For a moment, it seemed like maybe there would be some momentum in Montréal.

Efrain Morales lumped a high ball in behind a scrambled Philadelphia Union back line, and Iván Jaime showed his quality to control the ball, cut inside on a retreating Olwethu Makhanya before slotting the ball into the bottom right corner for his first CF Montréal goal.

The first half in general was positive for the Impact, generating a few solid chances, including a Brayan Vera header from in tight, and a Dagur Dan Thórhalsson strike that were both stopped well by Andre Blake. The only damper of the opening 45 minutes was when Wiki Carmona limped off the pitch due to injury.

But, the tides shifted hard in the second half. A desperate Union side, looking to avoid going 0W-0D-7L to start their MLS campaign started to put on the pressure, win set pieces, and cause chaos in the Montréal area.

Japhet Sery Larsen found his run unmarked in the box off a free kick from the right side, and caught the Impact back line and Thomas Gillier a bit out of position to head home the equalizer in the 55th minute.

Then, 15 minutes later, Jesús Bueno pounced on a ball that bounced in the box off a Milan Iloski flick-on header from a long throw, giving Philadelphia their first lead of the 2026 MLS campaign – which is a truly wild stat for a club that won the Supporters' Shield last season.

Montréal had no answers from there, not even being able to muster up a shot in the final 24 minutes of the match, and leave their supporters disappointed after letting a lead slip in their home opener.

This loss drops the bleu-blanc-noir to a tie for the bottom of the MLS standings, alongside the Union and Orlando City, whose only win this season also came against Montréal.

There are serious personnel issues with this team, as the midfield group is the worst in MLS, the back line is not good enough and the attackers are just alright on their day, and definitely aren't good enough to carry the rest of the squad. Same goes for Thomas Gillier in goal.

While the result is important, the story of this home opener spills further than what happened on the pitch at Stade Saputo on Saturday afternoon.

It feels like every year now this club feels the pressure of defeats, the unhappiness from the supporters, and the call of the Wooden Spoon for finishing bottom of the table.

Coaches rarely last long when results dry up or tensions with ownership surface, and that proved to be the case here, with Marco Donadel dismissed the following day.

The writing may well have been on the wall after the post-match press conference, where communications director Hassoun Camara informed reporters that neither the coach nor the players would be made available to the media, offering no explanation at the time. The reason is clear enough now.

⚽️❓️ Hassoun Camara vient de nous dire qu'il n'y aura pas de disponibilité média. Ni le coach ni les joueurs...

Aucune explication du pourquoi.

Les spéculations vont bon train ici... pic.twitter.com/IgI7NWSzK4

— Maxime Truman (@MaximeTruman) April 11, 2026

It's never easy for CF Montréal to start the season for long stretches on the road every year. It's difficult to win away from home in MLS, and putting yourself behind the eight ball early on makes it difficult to gain ground later in the season.

But it's just not good enough when you come home against an opponent that hadn't yet picked up a single point this season, and you let them dominate you in your own building for the second half.

Sure, there's a good chance there will be a new coach in town in the near future. It may even be someone who can get something out of this group. But there's no chance anything will lead to sustained success in building the organization like this, and spending as little money as the ownership does.

It sets the ceiling of the team at a playoff spot, and if anyone ever starts to play well, they're sold for a profit at the next possible window.

It's not uncommon for teams to act as developmental talent pipelines in MLS or the broader world of football. In fact, Philadelphia is one of the best in the league at it, even if they're having a nightmare start to this year. That's an organization that doesn't spend a lot, but has a hard and fast plan on what their teams will look and play like, and has an excellent developmental pipeline for both academy players and outside signings.

The Union may not spend a lot of money on player salaries or transfer fees, but the money raised from sales goes into the club in some ways, whether that be a heavy dose of funding on the academy, or buying replacement players for the ones they sell.

Montréal does not do this, at least not even close to the level Philly does. In matches like this, facing the worst iteration of an opponent, you essentially look in the mirror face-to-face; in terms of monetary ability, you still come out second best.

It makes you wonder what the point of CF Montréal is. Maybe they'll get lucky with the next coach, they may get a gem coming through the academy, or have someone else in MLS give up on a player they can buy for cheap and try to rebuild their career. 

Everything could fall into place as it did in 2022 under Wilfried Nancy. It technically could.

But it's surely more likely the next iteration of this team will look like how it did under Marco Donadel, or Laurent Courtois, or Hernán Losada, or Thierry Henry, or Wilmer Cabrera, or Rémi Garde.

None of this will ever lead to a team that can consistently win games the way it currently operates. And that has been the case for far too long now. The fans have every right to be upset at yet another disappointing performance at Stade Saputo for CF Montréal.