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CPL Matchweek 18 Recap – A Busy Week
By It’s been a week filled to the brim and beyond with games as Canada’s top flight made up for some ‘games played imbalance’ with a six-game matchweek.
Things started early midweek before we saw a wet and wild weekend deliver heaps of action as Forge secured its grip at the top of the table while the playoff race remains fairly open for the fourth and final spot.
Without further ado, let’s rewind back to how things got started and build up to how they finished:
Atletico Ottawa 4 – 0 Vancouver FC
The matchweek got off to an absolute flyer that, ironically, grounded the Eagles.
Martin Nash’s side had the best form league-wide going into their trip to the nation’s capital.
Jean-Aniel Assi opened the scoring after 13 minutes, slicing through the Vancouver defensive line before producing a composed finish to give Ottawa the early lead:
Assi would double Ottawa’s lead before the half-hour mark, sending in a nice right-footed volley following a nice ball in from Kamron Habibullah:
Things went from bad to worse for Vancouver as Ottawa found the back of the net four minutes later. Nicolas Fleuriau-Chateau put his name on the scoresheet once again, continuing his hot start in the nation’s capital for this second goal in just as many games:
Nash would make some adjustments that broke up the tempo for the second half, though Ottawa would bag one more as Emiliano Garcia completed the rout in the 73rd minute, cutting inside before finishing on his right foot.
Forge FC 3 – 2 FC Supra Du Quebec
See The Full Match Recap Here.
While Forge entered the match as heavy favourites, it was the visitors from La Belle Province who struck first blood twelve minutes in after Dmitry Bertaud coughed up a rebound for Ibrahim Conde to tap in:
It takes a lot to rattle Forge, however, and the hammers remained cool enough to bag an equalizer ten minutes later following a neat flick from Borges that teed up Hoce Massunda:
Big centre-back Dan Nimick would put the hosts in front from the penalty spot after being brought down by Charles Auguste in the box.
Showing the fighting spirit fans have come to expect, Supra punched back before the half came to a close. Former Forge man David. Choiniere sent in a nice ball to Auguste, who sliced his shot…right into the path of Ibrahim Conde, who had another close-range finish to secure a brace for himself and an equalizer for Supra.
Choinière nearly found the winner himself as the time progressed through the second half, but it was Forge who would get the last laugh as 18-year-old Aghilas Sadek netted his first CPL goal to win it with thirteen minutes to go:
Cavalry FC 3 – 1 Atletico Ottawa
Right from the get-go, both Canadian Premier League heavyweights parried attacks at a frantic pace – it was exactly what one would imagine for a rematch of the 2025 CPL Final.
Adam Pearlman continued to excel in his second CPL loan, looping in a cross that found Nathaniel Edwards clear on the back-post to produce an easy opening goals for the hosts:
Those who frequent Cavalry matches know that the side will never take its foot off the gas when things are going well, and Tommy Wheeldon Jr. was in no mood to change things up: just a few minutes later, the side doubled their lead through one of the simplest build-ups you’ll see this year. Goalkeeper Nathan Ingham booted the ball route one, straight down the pitch and deep into the opposition half. Tobasias Warschewski ran onto the end of it, sending it beyond Christopher Kalongo to double the home lead:
The visitors from Canada’s capital wouldn’t let the game get too far from their grasp, however, and clawed one back four minutes later. It came through the clinical boot of Nicolas Fleuriau-Chateau, who fired a strong left-footer that went beyond the reach of Ingham and cut the deficit in half:
An interesting factoid picked up by CPL’s Mitchell Tierney is that by the end of the first half, Cavalry’s sixteen shots in one half is the most in league history.
As one might imagine, the second half continued at a similar pace, so it wasn’t surprising to see a goal within the first few minutes. That came through Cavalry’s Tobias Warschewski for the brace after Ali Musse pinged in a nice ball into the box. It still left Warschewski with plenty to do, but he remained composed and finished with a tidy chip:
Atletico Ottawa neared a lifeline with 15 minutes to go after Ballou Tabla was brought down in the box, but an astute FVS Challenge from Tommy Wheeldon Jr – perhaps the best in the business when it comes to using them – revealed that Ingham’s hand had gotten to the ball first, so the penalty was overturned.
The hosts would see out the 3-1 scoreline and remain undefeated against Atletico Ottawa this season, securing a healthy dose of revenge for the blizzardly CPL Final from last November.
Forge FC 2 – 0 Pacific FC
Forge opened the scoring through Ismael Oketokoun, with Ben Paton switching play to Dan Nimick, whose first-time cross found the striker in the box. Oketokoun got enough on the delivery to steer it past Eleias Himaras and give the Hammers the lead:
Fans in attendance would suffer the misfortune of a lengthy weather delay around the hour mark. It would take more than two hours for play to resume, by which point Hamilton Stadium would feel quite cavernous with most of the fans having left.
Youngster Aghilas Sadek would bag his second Forge goal just days after netting his first, placing a nice shot into the bottom left corner beyond the reach of Himaras to make it a six-point weak for top-of-the-table Forge FC:
Halifax Wanderers 1 – 0 Vancouver FC
The Wanderers returned to winning ways of snap a five-game winless run as VFC stumbled to their second loss of the week.
Amazingly, all three meetings between these two sides have seen Halifax come out 1-0 victors.
This time around it was Jason Bahamboula who found the net in the 18th winner after finishing a rebound spolled from Irving during a corner kick:
While Vancouver came close to an equalizer when Damiano Pecile rattled the crossbar before halftime, Marco Carducci would keep his clean sheet intact despite Vancouver asking some big questions late in the game.
Inter Toronto 1 – 1 FC Supra du Quebec
In a scoreline that will have appeased neither team, FC Supra’s first visit to York Lions Stadium ended in stalemate with Inter Toronto.
The hosts bagged an early lead through club phenom Julian Altobelli, who slotted on beyond Joachim Milli for his seventh of the season:
The Quebecois visitors would procure an equalizer just after the half hour mark, with former Nine Stripe Diyaeddine Abzi sensing a nice ball in for David Choiniere, who laid it off for Loic Kwemi to slot past Ivan Pavela, who produced an amazing nine saves in the game but couldn’t stop that one:
Abzi’s return to his old stomping grounds wouldn’t see an opportunity for him to catch up with fans after, with the defender earning a second yellow card after coming in hard on Pavela near the end of the match.
In what was undoubtedly one of the busiest CPL match weeks of the season, we saw six goals and goals aplenty as the season progresses towards its pointy end – and one with one less playoff spot than before, too.
Forge and Cavalry are making strong progress as leading outliers stop the table, but for everyone else – including third-place Ottawa – things are feeling tight. Unless you’re Pacific, in which case you just feel bad.
The next matchweek kicks off on Friday with FC Supra du Quebec facing Forge once more, continuing what has been a relatively lacklustre Ontario spell for the club so far, while Atletico Ottawa hosts Inter Toronto.
Saturday sees an intriguing clash between Cavalry and a Vancouver FC side hoping to rebound strongly, with Sunday closing out the action in a coastal clash between Halifax and Pacific.