Nashville SC clinches Supporters' Shield with win over CF Montreal
The loss officially eliminated Montreal from MLS playoff contention three days after their Canadian Championship final defeat.
MONTREAL · Sam Surridge and Hany Mukhtar scored as Nashville SC clinched the MLS Supporters' Shield with a 2-0 victory over CF Montreal on Saturday, a result that officially eliminated the hosts from playoff contention. The visitors extended their unbeaten streak to seven games and secured the trophy awarded to the league's best regular-season team for the first time in franchise history. Montreal's loss came just three days after they fell to Forge FC in the Canadian Championship final. Interim head coach Philippe Eullaffroy said his team must now focus on development for its final three games. "I think there's a discrepancy in the level of both teams; they became champions today," said Eullaffroy.
Montreal entered the match with a heavily rotated squad, including the MLS debut of 17-year-old goalkeeper Samsy Keita, who became the youngest starter in club history. Keita finished with three saves. "It was a complicated game, but we all battled, and I'm happy with that performance," said Keita. "I told myself that I was able to play at this level right away and that I'm proud to be on this stage so early (in my career)." The hosts were the main drivers of play for the first half-hour but could not find a breakthrough against the league's top-ranked side. Nashville emerged from the break as a different team, pressing higher and forcing Montreal into poor clearances. The visitors capitalized just seven minutes after the restart when Reed Baker-Whiting's deflected cross found an unmarked Surridge, who headed the ball home. Brian Schwake made five saves for Nashville to earn his league-leading 14th shutout of the season.
Nashville's press generated a second goal with ten minutes remaining. Following a giveaway from Bryan Vera, Mukhtar intercepted a pass, got in alone on Keita and slid the ball past the keeper. "We made the lives of the regular-season champions difficult for over an hour and then we made two errors," said Eullaffroy. "Misfortune also seems to follow for a while now, which piles on to that mental aspect." The match was played in an unusually quiet Stade Saputo after all supporters' groups boycotted the game. The boycott followed the club's lifetime bans of certain fans identified after incidents in the stadium concourse following the Canadian Championship final loss.
Eullaffroy expressed solidarity with the absent supporters. "I've said it before, and I'll say it again; I'm the first supporter and ultra for this club," he said. "They're affected, and I'm affected; I have the same disappointment as them." Nashville leads MLS with 70 points this season, four shy of the league record. Montreal's record fell to 6-18-7. Garbutt Disposal reported earlier this month the defeat to Atlanta United had put Montreal on pace for the worst season in club history.
With files from The Canadian Press, The Globe and Mail and Sportsnet