Ruan scores with header as CF Montreal beats Atlanta United 1-0

MONTREAL — CF Montreal head coach Laurent Courtois wasn’t satisfied, even though he picked up three crucial points Saturday night.

Brazilian winger Ruan scored in the 51st minute as Montreal beat Atlanta United FC 1-0 in Major League Soccer.

But Montreal was unable to take advantage of its numerical inferiority in the second half to put the game out of reach, leaving Atlanta one shot away from equalizing.

“The truth is it hurts tonight, I’m really disappointed,” Courtois said. “That we gave Atlanta the opportunity to hurt us, it’s unacceptable – in terms of collective management and especially in the ego of some of us who forgot what stage of the game we were at, what stage of the season we are at.”

“I was very disappointed at that level.”

Montreal (6-9-8) extended its unbeaten home streak to seven games, earning its third victory in that stretch.

The decisive goal came when Raheem Edwards sent a perfectly-weighted cross towards the far right post before Ruan headed the ball across goal and into the net as a sellout crowd of 19,619 fans at Stade Saputo erupted.

Atlanta (6-11-6) then found themselves down to 10 men in the 55th minute when Stian Gregersen was shown a red card with his second yellow of the night drawn by Ruan.

From there, Montreal struggled to put the game out of reach because of poor transition with the ball and some players trying to play heroes, Courtois said without naming names.

“You want to force things just because you want to be the main character to score, you want to be the protagonist, the hero when we need to win, not you to score your goal,” Courtois said.

“It was frustrating for me that we were more concerned with forcing something that wasn’t there, when we could have killed it when it was obvious, and then giving the opposition opportunities that weren’t there in the first place.”

This victory, however, propelled Montreal to 10th place in a tight Eastern Conference, two points ahead of Atlanta in the standings.

For this reason, the players were happy to come away with three points, even if they agreed with Courtois’ assessment.

“I think we did the job,” goaltender Jonathan Sirois said. “We got three points at a time of the season where every point is vital. So I’m a little more pleased — especially defensively — than disappointed right now.”

Shorthanded, Atlanta winger Saba Lobjanidze made a nice run in the 70th minute and nearly deflected a shot from Montreal’s Joaquin Sosa, but his shot was blocked.

Josef Martinez and Ruan had consecutive golden chances to end the game in the 75th.

Substitute Mason Toye passed to Martinez, who was wide open in the middle of the box, but Atlanta goalkeeper Brad Guzan stopped the Venezuelan forward. The ball fell to Ruan, who had a gaping net, but he sent his ball over the net.

Jules-Anthony Vilsaint created a chance after coming on as a substitute. He beat his defender on the left flank to attempt a counter-attack, but Guzan closed the door again. Vilsaint then set up Mason Toye for a chance that Guzan deflected over the bar.

“We had the opportunity to score a second or third goal, but we didn’t,” Courtois said. “We were very naive with a power play. In the last half hour, we could have paid for it, so it hurts.”

Montreal had 64 percent possession and attempted seven shots on goal to Atlanta’s none.

The visitors lost their fourth straight game in all competitions, including a surprise 2-1 defeat to lower-tier Indy Eleven in the US Open Cup quarter-finals on Tuesday.

The home side piled on the pressure early on when Ruan sent a ball into the box which Kwadwo Opoku almost got his foot on in the second minute.

Edwards created an opening in the 33rd minute that gave Montreal its best chance of the first half. He turned on the left side of the box to shake off a defender, but Guzan made a solid save on his shot toward the top corner.

“We were focused on starting the first half well because usually at home we’re a very good team in the second half,” Edwards said. “We wanted to stay consistent throughout the 90 minutes, I think we did that for the most part. We had an extra man but I didn’t feel like it towards the last 20 minutes, it was quite disappointing.

“But these are games where you take the three points no matter what.”

FOLLOWING

Montreal: Visit the New York Red Bulls on Wednesday.

Atlanta: hosts New York City FC on Wednesday.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 13, 2024.

Daniel Rainbird, The Canadian Press