CF Montréal Hands New York First Loss of Season in 3-0 Shutout

Published: Monday, March 9, 2026

by AJ Rayer

HARRISON N.J. - It was an offensive struggle for The New York Red Bulls (2-1-0) on Sunday afternoon at Sports Illustrated Stadium as they fell to CF Montreal (1-2-0) by a final score of 3-0. Former Red Bull Wiki Carmona, scored a pair of goals for Montreal en route to their first win of the season. Carmona was traded to Montreal in February.

It did not take long for the scoring to get underway in Harrison, as an early penalty in the eighth minute on the Red Bulls on a Montreal breakaway led to a lengthy review, and ultimately a penalty kick chance for Prince Owusu. Owusu shot sailed to the bottom right of the net and got the best of a diving Ethan Horvath.

New York dominated the time of possession at 63% to Montreal’s 37% and were given their fair share of chances throughout the first half. Several controversial calls from the officiating crew made it difficult for the Red Bulls to stack any sort of momentum.

Notably for New York, Eric Choupo-Moting made his first start of the season on Sunday after playing as a substitute in the first two games of the year.

Montreal added on to their lead just before halftime in the 44th minute. Carmona’s free kick from just outside the left portion of the box found its way past the New York defense. Horvath was particularly frustrated due to the fact his vision was significantly blocked during the play.

Now down 2-0, Coach Bradley needed to make significant changes going into the locker room at home in the biggest deficit he has faced in his short time as head coach of the Red Bulls.

However in the second frame, it was New York’s own mental mistakes that led to another goal for Montreal and Carmona. In the 67th minute, a quick hesitation from Horvath and a rushed pass in New York’s box was quickly intercepted by Carmona and fired in for the goal. Montreal then led 3-0.

With the game out of reach, Coach Bradley made several late substitutions looking to get more of his roster game experience. Rafael Mosquera subbed into the match in the 61st minute to make his first appearance of the 2026 MLS Season. Additionally, Roald Mitchell subbed on in the 85th minute to make his first appearance for RBNY since March 23, 2024. 

With the 3-0 loss, the Red Bulls drop to sixth in the Eastern Conference standings while Montreal improves to tenth. New York will now be away from Harrison on a two-game road trip. They take on Toronto on Saturday, March 14th live from BMO Field.

AJ Rayer can be reached at alexander.rayer@student.shu.edu 

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