MONTREAL, CANADA – FC Montreal defeated the Charleston Battery, 2-1, at Complexe Sportif Claude-Robillard Wednesday afternoon. The Battery failed to capitalize on a man-advantage throughout the majority of the second half and were pegged with their second loss in five days.
Anthony Jackson-Hamel opened the scoring in the 14th minute. Jackson-Hamel was given enough time and space to pull a cross down out of the air and put a shot on frame. The low shot beat a diving Odisnel Cooper, who earned his first start in goal in four matches Wednesday.
MLS loanee Jeremy Ebobisse scored an equalizer in the closing moments of the first half. Ebobisse, who earned his first professional start and scored his first professional goal in the match, collected a pass from Maikel Chang, squared to his defender and smashed a shot into the side netting at the back post.
The Battery looked the better side as the halftime whistle blew and came out of the locker room on the front foot. FC Montreal’s Aron Mkungilwa was given a red card in the 56th minute, fueling the Battery’s momentum.
Despite a man-advantage, FC Montreal created several quality scoring chances as the second half wore on. Charleston threw numbers forward, pushing for the go-ahead goal. Instead, Jimmy-Shammar Sanon scored a goal of the year nominee in the 83rd minute.
Shammar-Sanon collected the ball on the left sideline and cut in on his right foot, dribbling past several Battery defenders before unleashing a vicious shot into the upper 90. Charleston pushed hard for a second equalizer in the final moments of the match, but FC Montreal did well to keep them at bay.
The Battery will look to turn things around and stop the skid this Saturday versus Bethlehem Steel FC.
Box Score:
CHARLESTON BATTERY: Odisnel Cooper, Quinton Griffith, Taylor Mueller, Forrest Lasso, Emmanuel Adjetey, Dante Marini (Andrew Carleton, 71), Zach Prince (Chris Tsonis, 86), Ataulla Guerra, Romario Williams (Heviel Cordoves, 80), Jeremy Ebobisse (goal, 40) (Ricky Garbanzo, 61; yellow card, 66).
Subs not used: Alex Tambakis, Shawn Ferguson, Justin Portillo
FC MONTREAL: David Paulmin, Aron Mkungilwa (red card, 56), Thomas Meilleur-Giguère, Kyle Fisher, Janouk Charbonneau, Nevello Yoseke (Mélé Temguia, 90), Jérémy Gagnon-Laparé , David Choinière (Lincourt-Joseph, 67), Heikel Jarras (Zachary Sukunda, 61), Yacine Ait Slimane (Jimmy-Shammar Sanon, 67; goal, 82), Anthony Jackson-Hamel (goal, 14) (Badreddine Boulajoul, 87)
Subs not used: Luca Leone, Jems Geffrard, Philippe
