Ismael Kone and Romell Quioto scored five minutes apart early in the first half to lift visiting CF Montreal to a 2-0 victory over Chicago Fire FC on Saturday.
Quioto extended his career-best goal total to 15 on the season. He joined Ignacio Piatti and Marco Di Vaio as the only players in franchise history to score at least that many in a single campaign.
CF Montreal (15-8-4, 49 points) extended their unbeaten run to eight games (6-0-2) and matched their MLS record for wins, set in 2015.
Sebastian Breza finished with four saves to record his second clean sheet of the season and fourth career.
CF Montreal, however, played a man down after Kone received two yellow cards in the first half. Also, Chicago-area native and former Fire player Djordje Mihailovic was shown a yellow card in the 59th minute.
Gabriel Slonina made four saves for the Fire (8-13-6, 30 points), who have lost three in a row following a five-match unbeaten streak.
CF Montreal set the tone early before opening the scoring in the 19th minute.
Kone settled a loose ball and deftly deposited a right-footed shot from outside box just past the outstretched hand of Slonina. Kone’s goal was his second of the season and first since CF Montreal’s 3-3 draw against Atlanta United on March 19.
Chicago’s Carlos Teran was shown a yellow card for a hand ball three minutes later, setting up a prime chance for CF Montreal. Quioto capitalized quickly by sending a free kick into the top left corner of the net for his team-leading 15th goal of the season and sixth in his last four matches.
Teran nearly halved the deficit in the 63rd minute, however Breza dove to his left to deflect the ball out of harm’s way.
–Field Level Media
