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Photo Credit: Canadian Premier League
CPL Matchweek 17 Recap – Derby Days
By The Canadian Premier League table has seen the top held by Forge for the duration – until now, that is.
An action-packed week of absolute heaters opened with a Salish Sea Derby between Pacific and Vancouver, and Cavalry and Forge following with gusto. That isn’t to say the rest of the matches didn’t come in hot, but it’s hard to beat local derbies.
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Without further ado, let’s recap all the Canadian Premier League action to be found in Matchweek 17, because we’ve got a big week ahead of us that kicks off on Wednesday.
Vancouver FC 1 – 1 Pacific FC
The Salish Sea Derby arrived at time when the Vancouver and Pacific couldn’t feel further apart: Vancouver FC is in the best form in club history right now under Martin Nash, while Pacific has been winless for over a calendar year. With new coach Terry Dunfield showing signs of positivity – and Pacific’s last win coming against Vancouver in August 2025 – there seemed potential for some derby theatrics on the day.
With the way both sides opened, it was clear that goals would come. While Thierno Bah came close to teeing up a couple of goals for the hosts, it was a beautifully-struck curling effort from Pacific’s Ronan Kratt that would land on the scoresheet:
Buoyed by their derby lead. The Tridents nearly struck again as Kratt and captain Josh Heard combined nicely, with the latter sending a shot sailing for the top corner. Callum Irving was up to the save, however, keeping things to a one-nil deficit.
The hosts ought to have equalized to close out the first half, with energetic full-back Morey Doner sending in a nice ball to Damiano Pecile, who has been clinical of late. This time; however, he fired wide of target.
The second half painted a picture that implied Pacific may just double their lead: Kratt came close to a brace, and Kadin Chung – who once played for VFC – almost scored an audacious long range effort that had Irving beat but struck the post:
Both sides continued of exchange chances as the game entered its final stages, and Vancouver would make good on the opportunity in great style.
Aboubacar Traore sent in a ball that that Terran Campbell struck absolutely perfectly with his back to goal, redirecting the ball with pace. Himaras could only watch as it sailed beyond him to ruffle the back of the net, snatching Vancouver a point amidst curses from the Pacific backline:
The result sees Vancouver remain third in standings, and while Pacific didn’t lose the derby either, the late equalizer will feel like a sucker punch in a side that are desperate not only build momentum, but get their first win of the year.
Cavalry FC 2 – 1 Forge FC
Alberta has been a tough pasture for Forge of late, and that trend continued as Cavalry’s result saw the side snatch the league’s lead from their Hamiltonian visitors.
The game looked to trend in a different direction early on, however, with Nana Ampomah gaining possession in the opposition half and driving into the box, sending in a tidy ball to tee up Ismael Oketokoun for a close range finish:
Cavalry responded immediately, taking the game to Forge and generating chance after chance against the visitors.
The first sturdy semblance of a comeback didn’t come through a goal, but rather a red card. Forge full-back Rezart Rama was adjudged to have committed violent conduct following a successful FVS Review from Tommy Wheeldon Jr, who has made a good track record off himself when calling for them. Certainly, when it comes to adapting to CPL trial rules, he’s been a leading figure:
Ten-man Forge would nearly make it 2-0 with a well-struck freekick from Marko Jevremovic, who scored a similar one against Inter Toronto last month but saw Nathan Ingham make the save this time around.
The second half saw Cavalry attack in waves as the side sought to make good of its man advantage.
That equalizer would come as German forward Tobias Warschewski sent in a wonderful floating ball deep in the Forge box, and as we’ve seen in this league before that’s the perfect fodder for big centre-back Daan Klomp. The Dutchman collected the ball and fired in from close range to level the score:
The hosts would pull ahead with just seven minutes to go as Owen Antoniuk collected the ball and fired an absolute beauty beyond Bertaud, with the forward leaping the barrier to celebrate with the rapturous crowd at ATCO Field:
The result would hold and deliver some absolute derby drama, with Cavalry snatching the pole position from Forge as the second half of the CPL season runs on.
FC Supra du Quebec 1 – 2 Atletico Ottawa
Clashes between these two clubs have been fiery, and given that the clubs had met midweek in a Canadian Championship clash, this was always going to be a weird one as the two sides now jostled for league positioning.
The first half saw both sides probe their opponents, with Safwane Mlah striking the post late in the first half and Ottawa showing signs of an effective counter attack that fell short in the final third. It would take more than 45 minutes for a team to strike first blood, and on this day that credit would go to FC Supra.
Substitute Ibrahim Conde broke through the Ottleti defensive line, feeding a nice ball to Safwane Mlah. Taking a nice touch, Mlah freed some space for himself and fired a shot beyond goalkeeper Christopher Kalongo to put the hosts in front.
