Montreal's 2 late goals earn draw with D.C. United

Updated: Jun 1, 2023, 06:15 am

Sunusi Ibrahim and Ariel Lassiter scored two minutes apart to help visiting CF Montreal stun D.C. United with a 2-2 draw on Wednesday night.

Ibrahim and Lassiter assisted on one another's goals in the 80th and 82nd minutes as Montreal (6-8-1, 19 points) used the late flurry to avoid losing on the road for the eighth time this season.

Montreal entered the game 1-7-0 on the road at the outset of a three-game road trip that will include matches against the Philadelphia Union (regular season) and the Vancouver Whitecaps (Canadian Championship final).

Donovan Pines and Theodore Ku-Dipietro found the back of the net to give D.C. United (5-6-5, 20 points) a 2-0 lead they could not protect.

Tyler Miller made three saves for D.C. United. Jonathan Sirois made one for Montreal.

The first 30-plus minutes were uneventful, but gradually D.C. United maintained control of the ball in Montreal's end. They got their first three corner kicks of the night after that and capitalized on the third.

Mateusz Klich took the corner and Pines, a defender, elevated enough to head it to the left side of the net, where Sirois could not make a diving stop. It was Pines' second goal of the year after not scoring a goal over his previous two seasons.

Montreal had trouble clearing the ball out of its end during the early stages of the second half. The ball made its way to D.C. United's Victor Palsson, who passed ahead to Christian Benteke in the box. He was double-covered, but the ball was knocked down to Ku-Dipietro, whose soft touch to the far post in the 59th minute rolled in for his third goal of the season.

One of Benteke's markers, Montreal defender Rudy Camacho, took an accidental knee to the head on the play and had to be stretchered off.

Lassiter sent a shot from the center of the box over the crossbar in the 70th minute and fired a low shot off the near post in the 79th. But he set up his teammate for success in the 80th when his last-second crossing pass found Ibrahim, who scored with a header.

Ibrahim returned the favor in the 82nd after receiving a long pass upfield from Joel Waterman. Ibrahim crossed into the box and Lassiter guided it in past Miller off one hop.

Benteke had a straight-on attempt in the 89th minute blocked. D.C. United finished the match with 56.9 percent of the possession.

--Field Level Media