By Canadian Press

Montreal, Chicago battle to scoreless MLS draw

Sep 16, 2023 | 6:54 PM

MONTREAL — CF Montreal and the Chicago Fire couldn’t generate any goals on Saturday evening at Stade Saputo.

Montreal (11-14-3) had several chances throughout the Major League Soccer match, but could not solve Chicago (8-11-9) goalkeeper Chris Brady. The draw keeps both teams where they are in the Eastern Conference playoff picture and tightening the race for the final post-season spots.

With the first chance 20 seconds into the game, Zachary Brault-Guillard’s chip went wide after a perfect ball from Nathan Saliba.

The chances continued to pile on as George Campbell hit the crossbar after getting on the end of a Mathieu Choinière corner at the 23-minute mark.

As the half continued, Chicago showed composure and brought the game to a grinding halt, keeping possession and taking the air out of the Montreal attack for the remainder of the opening 45 minutes.

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Montreal began the second half with a similar energy to the first, immediately finding possession in the Chicago penalty area and putting pressure on the back line.

As the chances continued for Montreal, Chicago once again was successful in slowing the game down. With 15 minutes left, Montreal brought on forward Romell Quioto, who had missed 125 days with a hamstring injury.

The return seemingly reinvigorated both the players and the crowd as Montreal once again found space deep in the offensive third. Montreal had two incredible opportunities in the 90th minute.

A mix-up from Chicago in its own penalty area left Bryce Duke with an open goal but the shot was deflected. Just a minute later, a cross from Duke fell right to Choinière’s feet, forcing another incredible stop from Brady, his fourth and final as time ran out.

Montreal also broke a club record clean sheets in a season.

UP NEXT

Both teams will now turn their attention to mid-week games on Wednesday as Montreal hosts league-leader FC Cincinnati and Chicago travels to Columbus to face the Crew.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 16, 2023.

Elias Grigoriadis, The Canadian Press