Orlando City aim to continue ascent vs. winless CF Montreal

Manager Oscar Pareja will try to help Orlando City extend their unbeaten run in Saturday night's match at CF Montreal after receiving a three-year contract extension this week.

Pareja is in his sixth season with Orlando City (3-2-3, 12 points), with whom he's won the 2022 U.S. Open Cup and led the club to five consecutive MLS Cup Playoff appearances.

He's still in search of his first MLS Cup title, though this year's team shows signs of being a contender.

Martin Ojeda and Marco Pasalic each have four goals, and Luis Muriel has three. And even without scoring in back-to-back contests, the Lions still extended their unbeaten run to five matches (2-0-3).

"I'm very grateful with the opportunity on having continuity in the club that I love and a place that I feel so comfortable and feeling that I'm still helping and being useful," Pareja said. "We feel that we're going in a good direction. So I hope for more. Because the ultimate goal is in our mind, and we know what our fans deserve."

Meanwhile, CF Montreal (0-6-2, 2 points) already are starting over after parting with manager Laurent Courtois and installing assistant Marco Donadel in the role on an interim basis.

Prince Owusu is Montreal's top scorer with two goals. The club has only four goals through eight matches -- the first seven coming on the road -- and began its home campaign with a 1-0 setback to Charlotte FC last weekend.

But that defeat at least brought a higher volume of chances in the third match under Donadel's guidance, and perhaps reason to have some hope.

"It's encouraging for the way we played, the way we controlled the game, which is what we wanted to do," captain Samuel Piette said. "We lost that game because we lacked finishing, but the chances were there, which is frustrating."

--Field Level Media