CF Montreal settles for 1-1 draw with Nashville SC after late goal from Surridge

MONTREAL — Sam Surridge’s 80th-minute header forced CF Montreal to settle for a 1-1 draw against Nashville SC in their final home game of the season on Saturday.

Dante Sealy — who has now scored seven goals in his last nine Major League Soccer games — opened the scoring for Montreal (6-17-10), while Surridge’s equalizer stopped Nashville (16-11-6) from potentially falling into the play-in bracket.

“The reality is that wasn’t a good performance given what we were trying to do,” said assistant coach David Sauvry, who managed the touchline after interim head coach Marco Donadel picked up his second suspension of the season due to an accumulation of yellow cards.

“We’re disappointed because we expected to do much better without the ball. When you play so low against a team like this, you cannot afford to make mistakes.”

From kickoff, both teams opened up the other with expansive and vertical play. This resulted in excellent chances for both sides as Hany Mukhtar and Ivan Jaime were played in alone, but neither could give their team the opening goal.

Montreal struck first just after the 10-minute mark. After Olger Escobar drew a free kick nearly 25 metres out, Sealy stepped up and — in similar fashion to his free kick goal against Charlotte FC the week before — unleashed a perfect strike into the top right corner.

After a difficult start to the season plagued with inconsistency, Sealy has emerged as Montreal’s second-leading goal scorer and their most in for player to end the season.

“I can hit the ball well and I’ve scored free kicks in pre-season, but here I stepped up and hit it well (…) anything can happen. Two (free kick goals) back-to-back is crazy, but I’ll take it.,” said Sealy who arrived at Montreal’s training camp as a trialist without any professional contract. “As a player, I know what I can bring to the table, I’m grateful to be in this situation where I’m playing week in, week out.”

Following the goal, Montreal dropped into a low block as Nashville controlled more than two-thirds of possession until the half-hour mark but were unable to break down an organized defence.

Just after 30 minutes of play, Montreal thought they had doubled their lead through Prince Owusu, but the Video Assistant Referee deemed the goal offside.

Nashville’s control over the ball continued into the second half as the visitors probed around the outside of Montreal’s low block without much penetration. There were several half-chances, including a header from Surridge that hit the post, but Nashville struggled to sustain the danger.

As the game continued, Montreal conceded more and more possession, with the pressure becoming so intense that they were unable to build out from the back and keep the ball, opting instead to clear their lines and give possession back to Nashville. While they were able to hold off the constant attack for most of the game, the Montreal resistance eventually broke.

“You need energy, and you need to win the one-on-one battles, and we realized pretty quick that we don’t have the energy today,” said Sauvry. “We were not able to bring our low block back up the field and that has to do with the defence but also being good in possession, and we were not.”

With 10 minutes left, Nashville finally got their breakthrough when Surridge was able to separate himself from Brendan Craig and convert the free header from point-blank range. Smelling blood in the water, Nashville redoubled their efforts to find a late winner, but both teams left the pitch with a point apiece.

With just 28 points this season, Montreal will need to at least draw their final game to ensure that the 2025 campaign is not the worst in the club’s 32-year history.

UP NEXT

Montreal: Will visit FC Cincinnati on Saturday, Oct. 18.

Nashville: Will host Inter Miami on Saturday, Oct. 18.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 4, 2025.