CF Montreal closes book on worst-ever season with 2-0 loss to Whitecaps

Cheikh Sabaly and Mihail Gherasimencov scored for Western Conference champion Vancouver (19-8-8), which secured second place overall in the Supporters’ Shield standings. Montreal was shut out for the 14th time this season.

“There were individual mistakes, but that happens all the time. The difference is the team at the top of the Western Conference put away their chances, and we didn’t,” said defender Brandan Craig, who also received the Jason DiTulio Award from his teammates, honouring the fiery and fighting spirit made famous by the award’s namesake.

“In the second half, we tried to be more aggressive, and it caused us some mistakes in behind and through our lines.”

The first half saw little to no activity in the offensive third as both teams traded long stints of harmless possession before heading into the break in a scoreless draw.

The second half was the polar opposite. Both teams came out of the locker room with guns blazing, and both came within inches of opening the scoring within two minutes.

Sabaly and Noah Streit both had point-blank shots hit the crossbar, followed by a powerful strike from Rayan Elloumi that forced a quick save from Montreal goalkeeper Samsy Keita. The Whitecaps could not be contained much longer, however, as Sabaly would make up for his miss just three minutes later.

With Vancouver on the break, Sabaly was able to get on the ball in the penalty area. With Keita saving his initial shot, Sabaly was first to the rebound and finished into the empty net. Montreal had several positive moments following the goal, as the hosts looked to level the scoring, but every shot did very little to trouble Whitecaps goalkeeper Yohei Takaoka.

“The first half was overall, defensively good, but the second half, we killed ourselves with two bad passes. We gave the ball to Vancouver, who are maybe the best team in offensive transition, and they punished us,” said Eullaffroy. “It’s tough to come back into the game after, because we have to respect Vancouver and the Western champions. They’re champions for a reason.”

With seven minutes left, Gherasimencov added an insurance goal from a difficult angle that secured the result and put an end to Montreal’s season.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 7, 2026.

Elias Grigoriadis, The Canadian Press

by The Canadian Press

CF Montreal closes book on worst-ever season with 2-0 loss to Whitecaps

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