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Photo Credit: Canadian Premier League
CPL In Review: Matchweek 9 – Big Crowd In Quebec
By At long last, Canada’s top flight has landed in Quebec City…albeit, just for this week. The CPL’s On Tour match brought in a bumper crowd despite some unfavourable weather, while the rest of the league succumbed to draws, draws, and more draws. That isn’t to say the league standings didn’t shift, however, with Atletico Ottawa still managing to reclaim the top spot.
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If you didn’t have time to catch up on all four CPL matches, we’ve got you covered with an at-a-glance recap:
Vancouver FC 2 – 2 Atletico Ottawa
Canada’s national team head coach Jesse Marsch picked a good CPL match to watch: two goals came in each half, with Ottleti rallying back hard against a match that seemed to have the Eagles soaring out of reach. The first half saw the hosts go in front after Kunle Dada-Luke’s cross was inadvertently converted by Atletico Ottawa’s Loic Cloutier, with VFC youngster Emrick Fotsing doubling his side’s lead just before half-time with an excellent header on a corner kick.
The red-and-white visitors made the second half their own, however, with golden boot contender Sam Salter halving the deficit with a tidy volley ten minutes into the second half, and MVP contender David Rodriguez bagging the equalizer ten minutes later. In one of the most downright bizarre match endings, however, the visitors grabbed a last-gasp goal only for it to be called back by the referee, who had initially let play continue and was quite late to call things back.
While Atletico Ottawa will be unhappy to lose out on three points following their second-half comeback, Vancouver FC is still in search of its first clean sheet nine games into the season. After giving up a two-goal lead, it’s fair to say neither side left Willoughby happy.
Forge FC 1 – 1 Cavalry FC
Read full match recap here.
It’s one of the most iconic CPL matchups to be found, and it didn’t take long for the fixture to deliver: Cavalry’s continued strength on the right flank paid off just seventy seconds into the match, when a whiffed interception from Marco Jevromovic left Fraiser Aird unimpeded on the flank. He wasted little time delivering a tidy cross to Sergio Camargo, who made no mistake in the matter.
The hammers would equalize not longer later through a smart assist from Hoce Massunda, who retained possession under pressure and looped the ball in Nana Ampomah, who pinged the ball and left Carducci helplessly watching the equalizer go in. The goalkeeper would come up big a few more times for the visitors, however, keeping all things level all the way through to the final whistle.
York United 2 – 0 Halifax Wanderers
The Canadian Premier League’s sole On Tour match of the year saw the league head to Quebec City, where even one of the wettest evenings of the year couldn’t stop a bumper crowd of 7,218 come through the Stade Laval gates in La Belle Province. The first half saw Julian Altobelli run into the box ahead of his marker, with his one-touch effort beating Yesli from close range for Altobelli’s seventh goal in just nine games.
While the Wanderers had a few opportunities of their own, it was the Nine Stripes who would make waves in the second half. A few minutes after Adonijah Reid left an open goal chance go begging – there’ll be no telling why he didn’t take his chance on the shot – a wonderful pressing run from Steffen Yeates saw him win the ball from Andre Rampersad with momentum, running forward and firing beyond Yesli to seal a wet but winning night for York United.
Valour FC 0 – 0 Pacific FC
Uncontrolled wildfires saw a lengthy air quality weather delay at Princess Auto Stadium, and once kickoff came, the prospects for either side remained fittingly murky – though I want to give the hosts kudos on a crowd that clocked in over 5K strong.
Valour’s Kris Twardek looked to have put the hosts in front after an in-the-box scramble just before half-time, but was called back for an offside play. Pacific, meanwhile, had yet another injury scare with Brazilian midfielder Daniel de Pauli needing to come off minutes prior.
Pacific shotstopper Max Anchor was repeatedly called into action by Valour, but remained first as both clubs succumbed to a nil-nil draw that neither will have felt happy with. It marked Pacific’s third consecutive match without scoring, while Valour missed out on a win that could have taken them out of last place for the first time this season.
Quite literally, the only real winner of the weekend was York United, who now have two wins on the bounce and have carved awayy some of its deficit with the top half of the table, even coming ahead of the second-place Wanderers for overall goals scored. Atletico Ottawa has scooped top spot from the Wanderers, though some could argue they ought to have gotten two more points for their lead, too.
See Also: Both VFCs Were Left Vexed The Weekend Prior
Matchweek ten will kick off on Wednesday with ‘The Battle of the Bottom: VFC Edition’, with Valour hosting Vancouver FC. Pacific has lone hosting rights on Saturday, facing a tough test against Atletico Ottawa. Sunday’s double-header sees Forge host Halifax, while York United heads to Alberta to square off against Cavalry FC in what has historically been a tough test for the visitors.
Header Image Photo Credit: Canadian Premier League
