Nashville beat Montreal 4-1 with a hat trick from Sam Surridge

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CF Montréal thought they could take advantage of some of the flaws in Nashville SC's game, but the opposite happened on Saturday night.

Sam Surridge scored a hat trick and the bleu-blanc-noir lost 4-1 to Tennessee at Geodis Park.

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The statistics show that the Montrealers have succeeded in part of their mission abroad. They won the possession battle (57.5% to 42.5) and attempted more passes (606 to 365), but when it came to quality chances, it was the hosts who produced the best shots.

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Surridge, Hani Mukhtar and Jacob Schaffelburg showed off their chemistry in several quick exchanges, causing Montreal defense headaches all night. They attacked surgically, which led to many scoring opportunities in the final third.

“I think they sent a lot of long balls and they were inch perfect,” midfielder Raheem Edwards said. “They know what they want to do and when there's an agreement like that, it's hard to resist. They made a lot of good balls on the wings. We didn't do much on some goals, so you have to take your hat off.”

Accuracy is one thing, but physical dominance is another. Nashville SC (2-3-5) won more duels for the ball (45 vs. 37) and more aerial battles (13 vs. 4) than CF Montréal (3-4-3) in this aspect of the game.

The penalty area has always been a playground for Gary Smith's men.

In the 19th minute, Mukhtar slipped between Joel Waterman and Fernando Alvarez, only to be denied from close range by goalkeeper Jonathan Sirois. Two minutes later, Walker Zimmerman threaded a header past Alvarez. Surridge completed his first MLS career hat trick in the 82nd minute after two headers hit the post and the crossbar. These examples painted a picture of a complicated match for the visitors.

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“This is a good lesson for us and for me. Last week (in Columbus) I thought our defense in the box was impressive, and here it was bad,” Montreal head coach Laurent Courtois said. “It's a reflection of a lot of things for us. We can be great and then mediocre. Collectively and individually, it's not consistent enough. There cannot be such a gap between our individual and collective performances.”

Montreal looked to have regained their rhythm despite going down 2-0 before the end of the first half, but Surridge's locker-room goal in the 47th minute cost them dearly.

More than half of the goals allowed by CF Montréal this season have come in the first 10 minutes or the last 10 minutes, as well as half a minute of stoppage time.

“Our message in the locker room was that we didn't play well in the first half, but as soon as we scored, it hurt Nashville. “It's not that the message was poorly delivered or the signs weren't clear, it's just that Nashville took advantage of a few mistakes on our part,” explained Samuel Piette.

Montreal's lone goal of the contest came when Nashville defender Zimmerman beat his own goalkeeper on a low shot from Mathieu Chaunier.

Montreal will be back in action next Saturday when Lionel Messi and Inter Miami travel to Saputo Stadium.

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