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Photo Credit: Mike Sturk
CPL Matchweek 7 Recap – The Divide
By It’s taken seven weeks of Canadian Premier League action, but we’re really starting to see a divide in league standings as the number of undefeated teams whittles down to two and a new league leader emerges. The margins were tight this week – a Cavalry routing of Pacific aside – though fans were treated to some spectacular goals in the country’s top flight.
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Without further ado, here’s how matchweek seven of the Canadian Premier League unfolded:
Halifax Wanderers 1 – 1 Inter Toronto Football Club
Two great strikes cancel eachother out.
A match highlighted by two long-range strikes left the spoils split as host Halifax and visiting Toronto carried away a point apiece. A frenetic opening saw Inter Toronto phenom Julian Altobelli open the scoring as the forward took possession, settled himself, and fired an out-of-the-box rocket to hand the undefeated side an early lead:
Just ten minutes later, however, Isaiah Johnston continued his scoring streak and proved potent from outside of the penalty error. The midfielder took possession in a fast Wanderers counter, putting his laces into a fiery boot that bested Diego Urtiago from out of the box. While Urtiago would have liked to have set himself in a better spot, it was a finely taken moment for Johnston against his former side.
The second half saw Inter Toronto get the bulk of possession, and while the end of the match saw them parry threateningly back and forth, the scores would remain level despite both club’s keepers being called into action.
Vancouver FC 1 – 1 FC Supra du Quebec
Late strikes leave it equal in first-ever meeting between these two.
Martin Nash’s Vancouver FC side continued to beat the drum of good chance creation up top. With the hosts spending much of the game giving the visitors ‘what for’, they’ll be disappointed to have fired just three of fourteen shots on target, allowing FC Supra to bag a late equalizer with just their second shot on target.
The hosts look to have stolen the result as Nicolas Mezquida found Mohamed Amissi, who had already struck the crossbar, late in the second half – though this time the striker coolly lofted the ball over Joakim Milli for his third goal in four games, handing the Eagles a late lead over their Quebecois visitors.
FC Supra would not go down without a fight, however, with a last-gasp set piece seeing even goalkeeper Joakim MIlli come up. It was 22-year-old defender Matisse Chretien procuring his second goal of the season, however, quickly burying a rebound following a shot from Sean Rea.
The draw saw both sides remain in the bottom half of league standings, a result neither side will be completely happy with.
Atletico Ottawa 2 – 1 Forge FC
Diego Mejia leaves TD Place on a high note ahead of Mexican move. See the full recap here.
Atletico Ottawa head coach Diego Mejia bid farewell to the capital city faithful with a 2-1 win over Forge before his move to Liga MX’s Atletico San Luis, and – like the move itself – it all came together rather quickly.
Mejia’s side looked more capable of producing goals on the night, with defender Noah Abatneh carving out the go-ahead goal by quickly capitalizing on a rebound from Bertaud, who had produced a fine stop to save a free header but could do little as Abatneh booted the ball back in from close range.
The hammers produceda fine equalizer with less than ten minutes to go, quickly moving forward aerially from the back and sending in a nice lofted ball that, perhaps in an unorthodox manner, was certainly lumped beyond the line by Ismael Oketokoun, opening his account with the club.
Resolute note to let Diego Mejia down on his final match in TD Place, however, the red-and-white stripes of Atletico Ottawa banded together and produce a fine moment of magic to turn the result in their favour just minutes later. Breaking into the box, some sloppy defender from Molham Babouli allowed Joaquim Coulanges to dart forward and blast on beyond Bertaud to deliver all three points to the nation’s capital:
The result means Forge conceded their first defeat of the campaign and fell below Cavalry in league rankings, while the red-and-white candy stripes of Ottleti maintain a top-half position as the club continues to build form in defense of its title.
Cavalry FC 3 – 0 Pacific FC
Top versus bottom clash shows a big divide in both quality and club health.
Having already bested Pacific twice this year in both league and cup play, Tommy Wheeldon Jr’s side enjoyed a third helping of Pacific demolition as the Albertan side climbed to a three-nil win at home. Pacific, meanwhile, remain winless and still seeking out a new head coach.
Led by interim boss Yiannis Tsalatsidis, the Tridents put out a hearty performance in the first half with a fighting spirit highlighted well as Kadin Chung produced a goal-line clearance to keep things level at the break.
Things would tilt dramatically in Cavalry’s favour as the minutes ticked into the second half, however, with Cavalry original Sergio Camargo opening his ’26 account by taking advantage of a fatal miscalculation from Pacific keeper Eleias Himaras as he attempted to chest down the ball but quickly lose control of the situation:
After going down, Pacific struggled to get themselves back into the mix and Cavalry were quick to drive a dagger into the wound: big centre-back Amer Didic followed with his own first of the season, jumping tall to direct a well-struck header beyond the line in the 69th minute:
The third goal would come through German striker Tobias Warschewski. With the result already a forgone conclusion, a total misplay coming out of the flank from Pacific saw the Tridents dispossessed and run flat over as the German received the ball to bag his fourth goal of the season, keeping him level with Halifax’s Isaiah Johnston and Toronto’s Julian Altobelli in the golden boot race:
With the dust settled on week seven, we see a clear divide in teams: the top four are all into the double digits, while the bottom half are locked outside – and, quite frankly, Pacific is beyond underwater right now – they’re in the Marianas Trench, and it would take a Herculian effort to turn the season around.
Next week sees FC Supra du Quebec return home to face Inter Toronto on Friday night, with a Saturday double-header seeind Halifax host Vancouver and Pacific welcome Atletico Ottawa. Sunday will be a real treat as Forge welcomes Cavalry to Hamilton Stadium in a top-of-the-table battle.
1 Comment
Vancouver is a better watch than their record indicates. Doner has been stellar this season, if they could finish half their chances they would be right there with Ottawa.
Haven’t watched a lot of Supra outside of the highlights but it looks like their #9, Kwemi, gets himself in good spots but has blown a few big scoring chances this year.
In a league as close as the CPL gets as times those missed opportunities can really come back to hurt you.