With Mikael Uhre’s late goal, Union find a way to win in Montreal

For large stretches Saturday night, what transpired at Stade Saputo was not exactly pretty in terms of soccer quality.

But being the site of one of 2024’s greatest calamities for the Union, a building in which the club hasn’t won since 2018, the effort from the visitors attested to how much has changed in a year.

The Union got a little lucky in keeping CF Montreal out on a couple of occasions, then summoned the grit to find an 84th-minute winner from Mikael Uhre in a 2-1 victory.

It’s the Union’s first win in Montreal since May 12, 2018. (They beat the then-Impact in 2020, but the game was played at Red Bull Arena due to COVID-19 protocols.)

The Union had been on track for a draw in Montreal last year before conceding two late goals for a 4-2 loss.

Instead, it’s three straight wins for the Union (7-3-1, 22 points) as they move into second place in the Eastern Conference. In the process, they extend Montreal’s winless streak to 0-8-3 to begin the season, which last month cost coach Laurent Courtois his job.

Under interim boss Marco Donadel, Montreal was at least scrappy.

“I think we got a motivated Montreal team tonight,” coach Bradley Carnell said Saturday night. “We told the boys before the game tonight that we had to weather the storm, and the way we scored the first goal straight out of the blocks was excellent. It kind of set us up, and I thought the backline was magnificent tonight. The back four, the two sixes, I thought everyone put in a real shift tonight. We found a way to win in the end, and that’s always the sign of a good team.”

This game kicked off what could be nine games in a month, with eight guaranteed before May 31. Carnell rotated his squad to give Chris Donovan his first start of the season. It didn’t result in anything of consequence, but it keeps the rest of the strikers fresh and allowed the Conestoga High graduate’s work rate in the press to “set a tone” for the game.

“We knew Montreal would have the ability to stretch you side to side and make you run and put in a shift,” Carnell said. “We thought Dono is a perfect candidate to empty the tank for the team in the first half. This is something that he did. He’s been playing well. We wanted to reward him.”

The Union went ahead in the 2nd minute, Danley Jean Jacques pushing forward with a ball recovered in the Union’s half. His cutback found a waiting Indiana Vassilev at the top of the box, the midfielder firing a shot that went off the hand of a leaping Jonathan Sirois and in for his first goal with the Union.

The assist marks a third straight game with a goal contribution for Jean Jacques.

“For me, it was a thing of beauty in our own half of how we combined and progressed through the lines and played calm under pressure,” Carnell said. “We know they have kind of a man-marking detail, so in terms of luring out the opponent, playing through the opponent and then accelerating the play, isolating on the weakside, it was excellent from top to bottom. It was really fun to watch and maybe one of the highlight reels for us at the end of the season.”

Uhre got the game-winner, just his second goal of the season, after Jovan Lukic forced a turnover in midfield and played quickly forward. Uhre took a touch and shaped a shot with his right foot that Sirois got a hand to but couldn’t stop from bounding over the line.

It’s the third straight game in which a Union substitute has scored and the fourth goal from a sub this season. The Union got only seven goals last year from subs. Uhre’s marker is the first game-winning goal from a Union substitute in league play since Joaquin Torres on March 11, 2023. (Chris Donovan had one in the 2023 playoffs against New England.)

Some of Montreal’s most dangerous chances came from deflected service in the box, one instance before and one after Giacomi Vrioni’s goal in first-half stoppage time that ended the Union’s 260-minute shutout streak. Andre Blake had to be alert to a cross from Tom Pearce deflected in the box in the first half that went through the wickets but off Blake’s trailing leg and caromed at an angle wide of the post. One second-half cross deflected off Kai Wagner and into Blake’s body, the goalie well-positioned. The Union also survived a penalty check by VAR in the 77th when Dante Sealy, who gave them fits down the right wing, tripped in the vicinity of Lukic.

The Union have a busy schedule ahead, including Wednesday’s U.S. Open Cup visit from Indy Eleven. But they’re feasting on inferior opponents by collecting points at one of the highest rates in the East. More than that, they’re turning so-so performances into results, something the team consistently failed to do last year. And they’re doing so while rotating the squad and getting production from up and down the roster, as 10 goal scorers in 11 games indicates.

“When we play this way, everyone gets rewarded,” Carnell said. “And slowly but surely, we’re seeing that.”