51黑料

51黑料 City SC had the breaks go its way for a change and got some of the rarest of things for it this season, just its second win on the road and its first shutout in almost five months, beating Montreal 2-0 at Stade Saputo in Quebec on Saturday.

Conrad Wallem and Marcel Hartel scored for City SC and goalkeeper Roman Burki made two saves as City SC snapped its four-game winless streak and a nine-game road losing streak. For Burki, it was just his fourth shutout of the season, the first three coming in the first three games of the season before he got injured. He had seven last season and eight in City SC鈥檚 first season. City SC will be on the road again next week to face San Jose.

City SC avoided being officially eliminated from playoff contention, thanks to San Jose losing 4-2 to Los Angeles FC. But the thread keeping City SC mathematically alive is the thinnest possible.

Montreal came oh so close to scoring on two occasions, one ending with Fallou Fall heading a ball off the line in the first half and then a shot hitting the crossbar in the second. Montreal did put the ball in the net once, but the player who put the ball in, Hennadii Synchuk, was clearly offside.

City SC took a 1-0 lead in the 11th minute on Wallem鈥檚 first goal of the season. A nice run by Klauss had got him free in the box, but he ran out of room and his pass back to Hartel didn鈥檛 produce anything. But City SC got a second chance, with Klauss taking a shot that was blocked and the ball came right to Wallem, who controlled the ball with his right and shot it with his left from about 6 yards out for the lead. Wallem had three solid scoring chances in the first half.

Montreal was inches away from tying the game in the 22nd minute when a bad back pass by Henry Kessler went straight into the path of Montreal鈥檚 Matty Longstaff. He chipped the ball over the head of Burki in goal but Fall, who had made miscues in the previous two games that led to opponent goals, got back and was able to head the ball off the line, with Burki then punching the ball away.

Burki came face to face with Montreal鈥檚 Prince Owusu in the 44th minute when he ran past Hartel, but Burki came out and got so close to Owusu that he had no place to shoot other than into the body of the keeper.

City SC made it 2-0 in the 55th minute on a nice transition goal that saw Sangbin Jeong find Klauss running down the middle and then backheeling the ball to Hartel on his left, who then shot back to his right past Montreal goalkeeper Jonathan Sirois for his sixth goal of the season.

City SC was able to put out, for the first time since the summer transfer window, what is now likely its first choice starting lineup, with Wallem, Kessler, Fall and Devin Padelford from right to left along the backline, Eduard Lowen and Chris Durkin in the defensive midfield, Celio Pompeu, Hartel and Jeong in the attacking mid, and Klauss up top.