On road again at D.C. United, CF Montreal hunger for first win

It has been a difficult start to the 2025 MLS season for CF Montreal, who head into their match against host D.C. United on Saturday with three straight losses to open the campaign.

Montreal (0-3-0, 0 points) twice came back from a goal down before falling 3-2 to Atlanta United in the season opener on Feb. 22. Since then, it was held without a shot on goal in a 1-0 loss at Minnesota United before a 2-0 defeat against the Vancouver Whitecaps on Canada's West Coast.

Despite preparing to play the fourth of seven straight matches away from home, Montreal isn't using that as an "excuse," according to midfielder Caden Clark.

"Half your season's on the road, so you can't have half your games (where) you're not playing your style," Clark said. "So we need to figure out a formula and a way to push forward."

D.C. (1-0-2, 5 points), which has yet to lose in 2025, claimed its first victory last weekend, a 2-1 decision against visiting Sporting Kansas City.

Christian Benteke scored from the penalty spot against Kansas City, giving D.C.'s star striker a goal in all three matches.

"Christian is our focal point," D.C. United coach Troy Lesesne said of MLS's reigning Golden Boot winner, who scored 23 goals in 2024. "He is our guy. We want him to fill it up, and through three matches, he's been able to start off pretty well."

That said, being tidier in possession has been a point of emphasis for D.C.

"We haven't given much away, but when we give opportunities away to the opponent, we've been punished," Lesesne said. "And so we need to eliminate those moments ... so we can take the next step of a clean sheet to go with some of the goal creation and goal scoring we've had."

--Field Level Media