RICHMOND, Va. – Goals and leads have been difficult to find for FC Montreal this season, but the visiting side found both on Saturday with a 2-1 victory against the Richmond Kickers at City Stadium. It marks Montreal’s first win of the season after starting the campaign with eight consecutive losses. Alessandro Riggi’s second-half penalty kick and Ballou Jean-Yves Tabla’s 75th-minute tally into the upper right corner led Montreal to the win and also dealt Richmond its first home loss of the season. Brian Ownby pulled one back for Richmond in the 87th minute. Richmond’s Samuel Asante was sent off in the 80th minute as the Kickers played with 10 men for the remaining 10 minutes of regulation and seven minutes of stoppage time. Montreal is now 1-8-0 overall and 1-5-0 on the road and Richmond moves to 4-4-3 (15 points) and 4-1-1 at home.

Scoring:
54’ – MTL – Alessandro Riggi (penalty)
75’ – MTL – Ballou Jean-Yves Tabla (David Choiniere)
87’ – RIC – Brian Ownby (Anthony Grant)

Three Things That Mattered:

• 1. A key moment for Montreal was Max Crepeau’s two saves in the 77th minute. Jason Yeisley, who wore a No. 3 shirt after his No. 17 kit was torn in the opening moments, stutter-stepped a couple times on his penalty kick attempt, but Crepeau was there to make the stop. Samuel Asante was there for the follow, and Crepeau turned away the shot at the near right post.

• 2. Montreal was not afraid to push some numbers up when the club had an opportunity to counter. The visiting side picked its moments to go forward, and one of them led to Montreal’s PK. Alessandro Riggi was in a good position the 52nd minute on the left side of the box, and it was his cutback to the right that drew some contact against Richmond’s Asante. Riggi placed a low kick into the right of the frame in the 54th minute for a 1-0 lead. The Kickers’ defense was certainly cautious of another PK when it allowed another goal in the 75th minute as David Choiniere confidently worked his way through a couple defenders to set up Ballou Jean-Yves Tabla’s goal.

• 3. The eight-game winless streak that Montreal was carrying into Saturday had matched last year’s longest drought – though the 2015 stretch included two draws. Montreal still has plenty of time to turn around this year’s start compared to last year’s. The 2015 Montreal side opened its first USL campaign with a 1-11-2 record.

USLSoccer.com Man of the Match:
Max Crepeau, FC Montreal - With 10 saves - including two massive stops in the 77th minute - Crepeau anchored the back to hold on for the club's long-awaited first win this year.

Upcoming Games:
June 4: Rochester Rhinos at FC Montreal; 3 p.m. ET, Complexe Cortif Claude-Robillard
June 4: Richmond Kickers at FC Cincinnati; 7 p.m. ET, Nippert Stadium