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Photo Credit: Sheldon Mack
CPL Matchweek 4 Recap – Slim Margins
By The fourth Canadian Premier League matchweek brought a few firsts with it: La Belle Province got its first home win, Vancouver FC finally got off the mark in goalscoring, and Forge got a fourth consecutive clean sheet.
We’re starting to see some early risers and early duds in league play, though there’s a long way to go yet.
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Without further ado, here’s your at-a-glance recap of the weekend’s Canadian Premier League action:
FC Supra du Quebec 2 – 1 Halifax Wanderers FC
La Belle Province saw the home team procure its first ever win on home soil with Nick Razaghi’s FC Supra du Quebec side proving potent in fast attacks and a quick capability to carve out the middle of the park – something Halifax boss Vanni Sartini had distinctly tried to avoid in his own side’s buildup.
Despite the final score, it was the visitors who opened on the front foot: a handball call against Matisse Chretien saw the Haligonians awarded a penalty, with Isaiah Johnston stepping up to convert his second spot kick of the season in just as many games.
The tide shifted immediately, however, with the creativity and fast feet of FC Supra causing all sorts of trouble for Halifax. The equalizer came through a corner kick that saw Charles Auguste send the ball into the box with Chretien adding a clever touch to redirect it in a way where Marco Carducci could only watch it sail beyond him.
The hosts should have gone ahead just minutes later if not for some heroics from Marco Carducci and Thomas Meilleur-Giguere, with Nick Razaghi emphasizing after the match that he wants his side to kill games out when the opportunity arises. It looked like Isaiah Johnston had found the equalizer in the second half before the goal was called back for being offside, with substitute striker Safwane Mlah providing the heroics to deliver FC Supra du Quebec its first home win through a tasty headed goal:
The 2-1 scoreline would stick, putting FC Supra du Quebec firmly in the top half of the table after just three games played in the opening four rounds. For Halifax, it was the second consecutive game they conceded late and the club’s first defeat of the season.
Cavalry FC 1 – 1 Inter Toronto Football Club
Going in to Saturday’s snowy match, both clubs entered undefeated and having yet to trail for a single minute of game time in 2026. It was Tommy Wheeldon Jr’s side that started on the front foot, however, cutting through midfield and making both direct runs and corner kick opportunities aplenty.
The first half pressure paid off when Ali Musse – on his first start of the campaign – sent in a tantalizing free kick into the ITO box. As ATCO Field has witnessed many times before, flying Dutchman Daan Klomp rose to meet the opportunity, heading in his second goal of the season to put the hosts in front.
Flashback: ‘Shouldn’t Have Been Allowed’: Musse Sounds Off On Snowstorm Final
Inter Toronto showed character to bounce back soon after, with Beni Badibanga – on his first start after a couple late off-the-bench tests – sent in a nice ball of his own to big striker Tomasz Skublak. The realtor sent it home with an incredulous no-look flicked header, levelling the match in just a matter of minutes.
The second half leaned in Cavalry’s favour as Diego Urtiaga was called into action aplenty, with Tommy Wheeldon Jr. trying out two unsuccessful coach’s challenges: one to ask for a penalty, and one in an effort to upgrade a yellow card against ITO. Neither passed Yusri Rudolf’s review, with Luca Accettola nearly procuring a late winner against the odds and forcing Nathan Ingham into a fine stop:
The hosts will feel they should have killed the game with a second half, having out-shot the visitors seventeen to eight with an expected goalof 1.71. For now, however, both sides remain undefeated in league play after four and three matches played, respectively.
Atletico Ottawa 1 – 1 Vancouver FC
Vancouver FC saw tensions rise after going scoreless in its first three matches, and those tensions surely only increased as the match remained scoreless at half-time despite Vancouver delivering some great balls into the opposition box. That was all set to change in the second half, however, though it looked to be going in the host’s favour.
Referee Renzo Villanueva initially gave Ottleti forward Ballou Tabla a yellow card for simulation, but when head coach Diego Mejia triggered an FVS Review, the call was reversed and the hosts were instead granted a penalty. Up stepped PUMAS loanee Santiago Lopez, who fired left but saw his fairly tame penalty saved by veteran shotstopper Callum Irving.
Turning the match in an instant, Vancouver quickly countered on the right flank with Morey Doner sending in a beautiful cross for Mohamed Amissi, who finally broke Vancouver’s duck and scored a goal to bring the visitors a 1-0 lead.
Vancouver looked to be well on their way to a club-first win at TD Place, having survived another penalty scare when Matteo Campagna brought down Thierno Bah, though an FVS Review confirmed that there would be no spot kick coming. The 93rd minute saw Emiliano Garcia become the third Ottleti player to go down in the box, prompting a third FVS Review, which once again awarded no spot kick. Mejia had now burned his challenges.
But in the 97th minute of the game, a sustained spell of possession for Atletico Ottawa saw the urgency pay off when Kamron Habibullah got the ball in to Garcia, who was able to beat Callum Irving to secure a last-gasp equalizer to the hosts against the run of the play:
Pacific FC 0 – 1 Forge FC
Forge denied Pacific a single shot on target as the hammers played spoiler in Victoria, British Columbia this weekend. Forge were the dominant side throughout the match, missing a few chances in the first half before seemingly going ahead early in the second after Antoine Batisse flicked the ball in from an inch-perfect Mo Babouli freekick, only for an FVS review to flag the goal back for offside.
Pacific did have a few efforts that went wide of net before Forge struck first blood through Brian Wright, who bagged his first of the season with a quick header after Pacific only partially blocked an effort from Ben Paton.
The hammers would hold on firm to finish victorious in week four, snatching ten points from a possible twelve thus far and, incredibly, limiting a third side in four games to zero shots on target. Pacific, meanwhile, rest second from the bottom in league standings and will host neighbours Vancouver in a bottom-of-the-table clash next week.
The top half of the table now sees Forge, Cavalry, FC Supra, and Inter Toronto occupy the four playoff spots, while Halifax, Ottawa, Pacific, and Vancouver rest in the bottom half – though there’s a long way to go until the end of the season.
Next week will see the first month of action wrap. It all kicks off with Inter Toronto hosting Atletico Ottawa on Friday evening, with Saturday’s lone fixture seeing Halifax Wanderers host table-toppers Forge FC. FC Supra’s homestand will end the next day with a match against Cavalry, with the weekend’s action closing with a bottom-of-the-table Salish Sea Derby between Pacific and Vancouver.
