CF Montréal Steal a Rain-Soaked Road Win in Columbus: Owusu Strikes Early, Streit Delivers the Stunner

Wednesday night in Columbus felt like one of those classic midweek MLS grinds that somehow still manages to surprise you. The skies opened up over ScottsMiracle-Gro Field, the pitch turned slick, and two Eastern Conference sides stuck in the lower half of the table produced a match that swung on an early goal, a comical own-goal, and one absolute rocket from a young Swiss forward still finding his feet in North America. When the final whistle blew, CF Montréal walked away with a 2-1 victory, their first win in nine MLS matches, while the Columbus Crew dropped a second straight and watched another chance to climb the table slip away in the rain.

This wasn’t pretty. It wasn’t high-scoring chaos. But it was pure, messy, unpredictable MLS, and for Montréal it was the kind of result that can change the temperature around a struggling season.

Looking Ahead: What the Matchup Promised

Coming into August 19, neither side was exactly setting the league on fire. Columbus sat around 11th to 15th in the East depending on the exact day you checked the table, hovering near 20 points with a record that refused to tilt positive. They’d just taken a 3-1 loss at Charlotte and were staring at a home date against a Montréal side that had been even more stuck. The Impact—still fighting the ghosts of better years—were sitting 14th-ish, also around 16-20 points, and had gone winless in their previous eight or nine league outings. Draws and narrow losses had become their specialty. A road win in Columbus felt like a stretch.

There was a personal subplot too. Columbus interim coach Laurent Courtois had spent time in charge of Montréal not that long ago. Facing your old club always carries a little extra edge, even if both sides downplay it. Montréal under Philippe Eullaffroy had been searching for any spark. Prince Owusu was their clearest threat—already into double figures for the season—and the arrival of Alexis Sánchez on the roster gave the whole group a little extra buzz, even if the Chilean wasn’t expected to start.

Columbus, meanwhile, had the home crowd, the possession-oriented style that usually wears teams down, and a young forward in Chase Adams who had just become the youngest goalscorer in club history days earlier. On paper the Crew were favorites. Home form, better recent attacking numbers in some stretches, and a need for three points that felt more urgent after the Charlotte result. Most previews leaned toward a tight, low-scoring Columbus win or at least a point for the home side. The rain forecast added another variable. Slippery surfaces often favor the team willing to play a little more direct and a little less pretty.

What nobody quite predicted was how clinical Montréal would be with their limited chances, or how a 20-year-old midfielder-turned-winger named Noah Streit would decide the night.

How It Unfolded: The Match Story

The game started the way so many Montréal supporters have learned to fear. Columbus looked organized. Then, almost immediately, the visitors struck.

In the fifth minute Hennadii Synchuk—working the right side—slipped a ball that found Owusu in a pocket of space between the Crew center backs. Owusu didn’t need a second invitation. He took a touch, opened his body, and finished low past Patrick Schulte. 1-0 Montréal. Just like that. The goal was Owusu’s 12th of the season and his latest reminder that when the service is even half-decent, he’s still one of the more reliable finishers in the league. Synchuk’s assist was his first in MLS, a small personal milestone on a night that would produce a few more.

Columbus responded the way a team with superior possession usually does: they started controlling the ball. But the final product wasn’t there. Then came the equalizer that no one in the building will soon forget. In the 20th minute, Montréal center back Jalen Neal played a routine pass back toward his goalkeeper. Thomas Gillier completely misjudged it. The ball rolled under his foot or past his attempt to clear—accounts vary on the exact mechanics—and into the net. Own goal. 1-1. The Crew hadn’t even needed to create a chance. Gillier stood there looking stunned while the home crowd erupted in the kind of relieved, slightly embarrassed celebration that only an own-goal can produce.

The rest of the first half stayed tense and physical. Yellow cards started coming—Rudy Camacho early for Columbus, Brayan Vera for Montréal, then André Gomes. Camacho left the game in the 14th minute with what looked like a knock, replaced by Cesar Ruvalcaba. Rain that had been threatening finally arrived in earnest, turning the surface into a skating rink. By halftime the score was still level, possession heavily favored Columbus (around 62 percent), yet the shot count and expected goals told a different story. Montréal were more dangerous with less of the ball.

The second half opened with both keepers forced into action. Schulte made a pair of big saves around the 53rd-54th minute, denying Owusu from distance and then tipping over a Matty Longstaff header. Gillier answered with stops of his own as Columbus finally started generating something. Substitutions flew. Josef Martínez entered for Columbus. Victor Loturi came on for Montréal. The game felt like it was drifting toward a hard-fought draw that would help neither side’s playoff math.

Then Noah Streit changed everything.

