Winless CF Montreal visit NYCFC, trying to avoid worst start ever

Field Level Media|published: Fri 9th May, 12:22 2025

Apr 12, 2025; Montreal, Province of Quebec, CAN; CF Montreal head coach Marco Donadel looks before the game against Charlotte FC at Saputo Stadium. Mandatory Credit: David Kirouac-Imagn Images

A third of the way through the 2025 MLS season, CF Montreal are on the verge of history. Unfortunately for the club, it's not the side anyone wants to be on.

Still in search of its first win, Montreal (0-8-3, 3 points) will look to avoid owning the worst start to a season in league history when it visits New York City FC on Saturday.

The Canadian side sits last in the Eastern Conference and is tied for last place overall with the Los Angeles Galaxy, who have an identical record.

While they've seen improvements in their play on the pitch under coach Marco Donadel -- who replaced Laurent Courtois at the end of March after an 0-4-1 start -- they have yet to see it reflected in the results. They're coming off a 2-1 loss to the Philadelphia Union, in which they dominated most of the match before Philadelphia scored the go-ahead goal in the 84th minute.

They finished the match with 14 shot attempts.

"All that matters is the number of times the ball crosses the opposing goal line," Donadel said.

The club has scored a league-low five goals through 11 games. They've tightened up at the other end, though. After conceding nine goals in their first five matches, they've allowed just six over their past six.

New York City (5-4-2, 17 points) enters Saturday having won three of its past four MLS matches, with each triumph being a 1-0 decision. The club snapped FC Cincinnati's five-match winning streak last week but is coming off a 1-0 setback to the Pittsburgh Riverhounds in U.S. Open Cup action on Wednesday.

It's part of a stretch in which New York plays five matches in 14 days, including three in a span of a week.

"We have a challenging schedule ahead," coach Pascal Jansen said. "We're trying to get nine games in the month of May."

NYCFC has enjoyed success against Montreal over the past 10 seasons, posting an 11-2-5 record since 2015. Prior to losing to Montreal in the regular season finale last year, New York hadn't fallen to Montreal since July 7, 2021. Its only other setback against Montreal in that stretch came on Aug. 1, 2015.

--Field Level Media

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