MONTREAL — CF Montreal interim head coach Philippe Eullaffroy is looking ahead to the development side with his team's season almost over. Sam Surridge and Hany Mukhtar scored for Nashville SC (21-3-7) in a 2-0 win over Montreal, officially eliminating the hosts from playoff contention on Saturday. The visitors secured their first Supporters’ Shield in franchise history, which is awarded to Major League Soccer’s best team at the end of the regular season. The loss comes three days after Montreal fell to Canadian Premier League side Forge FC in the Canadian Championship final. It was the first time a CPL team won the Canadian Championship. “I think there’s a discrepancy in the level of both teams; they became champions today. It’s the level, but there’s also a mental aspect that has to do with recent results,” said Eullaffroy. “We have to optimize the three games we have left to make some headway on development and save some time on the future performances of younger players.” Montreal (6-18-7) entered the game with a heavily rotated squad from the final, including the return of Dante Sealy from injury and the debut of 17-year-old Samsy Keita in goal, who broke Aleksandr Gubolgou’s record from last season as the club’s youngest-ever starter. “It was a complicated game, but we all battled, and I’m happy with that performance,” said Keita. “I told myself that I was able to play at this level right away and that I’m proud to be on this stage so early (in my career). I had a lot of fun.” Nearing the half-hour mark, Montreal were the main drivers of play against Major League Soccer’s top-ranked side but were unable to find any kind of breakthrough in the open 45 minutes. Since the beginning of the season, Montreal’s biggest problem was rarely creating offence, but finishing it off. Again, several half chances failed to materialize into goals due to a lack of efficiency or overthinking and hesitation. “We made the lives of the regular-season champions difficult for over an hour and then we made two errors,” said Eullaffroy. “Misfortune also seems to follow for a while now w, which piles on to that mental aspect.” Nashville came out of the break a completely different team. They pressed higher up the pitch and forced Montreal into poor clearances. Nashville took advantage of one of those clearances to take the lead just seven minutes after the restart. Reed Baker-Whiting’s deflected cross found an unmarked Surridge, who made no mistake with a header. While Montreal showed signs of life following the goal, little of that generated concrete scoring opportunities, and the hosts always seemed a split second disconnected from one another. On the other hand, Nashville’s press continued to work effectively and generated a second goal with ten minutes left. Following a giveaway from Bryan Vera while building out from the back, Mukhtar was able to get in alone against the keeper and slide the ball past Keita, putting the final nail in the coffin. Despite being among the smallest stadiums in MLS, Stade Saputo has rarely felt as such, making up for its 19,619-seat capacity with raucous fans and a renowned atmosphere. That was not the case this afternoon as the west-side stands usually reserved for supporters’ groups was deserted. After their loss in the Canadian Championship final, several fans threw flares onto the field and voiced their displeasure on the stadium concourse by knocking over bins and taking soccer balls. As a result, the club banned certain identified members for life, resulting in all supporters’ groups boycotting the game. 1642 Montreal, the group in charge of ringing and maintaining the stadium’s iconic bell, announced that they will not be involved with any more Montreal games for the rest of the season. “I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again; I’m the first supporter and ultra for this club,” said Eullaffroy. “They’re affected, and I’m affected; I have the same disappointment as them.” This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 24, 2026. Elias Grigoriadis, The Canadian Press