In the 78th minute the young Swiss attacker collected the ball roughly in his own half, looked up, and decided running at a packed Columbus defense was the play. He drove forward, ignored the option of a simple pass, and from outside the box unleashed a rising, bending strike that flew into the top right corner. Schulte had no chance. The ball arrowed into the net with the kind of pure contact that makes goalkeepers look slow even when they’re not. 2-1 Montréal. Streit’s first MLS goal, and what a way to get it. He later admitted he barely saw the ball after contact—he just hit it and watched the net move. Sometimes the best goals come from pure instinct rather than overthinking.

The final minutes were frantic. Columbus threw numbers forward. Brandan Craig produced a crucial goal-line clearance in stoppage time to deny Sean Zawadzki. Gillier made another important save. There was the usual late-game chaos of yellow cards for time-wasting and desperate challenges. When the referee finally blew the full-time whistle after four added minutes, Montréal’s players celebrated like a side that had just remembered what winning feels like. Alexis Sánchez, who had entered in the 79th minute for his official club debut, got a look at the closing stages of a road win. Not a bad first night in the blue, white, and black.

Top Highlights

• Owusu’s early strike (5’): Clinical, well-timed run, and a finish that settled Montréal’s nerves immediately. Synchuk’s delivery was sharp.
• Gillier’s own goal (20’): The kind of moment that makes keepers wake up at 3 a.m. for years. Completely avoidable, completely decisive in the moment.
• Schulte’s double save early in the second half: Kept Columbus alive when Montréal looked ready to pull away.
• Streit’s rocket (78’): Goal of the night by a mile. Distance, power, placement, and the courage to shoot when safer options existed. Instant highlight-reel material and Team of the Matchday recognition for a reason.
• Craig’s stoppage-time clearance: The unsung defensive play that protected the three points.
• Gillier’s redemption: After the own goal, the Montréal keeper made the saves that mattered later. That’s the difference between a collapse and a win.

Analysis: What the Numbers and the Eye Test Said

Possession finished roughly 62-38 in favor of Columbus. Passes completed were heavily skewed the same way. On paper it looked like the Crew had controlled the match. The problem was everything that mattered after the first pass. Montréal outshot them significantly (around 13-5), put more shots on target, and generated far better expected goals (roughly 1.6 to 0.6). Columbus moved the ball sideways and backward efficiently but rarely threatened the final third with quality. When they did get into dangerous areas, Gillier or a last-ditch defender was there.

Montréal’s shape stayed compact. They absorbed pressure, looked for transitions, and trusted Owusu to finish the half-chances. Streit’s goal was the perfect illustration of their night: one moment of individual quality that the home side couldn’t match. The rain helped the visitors more than the hosts. A slick surface rewards decisive running and first-time shots more than intricate build-up.

For Columbus the loss fits a worrying recent pattern. They can dominate the ball and still look toothless. Interim coach Courtois spoke afterward about embracing the struggle and not taking a step back. Captain Zawadzki echoed the same message. Fair enough. But at some point the results have to follow the words. Home losses to teams you should be taking points from are the kind that bury playoff hopes.

Montréal’s win was their first in a long stretch and only their fourth ever in Columbus across 18 attempts. It doesn’t suddenly make them contenders, but it stops the bleeding. Owusu continues to carry the attack. Streit now has a moment of belief to build on. Sánchez has officially arrived. And three points on the road against a direct competitor is exactly the kind of result that can shift a locker room’s mood from resignation to possibility.

Both teams remain on the fringes of the Eastern Conference playoff race. Montréal’s win pulled them closer to the pack; Columbus’s loss left them staring at a tougher path. The table is still congested enough that neither side is mathematically dead, but nights like this tend to define the difference between clubs that find a late surge and clubs that fade quietly into another mid-table or lower-half finish.

The Bigger Picture and What Comes Next

Matches like this are why people still show up on rainy midweek nights. Not because the soccer is always beautiful, but because the story refuses to follow the script. Columbus had the ball, the home field, and the recent history. Montréal had the clinical edge, the better individual moments, and the willingness to take a risk when it mattered.

Streit’s goal will be the clip that lives on. Owusu’s early strike set the tone. Gillier’s mistake and subsequent saves gave the night its messy human texture. And when the final whistle sounded, a group of players who had forgotten what winning felt like remembered it under the lights in Ohio.

Montréal headed home with three points and a little more belief. Columbus headed into the next stretch of the schedule still searching for answers. In a league that rewards consistency more than moments of magic, both sides know the calendar doesn’t slow down. But for one rainy night in August, the magic belonged to the visitors.

That’s MLS. Sometimes the team that wants it more—or the player who decides to just hit the damn ball—walks away with the points. On August 19, 2026, that team was CF Montréal.