreal searching for first win of season vs. Charlotte FC

Field Level Media|published: Fri 11th April, 16:28 2025

Apr 5, 2025; Columbus, Ohio, USA; CF Montréal defender Dawid Bugaj (27) fights for the ball with Columbus Crew forward Max Arfsten (27) and midfielder Taha Habroune (16) during the second half at Lower.com Field. Mandatory Credit: Joseph Maiorana-Imagn Images

CF Montreal are currently one of three remaining winless teams in MLS. They hope a return to home soil can lead to a long-awaited three points.

Montreal (0-5-2, 2 points) host Charlotte FC on Saturday evening, the Canadian team's first appearance at Stade Saputo this season after a seven-match stretch on the road.

While Montreal gained a point in Marco Donadel's first match as interim head coach on March 29, it was back to its losing ways a week later, dropping a 2-1 decision to the Columbus Crew. Still, the sentiment around the club's overall effort was positive.

"I think we're finally stepping up and we're sick of having this feeling, flying home, waking up in the morning, thinking ‘What if I would have done this? What if I would have done that?'" midfielder Caden Clark said. "I think for us, we've had enough ... of just complacency and just not being good enough."

Charlotte (4-2-1, 13 points) currently sits fourth in the Eastern Conference and just two points behind East-leading Columbus. Coach Dean Smith's team is coming off a 2-1 win over Nashville SC, but will face Montreal without Wilfried Zaha, who underwent surgery on his left thumb on Monday.

Charlotte's first-half performance against Nashville didn't please Smith, so the priority this time out is to maintain a consistent style of play for 90 minutes.

"We weren't good for 32 minutes, and I think it's always important that we don't get distracted between style of play and game plan," Smith said on Thursday. "The only thing that we changed last week was our game plan without the ball, which was to press from out to in ... Our style of play should not have changed whatsoever."

Charlotte is among the league's better scoring teams, its 12 goals tied for sixth in the league. Zaha and Pep Biel have two goals apiece. Biel also has five assists, tied with San Jose's Cristian Espinoza for the league lead.

Conversely, Montreal scored just four times through its first seven matches, with Prince Owusu scoring twice and Dante Sealy and Nathan Saliba chipping in a goal apiece.

--Field Level Media