MATCH RECAP, pres. by Toyota: Red Bulls Fall in Montréal

CF Montréal scored twice in the first half, and twice again in the second half, defeating Red Bull New York, 4-1.

"We had a a really poor start this afternoon," Head Coach Michael Bradley said. "Let a team that has had a difficult period. Let them grow into the game. Let them step up on us. Let them  squeeze us. Let them turn some mistakes into chances. And so we from, from the beginning, we were poor."

Red Bull's lone goal was a deflected own goal midway through the second half.

Montreal opened the scoring in the fifth minute. Forward Prince Owusu won the ball in New York’s defensive third and played a quick ball forward to midfielder Victor Loturi who laced a shot into the bottom right corner.  

Montreal doubled their lead in the 39th minute. A Montreal cross was deflected off the arm of defender Dylan Nealis to draw a penalty kick. Owusu tucked his attempt into the bottom left corner.

"Physically, we had nothing tonight in terms of energy, in terms of intensity, in terms of the ability to stay connected and step up, move over, sprint back when we needed to, like we we were in those ways, really, really poor," Bradley said. "And so when we got to halftime, and obviously we were down, we felt like it was an afternoon that we needed to make some changes, to get fresh legs and energy and to really see if we could change the game."

The home side found a third goal in the 49th minute. Winger Noah Streit played a ball through to Owusu who crossed the ball into the box to midfielder Matty Longstaff who placed a shot into the top corner of the net. 

New York got on the scoresheet in the 53rd minute. Forward Julian Hall's pass wide was deflected by Montreal’s Longstaff into the bottom left corner of the net.

Montreal scored a fourth in the 77th minute when Montreal won the ball in New York’s defensive third and Owusu played a cross to winger Kwadwo Opoku who placed his shot into the back of the net. 

Nealis made his 100th MLS appearance with New York, making him the 13th defender in club history to achieve the feat.

"We want to be able to play a little bit faster, to find different ways to get in the box, to be able to play on angles to even against the team that is deep, to still be able to play in tight spaces and then get the third guy running through, or to be able to use our wide attacking players off the edge of their defense that has opened tight," Bradley said. "So we had moments and advantages that were promising, but it was an afternoon where we lacked the final part of being able to get the ball across in the right way, or an extra pass to set up an even better shot, a recognition of how to make the last part of the move a little bit faster and a little bit more dissociated."

Next up, New York will host D.C. United at Sports Illustrated Stadium on Wednesday, April 22.

Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. ET with coverage on Apple TV in English, Spanish, and French, and Red Bulls Radio in English via the Red Bull New York app and RedBullNewYork.com.