Orlando City earn draw with CF Montreal, but scoreless stretch continues

Pedro Gallese made six saves and 10-man Orlando City held on for a third consecutive 0-0 draw, this time while visiting CF Montreal on Saturday night.

Rafael Santos received two yellow cards 16 minutes apart in the second half to force the visitors' number to be reduced late.

Luis Muriel may have had the Lions' best scoring chances, but Orlando (3-2-4, 13 points) didn't look close to snapping a scoreless stretch that has now extended to 270 minutes.

That's a drastic switch from earlier this season, when manager Oscar Pareja's team scored 13 goals in six matches prior to this three-match dry spell.

Jonathan Sirois made two stops in what was just Montreal's second home match this season, following a 1-0 defeat to Charlotte FC a week ago.

Montreal led 13-9 in overall shots and 7-2 in shots on target. But there were few clear chances even after the hosts gained a numerical advantage after Santos' 76th-minute dismissal.

The best came in the 78th minute and forced what was easily Gallese's best stop of the night, a right-armed denial of Caden Clark from a tight angle.

The ball stayed in play, with Orlando defender David Brekalo reacting just in time to block Prince Owusu's rebound attempt. Then Dante Sealy sent a third attempt just wide of the frame.

In the 82nd minute, Sealy showed up in a dangerous spot again but couldn't find his footing and Gallese made a routine stop.

Montreal believed they'd gained the lead midway through the first half when what appeared to be a cross sailed past Gallese, who had been screened by Samuel Piette. But Piette was ruled offside on the play.

Between those two moments, there was precious little attacking to speak of. Orlando's best opportunity was a second-half Montreal slide tackle that the visitors believed should've resulted in referee Fotis Bazakos pointing to the spot. Neither Bazakos nor officials in the video review booth agreed.

--Field Level Media