Atletico Ottawa would find their equalizer with seven minutes left on the clock as newcomer Nicolas Fleuriau-Chateau continued to prove clinical, finding himself on the end of a corner kick to help along an aerial chance (and showing quite an acrobatic celebration, too):
It was aerial balls that would be FC Supra’s demise as Atletico Ottawa stole all three points at the death, with Ralph Koury heading in from close range to snatch the result from a Supra side that had plenty of bodies inside the box, but completely failed to pick up Khoury’s run:
The result sees Atletico Ottawa cement its position of fourth in league standings, now holding a nine-point lead ahead of the Quebecois expansion side – and, thusly, a strong grip over the final playoff spot.
Inter Toronto 4 – 3 Halifax Wanderers
There might not have been too many faces in the crowd due in part to AFC Toronto kicking off at the same time down by the lakeshore, but those who did make the trip to York Lions Stadium were treated to quite a spectacle. Both bottom-half teams have both struggled to get their offenses firing of late, but when they me, it was a powder keg moment for goals.
Inter Toronto was in dire need of a result, having last put themselves in the win column back in May. Things got off to a perfect start through Ecuadorian winger Ariel Almagro, who scored an absolute stunner as he laced a left-footer that swiveled low in the air to spin beyond the outstretched arms of Marco Carducci:
Things went from bad to worse for Vanni’s visiting team as Halifax went 2-0 down after a pacey cross from Almagro struck the head of Ryan Telfer, who incidentally thundered a header beyond his own keeper.
Telfer, who used to play for Inter Toronto in its York9 era, would have undoubtedly preferred not to aid them on the scoresheet these days.
The hosts would then go three-nil ahead through another rocket, this time from midfielder Steffen Yeates who was screaming in joy following the well-struck distance effort.
Halifax would find space on the scoresheet for themselves just before the first half ended through an astute FVS challenge from Sartini. Inter Toronto were adjudged to have committed a handball foul in their own box, with Spaniard Miguel Arilla sending Pavala the wrong way from the spot.
The second half saw Inter Toronto score first, however, and in some fashion yet again. Julian Altobelli jostled for a bouncing ball and managed to not only flick it above his marker as they fought for possession, but finish the chance to make it 4-1.
Danger signs did loom for Mauro Eustaquio’s side, however, with Halifax veteran Andre Rampersad header thumping in a header for the visitor’s second goal.
Then, another former Inter Toronto man would find the net – this time on purpose. Isaiah Johnston made a good back-post run to tap in an easy finish, bringing the Wanderers within one goal of an equalizer:
Sartini’s side piled on the pressure, but to no avail: Inter Toronto would hold out for a slim victory in a seven-goal thriller, handing the club its first victory since May while the Halifax road form curse continues.
The biggest talking point of the week has to be Cavalry usurping the top spot in league standings. Sure, Forge has a match in hand, but the hammers have been holding on to the top spot for the bulk of the season.
With the Canadian Premier League switching to a four-team playoff format, we’re now seeing a pretty hefty divide between the top four teams and, at least nine points that final fourth playoff spot, the rest of the pack. It’s not insurmountable, but if the gap continues to widen, not having that fifth playoff spot could lead to a stale ending for the bottom half teams.
We’ve got a congested schedule coming in hot as the league plays a little catch-up on its games-in-hand: a rare Wednesday double-header will see Atletico Ottawa host Vancouver FC, while FC Supra du Quebec travels to Forge.
Then we’ve got four games on the weekend, with Vancouver’s road trip extending down to the east coast to Halifax on Saturday, while Cavalry host Atletico Ottawa and Forge hosts Pacific. The action will close out on Sunday with the FC Supra’s first trip to York Lions Stadium to face Inter Toronto.
Header Image Photo Credit: Canadian Premier League
1 Comment
What a great weekend on action in the CPL.
PFC should’ve really had a W there but kudos to VFC for finding that equalizer so late in the game.
Ottleti and Supra are shaping up to be quite the rivals so quickly in their history. These matches are entertaining and close. If Rea can find the right side of the posts on his shots he’s going to have Supra making noise come playoffs.
Great start by Inter. Giving the goal back just before half is dangerous, especially on the form they’ve been on. Defense still looks shaky which has been the biggest issue in this slide. Can’t count on scoring 4 every match. 3 points feels good though.
Are Forge sliding??? No, they aren’t but it would be interesting to know the last time they lost two in a row or the last time they were winless in three league matches. They will use this as fuel to their fire but regardless it’s good to see the league finally pushing them.