MONTREAL — A goal in the 73rd minute by Ricardo Marin snapped a 1-1 tie and lifted the visiting Mexican side Puebla to a 2-1 win over CF Montreal in Leagues Cup action on Tuesday night at Stade Saputo.
With the loss, Montreal was eliminated from Cup contention, while the victory keeps LIGA MX side Puebla hopeful of advancing to the knockout stage.
Prince Owusu scored for Montreal in the 47th minute to give the hosts the lead, but Emiliano Gomez netted the equalizer 10 minutes later. Marin's winner improved Puebla's record to 2-0-1.
“I’m proud of my guys, and I think that CF Montreal must always play with this intensity and this mentality. It will be much easier to correct mistakes with this mindset,” said interim head coach Marco Donadel. “It was amazing for us to improve (during this competition) as a team and as a group.”
Montreal opened the match on its front foot and made significant progress on the right flank, generating several half-chances in the first 15 minutes. As Club Puebla got into the game, it was the visitors' turn to exercise some control.
Just after the 20-minute mark, Montreal’s task became much more complicated when Joel Waterman was given a red card for denying an obvious goal-scoring opportunity in the penalty area. However, netminder Thomas Gillier came to the rescue by stopping Gomez's penalty.
“All the credit goes to Vincenzo (Benvenuto), we worked together with Jo (Sirois), Seba (Breza) and Emil (Gazdov) to analyze their matches and their shooters,” said Gillier, who arrived as a midseason loan from Italian club Bologna FC.
“It’s a mix of emotions with tonight’s game, but what I wanted the most is a team that fights, and I’m very happy with the group’s attitude.”
With the numbers advantage, Puebla dominated possession for the remainder of the first half, but could not break down an organized Montreal block that was now looking solely to hit back on the counter.
Scoreless after 45 minutes, the hosts began the second half looking for a goal and found one just moments after the restart. Caden Clark got on the end of a loose ball and was able to pick out Owusu at the back post.
“The way they continued to fight was amazing for me. To jump on the field and give everything like this is not easy, especially when you don’t have something to achieve,” said Donadel. “They scored off two mistakes, not because we were a man down, we were in a perfect position for the cross and we lost the man.”
Puebla immediately replied with renewed offence, pressing their numerical advantage and finding an equalizer just 10 minutes later. After Efraín Orona hit the post from distance, Gomez was able to remedy his penalty miss and bring Puebla back level by burying the rebound.
With momentum firmly on their side, Puebla went hunting for the go-ahead goal by continuing to pin Montreal back in its defensive third. The visitors would break the deadlock after managing to play through Montreal’s defensive block and taking advantage of an error in marking that left Marin all alone in front of goal.
After a series of controversial refereeing decisions from match official Adonai Escobedo, tensions reached a boiling point. This led to a mass confrontation between both teams as the game wound to a close.
“I think the nonsense was good for us, to be honest. It brings out a different anger in you — especially me — where you want to get at them and make them pay,” said Clark. “What you’re seeing in the team is that we can do dogfights, we’re not afraid to fight back.”
After order was restored, it was Montreal’s turn to play for an equalizer. In the 93rd minute, they were awarded a free kick just outside the penalty area, and a near-perfect strike from Brendan Craig saw the ball hit the woodwork.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 5, 2025.
Elias Grigoriadis, The Canadian Press
