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• Positive start: Chapelton Maroons edge Harbour View 2-1 on return to top-flight football

  It was a triumphant return to top-flight football for Chapelton Maroons and new head coach O’Neil ‘Bigga’ Thompson as they clipped former champions Harbour View 2-1 in their opening Wray and Nephew Jamaica Premier League (JPL) encounter at the Anthony Spaulding Complex on Monday.

  Javel Ellis (10th) and Nathaniel Howe (63rd) got the job done for the Clarendon-based team, which was relegated from the JPL two seasons ago. Andre Fagan (59th), pulled one back for Harbour View, who are now being guided by Jason ‘Buju’ Henry.

  Thompson, who was an assistant at another Clarendon outfit, Humble Lion, expressed delight at his team’s positive start.

  “Every team in the Premier League is prepared to win their first game. Sometimes it goes for you and sometimes it goes against you. So I feel extremely pleased to start off the season with three points. We will continue to work on the areas we want to improve on. But so far, I am satisfied with the performance of the team,” Thompson said in a post-game interview.

  Chapelton, intent on giving a more competitive account of themselves this time around, were more purposeful in the early exchanges, as they applied pressure to Harbour View’s defensive line and were duly rewarded for their efforts.

  This, as Ellis capitalise on a goalkeeping error by Harbour View’s Romario Palma with an easy finish from close range.

  Seemingly content with their lead, Chapelton gradually took a defensive posture and absorbed pressure from Harbour View, who eventually got into their rhythm, but failed to make it count in the final third as the score remain unchanged at the break.

  Like they did at the start, Chapelton were again more spirited on the resumption and created a few half chances, which amounted to nothing.

  That allowed Harbour View back into the contest as Fagan expertly headed home from Tahair Lawrence’s cross to pull the ‘Stars of the East’ level.

  However, Howe ensured the points went Chapelton’s way when he fired past Palma three minutes past the hour mark.

  Try as they did, Harbour View were unable to find the elusive equaliser and, as such, were left to pick up the pieces heading into the second match week, something defender Romaine Brackenridge is confident they will do.

  “We are a young unit. Despite the result, the guys came out and tried their best. So we have to improve on this going forward. It’s still early days. We have a long season ahead and we have players still to come in. So the Harbour View you saw today (Monday), you can expect better things going forward,” Brackenridge declared.

• New England Revolution v CF Montreal: Courtois targets strong mental approach

  CF Montreal head coach Laurent Courtois has urged his players to prioritise their mental approach when they travel to New England Revolution on Wednesday.

  Montreal snapped a four-match winless streak in MLS at the weekend with a 2-1 win over Charlotte FC, but they have registered back-to-back victories in the league since March.

  They sit 12th in the Eastern Conference but still have an outside chance of making the playoffs if they can string together a run of positive results.

  Courtois did not get over-excited by the win over Charlotte and is already looking at how to improve to get another three points on the board.

  "I am happy, we are talking about things that are positive, but for me, there are always both [no matter the result]," Courtois said.

  "It comes down to the mental approach. The message got through [against Charlotte], but if we look at the details, we could have conceded again, and then we would be talking about something else entirely."

  Meanwhile, New England are bottom of the table, three points worse off than their opponents.

  They suffered a 3-0 loss to Orlando City last time out and are now winless in three matches, but assistant coach Pablo Moreira is confident they can bounce back.

  "All three goals were given up on set pieces, which is a tough one to swallow, and then through the run of play. So, [we'll] just build off of the positives and look forward to the game Wednesday," Moreira said, as quoted in the Blazing Musket.

  "It's more that mentality after [conceding] and trying to improve that."

  PLAYERS TO WATCH

  New England Revolution – Aljaz Ivacic

  Saturday's 3-0 defeat at Orlando was the 12th time this season New England have lost a regular season match by multiple goals, the most such losses this MLS season.

  The 12 multi-goal losses are New England's most in a single season in club history, and Aljaz Ivacic will be desperate to keep a clean sheet.

  CF Montreal – Josef Martinez

  Josef Martinez has scored eight career regular-season goals against New England, tied for his most against any MLS opponent (D.C. United, Orlando).

  No player has scored more goals against the Revs over the last 10 MLS seasons.

  MATCH PREDICTION: NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION WIN

  New England and Montreal have each won three of the last six meetings in the fixture. The Revs scored 13 goals in their three wins while failing to score in the three defeats.

  The Revolution are winless in three straight regular-season home matches (D2 L1). It has been four years since they went four straight home league games without a win (D4 L1 from March-September 2020).

  However, Montreal are winless in 14 straight away matches in all competitions (D4 L10), including losing their last three away from home. Montreal's only longer road winless run in all competitions since joining MLS in 2011 was a 34-match run in 2013-14.

  OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

  New England Revolution – 52.5%

  Draw – 24.3%

  CF Montreal – 23.2%

• Ronaldo can reach 1,000-goal milestone before retirement - Jorge Andrade

  Cristiano Ronaldo is capable of reaching 1,000 career goals as long as he continues to look after his body, according to Jorge Andrade.

  The five-time Ballon d'Or winner netted his 900th goal for club and country in Portugal's 2-1 Nations League win over Croatia on 5 September.

  Ronaldo then added to his tally with a late winner in the 2-1 victory over Scotland three days later, setting him on his way to reaching the four-figure milestone.

  Former Portugal star Jorge Andrade, speaking at the Thinking Football Summit organised by Liga Portugal, backed his compatriot to do just that.

  "With Cristiano Ronaldo, nothing is impossible," Andrade said to Stats Perform. 

  "Since we've watched football, the idea of the 1,000 goals is associated with our great idol, Pele. 

  "But nowadays, both Ronaldo and Lionel Messi have managed to overcome other idols, Diego Maradona and Pele. 

  "They managed to be the highlight of the football game in a short time. It's not surprising Ronaldo can break that record. He looks after his body. 

  "He has a history of very few injuries. In terms of the Portuguese national team and the league he is in, he manages his efforts well."

  Ronaldo has scored 132 of his goals for Portugal, with whom he won Euro 2016, while the other 769 have come at club level.

  The 39-year-old has scored 68 times for current club Al-Nassr in Saudi Arabia, where he has spent the past 20 months.

  While Ronaldo continues to score freely in the Middle East, long-time rival Messi is now plying his trade in the United States with Inter Miami.

  Andrade, best remembered for his time at Deportivo during his playing career, believes both deserve credit for taking on challenges elsewhere.

  "The most important thing for them is that they share the experiences they have even in adverse environments," he said. 

  "For example, Messi now plays in MLS. It's a difficult league; it's a league that doesn't have much visibility. 

  "He managed to be there and increase visibility. Cristiano Ronaldo went to Saudi Arabia and it's a complicated environment. 

  "He increased the visibility of that championship, making it attractive for other players to play who had just the five major leagues as the main goal to play.

  "In other words, these two players have changed the world of football."