Forge FC became the first Canadian Premier League club to lift the Voyageurs Cup on Wednesday evening, upsetting CF Montreal on penalties in the Canadian Championship final at Stade Saputo.
Sebastian Breza made a huge save at one end of the pitch early in the first half of extra time before Rezart Rama cleared the ball off the line at the other end of the pitch. Prince Owusu was robbed by Forge goalkeeper Dimitry Bertaud in the opening seconds of the second half of extra time, and Ben Paton smashed a long-range shot off the crossbar in the dying moments, but the period came and went without the deadlock being broken, and penalties were needed to separate the teams.
In the shootout, Bertaud denied Owusu from the penalty spot in the first round, just like he did in the first half of the match, before denying Hennadii Synchuk in round three. Daniel Krutzen had a penalty stopped by Breza but Forge scored all of their other attempts to claim the Canadian crown for the first time in club history when Manjrekar James fired in the wining penalty. Bertaud was named tournament MVP post-game.
Forge FC barely had a sniff at goal before Antoine Batisse’s header from a corner kick six minutes into stoppage time, redirecting a cross from Hammers captain Noah Jensen into the back of the net. It silenced a Montreal crowd already frustrated by their dismal season, and gave head coach Philippe Eullaffroy a lot of work to do after the break.
They held strong all night, and Forge FC Bobby Smyrniotis can now add a CanChamp winner’s medal to the one empty spot in his trophy cabinet after knocking off Montreal at Stade Saputo for the third season in a row. Forge have now won a trophy in all eight of their seasons, continuing their dynasty that has been there since day one.
Daniel Rios wasted no time finding the equalizer after play resumed, heading the ball past Bertaud after Fabian Herbers headed it in his direction from a high Victor Loturi pass. The team play from Montreal was much better after missing several chances to take the lead in the first half.
Things got a lot harder five minutes later though when Brayan Vera was sent off — given a second yellow card for an alleged dive in the Forge penalty box. Montreal continued to be on the front foot despite the player disadvantage, but neither side could find a second goal before the final whistle, forcing extra time.
The big story of the night from a Montreal perspective is that high-profile designated player Alexis Sanchez did not even see the pitch after playing 90 minutes on the weekend. Montreal tried to sub him in for the shootout after he watched from the bench for 120 minutes, but did not have enough time to get him onto the pitch.
Montreal started the game well. Herbers forced a save out of Bertaud in just the third minute, directing it right at the DR Congo international from close range after a cross in from Rios. Rios had a chance as well a minute later, but also weakly headed it into Bertaud’s waiting arms, perhaps foreshadowing his goal in the second half.
The Forge keeper dropped another header, this time from Vera, nearly right into the path of Montreal’s leading scorer Owusu, but he quickly dived on it to stop what would have been an easy tap-in. Forge’s nervy start wasn’t like their usual dominant selves, and Montreal tried again and again to make them pay.
Another header from Rios, this time a pass into the penalty area for Owusu, saw the Montreal striker fouled by Manjrekar James and referee Michael Venne pointed to the spot. Owusu stepped up to take it himself after Forge unsuccessfully challenged the call, but Bertaud wasn’t fooled by the stutter step and made a huge save to keep the game scoreless.
Montreal requested a challenge of their own when Lucas Cavallini elbowed Brandan Craig in the face when battling for a ball, but the referee declined to upgrade it from a yellow card to a red. Cavallini only lasted another 15 minutes or so before suffering an injury and leaving the game, replaced by young Spanish forward Ismael Oketokoun.
Oketokoun pinged a shot off the post late in the second half when he tried to redirect a low cross from Rezart Rama in at Sebastian Breza’s near post, but didn’t have a good enough angle to really test the Montreal keeper. Owusu and Noah Streit were among the players that tried to beat Bertaud with late efforts, but the Forge goalkeeper held strong, as did a couple of defenders with late blocks.
James was lucky not to be sent off in the second half as well, avoiding a second yellow card despite a heavy tackle on Owusu and another FVS challenge from Montreal.
Winners of this competition in 2013, 2014, 2019 and 2021, Montreal were desperate to win something after another season where they fired their coach and had a year that they’d like to forget. None of Hernán Losada, Laurent Courtois or Marco Donadel lasted two full seasons in Montreal, and it’s hard to see interim boss Philippe Eullaffroy doing so after Wednesday’s damning defeat and sitting bottom of MLS’ Eastern Conference.
A joint statement from the club’s supporters groups on Monday called Wednesday’s match the club’s “last glimmer of hope” this season, and said that losing to Forge in the final would be “unacceptable.” That nightmare became a reality.
Playoff elimination is a formality at this point, especially with Nashville SC able to clinch the MLS Supporters Shield on Saturday when they visit Stade Saputo.
The CPL juggernauts Forge, who can also win the CPL Shield on Sunday and are always contenders once they’re into the playoffs, also took motivation from Owusu predicting live on television after the semifinal that Montreal would beat Forge and get revenge for last season — saying that “it’s better to play against them” and that “after that we will celebrate the championship.” On paper they should have, but the game is played on grass and Forge have done a lot more winning on grass than Montreal over the past few years.