Prince Owusu’s goal leads Montreal to first win of MLS season, 1-0 over NYCFC

NEW YORK (AP) — Prince Owusu scored the game’s only goal and CF Montreal defeated New York City 1-0 on Saturday for the visitors’ first win of the Major League Soccer season.

Montreal’s Jonathan Sirois made two stops for the clean sheet and Matt Freese made seven saves for NYCFC.

In the third minute of the second half, Owusu scored with a difficult left-footed shot from the right side of the box to the top left corner. Victor Loturi assisted.

NYCFC had 60.5 per cent possession but was outshot 22-9 overall and 8-2 on target.

The victory ended Montreal’s 11-match winless streak.

New York City FC’s Agustin Ojeda, right, fights for the ball with CF Montreal’s Dante Sealy, left, during an MLS soccer match Saturday, May 10, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Andres Kudacki)

“We showed that today is a huge step for us,” said interim Montreal coach Marco Donadel. “Not only by getting the three points, but because we showed that we can do a lot of different things on the field. It seems that all of the job that we did in these past six weeks came out.

“We showed that we can play short when they give us the space. We showed that when they wanted to come and press us higher, we can play more direct with a striker. We showed that we can defend high but that we can also defend low. And we showed that we can fight to the last minute.”

New York City played without Malachi Jones, Kevin O’Toole, Keaton Parks, and Birk Risa.

NYCFC (5-5-2, 17 points) had won three of its last four MLS matches.

Montreal (1-8-3, 6 points) hosts Columbus on Wednesday and New York City visits D.C. United.