While many in Montréal were focused on the Victoire and Canadiens hockey games being hosted in the city on Saturday, there was also a football match to be played.

CF Montréal hosted the Chicago Fire in one of the final MLS matches before the World Cup break, an afternoon affair with a strong Chicago Fire squad.

The visitors showed their quality across 90 minutes, giving Montréal their first loss at home under interim boss Philippe Eullaffroy, and denying them a chance to climb into the playoff spots for the first time all season.

Montréal lined up in their typical 4-3-3 with Thomas Gillier in goal, a back four of Luca Petrasso at left back, Brayan Vera and Jalen Neal at centre back, with Dawid Bugaj on the right. Samuel Piette sat at the back point of the midfield three, with Matty Longstaff and Victor Loturi completing the trio. Iván Jaime started at left wing with Wiki Carmona on the right, with Prince Owusu up top.

The match started in a pretty timid manner, though the hosts had the first few half-chances. There seemed to be an emphasis on getting the ball in behind Chicago's full-backs in transition and getting the ball into the box from there. They couldn't generate any shots off this pattern in the early goings of the match, but did create some danger and win a couple of corners.

They even managed to get Chicago's left-back, Viktor Radojević, on a yellow in the sixth minute. The young Serbian, making his first MLS start, was too aggressive and caught Carmona on the ankle as he tried to spin past him.

It would be the Fire who struck first, though. Radojević played a ball in the channel behind Bugaj, which Maren Haile-Selassie got on the end of, and he played a cross into the box.

An All-Star goal from Zinck!

Vote here ➡️ https://t.co/kXSFwke8kx pic.twitter.com/iH7PSojW9N

— Chicago Fire FC (@ChicagoFire) May 16, 2026

It seemed rather harmless, but the two centre-backs had a world of trouble with the ball. Vera smashed the ball off Neal, and it fell to Philip Zinckernagel at the top of the box, who took advantage of the mistake and smashed the ball into the bottom-right corner past Gillier.

From there, Chicago took more momentum in the match. They continued to ask questions with quick balls in behind and putting the ball into the box, and Montréal's issues with sorting themselves out to clear their lines persisted.

A couple more chances fell to Robin Lod and Zinckernagel, but they were just off target. Still, the visitors were pushing as the halftime break beckoned, forcing Piette into a yellow in the 36th minute with a late challenge on Zinckernagel.

Jaime created a couple of chances for himself as stoppage time approached, and Carmona drew a foul about 20 yards out to set up a good chance for a free kick, which he took himself and blasted it towards Fire goalkeeper Chris Brady, who had to punch it out for a corner.

Nothing would come from that, as Brady claimed the ball in the box, and that was it for the first half. Chicago capitalized on a Montréal mistake, and there weren't too many big chances other than that.

The Fire held a 7-3 lead in shots at the break, with the xG favouring the visitors by a tally of 0.47-0.16. Montréal held a slight lead in possession, having 53% of the ball in the first half.

The bleu-blanc-noir made a pair of changes to start the second half, with Noah Streit and Brandan Craig entering in place of Piette and Loturi.

These changes led to some positive play, as they forced Chicago into a ton of turnovers and threatened in possession a few times. Montréal couldn't really turn this momentum and danger into anything more than some half-chances and corner kicks, though, similarly to how the first half started.

Chicago made a change in the 60th minute, bringing off Radojević after a pretty decent debut as the experienced Andrew Gutman came on in a like-for-like swap at left back.

Still, the Impact pressure continued to pile on. A corner kick routine led to a Streit shot from the top of the box that was deflected, forcing Brady into a fantastic save. In the second phase of the ensuing corner, the ball fell to Vera on the volley, and his rocket was stopped by Brady yet again.

These missed chances would immediately come back to bite Montréal. Chicago broke up the field quickly just a minute after that Vera chance, and Zinckernagel played Cuypers through, who made no mistake to extend his lead atop the Golden Boot race. His 13th goal of the season gave the Fire a 2-0 lead and a stranglehold in the contest.

Hugo Cuypers is the third player in MLS history to score in 10 straight games 🔥 #cf97

Send Hugo to the All-Star game ➡️ https://t.co/kXSFwke8kx pic.twitter.com/5jooQs4DcA

— Chicago Fire FC (@ChicagoFire) May 16, 2026

It's been a torrid start to the season for the star Belgian striker, who extended his streak to 10 straight games with a goal, having scored in every single league game he's played this season. It's currently the third-longest streak of its kind in MLS history, with the potential to extend further.

Chicago manager Gregg Berhalter made a pair of changes immediately after the goal, taking off wingers Zinckernagel and Haile-Selassie in favour of Puso Dithejane and Chris Mueller, giving the visitors some fresh legs out wide. Eulafroy countered by swapping Carmona for Daniel Ríos, which also shifted his team's shape to a more 4-2-4 for the rest of the game.

With Montréal pushing the pace, more Fire chances arose in transition. Cuypers was played in behind again from a similar spot to where he scored, but Gillier stopped him and stoned Mueller on the rebound as well to keep his team in it.

The Impact made one final attacking roll of the dice, bringing Hennadiy Synchuk in for his first appearance in a month due to injury, in place of Luca Petrasso.

As the minutes ticked away, Montréal continued to create against a solid Chicago defensive block. There were a few chances that were well saved by Brady in goal, but other than a Ríos header in stoppage time, the Fire defended well to grab a clean sheet and a huge three points on the road.

While one could argue the chances in the match were relatively equal, Chicago was much more clinical, and Brady made six key stops on the other end when he was called into question. It's a tough result, and points dropped for Montréal, even if the performance was much better than some of their other losses in 2026.