“Lamborghini” Martinez defeated “Montreal” in a long-awaited home game with a score of 2:1.

MONTREAL — Laurent Courtois means it when he says it's a luxury to have Joseph Martinez on the bench.

“Joseph, for me, is a Lamborghini,” said the first-year head coach in Montreal.

Last season's signing, Martinez was his team's engine on Saturday night. The 30-year-old impressed with a goal and an assist from a sub to lead Montreal to a 2-1 win over Cincinnati FC in the club's long-awaited Major League Soccer home opener.

The former MLS MVP came on in the 26th minute for injured forward Matias Coccaro before opening the scoring late in the first half. He then set up Ariel Lassiter for the game-winning goal as Montreal (3-3-1) snapped a three-game losing streak.

One of the league's top scorers with 100-plus goals, Martinez's production dipped in 2020 after a knee injury. But on Saturday night, the Venezuelan forward proved he can still make an impact.

“He is a player in a different category and I am very happy to have the opportunity to have him,” Courtois said. “He sees passing moves that no one else sees … he has the science of going unmarked and finding space.”

Montreal lost 5-0 to Seattle Sounders FC to end their season-opening six-game road trip.

Courtois coached his first match in front of home fans as more than 19,000 braved rainy, 4-degree weather at the Stade Saputo, a team performance on Saturday that showed he is trying to build.

“Three points, for the fans, for the guys, it's good for morale, but I'm proud of the way we played,” Courtois said. “Really happy with the three points, actually even more happy with the performance.”

Yuya Kubo scored for Cincinnati (3-2-3), which lost its second straight game and first this season.

Alec Cann started in goal as Cincinnati was without starting goaltender Roman Celentano for the second game due to injury.

Coccaro – the team's top scorer with three goals this season – left after Luca Orellano injured his right leg early in the match. Orellano received a yellow card in the game.

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Courtois said Coccaro had a “slight twist” and the team would know more about his injury after further testing.

“He was a bit stressed because he was distracted,” Courtois said. “We'll see how serious it is.”

“It's hard for us to see Mathias go like this. We hope everything goes well for him,” added midfielder Mathieu Chaunier.

“Then we'll have Joseph come in and score and have a great game.”

Martinez controlled Raheem Edwards' cross in the box before sending it into the bottom corner with his left foot to give Montreal a 1-0 lead in first-half injury time for just his second of the campaign.

Cincinnati equalized in the 58th minute as Cubo calmly slotted a chance past Montreal goalkeeper Jonathan Siruis after star midfielder Luciano Acosta sent him alone. Acosta, last year's league MVP, has two goals and four assists this season.

Lassiter responded quickly in the 62nd minute, firing past Cannes with a one-time rocket past Martinez as Montreal took the lead again. The 29-year-old Costa Rican got the rare opportunity to start as a forward after spending most of his time at wing-back in Montreal.

“One time (Martinez) played that ball, the ball was played perfectly, and I had one thought, go for the goal, which is to keep it in the frame,” Lassiter said. “Thank God I had a chance and it worked.”

Cincinnati pushed back and controlled most of the ball in the final half hour, but couldn't score outside of Sirois.

Montreal dominated the first half, holding 54.4% possession, and had 10 shot attempts after two from Cincinnati, who picked up five yellow cards in the first 45 minutes.

The scoring chances started early as Rouen headed home in the ninth minute after a play-by-play with Mathieu Chaunier, who found the Brazilian wing-back breaking into the box.

Lassiter and Bryce Duke, who led Montreal's attack for most of the first half, joined the exchange in the 17th minute. However, Lassiter deflected the shot wide.

All this allowed Courtois to open a satisfactory home.

“That's exactly what we wanted to see, the kind of construction that we wanted to see, the kind of arrival in the box that we wanted to see,” he said. “You had all the little sections and it worked out well. guys.

“Good day.”

NEXT UP

Cincinnati: Travels to Atlanta United next Saturday.

Montreal: Orlando City host SC next Saturday.

This Canadian Press report was first published on April 13, 2024.

Daniel Rainbird, Canadian Press