For the first time in their history, Atlético Ottawa scored against and defeated Forge FC at TD Place Saturday
Atlético head coach Carlos Gonzalez knew of his team’s past struggles against Forge –before today, Atlético was 2-3-11 all-time against Forge, scoring nine goals and conceding 30– which explains why he called his team’s historic win a milestone.
“I knew that because we’ve been here for a while, and we knew we had to break this barrier,” Gonzalez said. “I think the club deserved this, and the fans deserve a big win against Forge at home.”
Ottawa convincingly beat Forge 3-0 and dominated the entire match.
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Ottawa proved they can score in many ways, today they scored from long-distance, from a set piece, and as a result of intricate passing and build-up play in transition.
“It’s good to see that we’re scoring different ways, where you know, shots outside the box, set pieces, connections, it’s where we’re finding ways to score, and it’s beautiful to see,” Manny Aparicio said. “And defensively, a clean sheet goes a long way… because it’s against a team like Forge.”
Ottawa has shown they can shut teams down with their resolute defense and now has also proved they can blow teams out offensively with their newly added offensive talent.
Gonzalez explained post-match that it’s better to excel at many things and have many ways to win games instead of only sticking to mastering one game plan.
Atlético Ottawa vs Forge FC in Canadian Premier League action May 25, 2024 Photo: Tim Austen/Freestyle Photography
“In modern football, it’s very difficult to be the absolute best team at doing one thing. Maybe one day you play against a team that does that thing better than you,” Gonzalez said. “What we try to do is that our team controls different phases of the game, has different tools (to adapt to many different situations), and is capable of winning against any type of opponent.”
With the win, Ottawa improves to 5-2-0 (17 points), remains undefeated in all competitions this season, and extends its lead atop the CPL table to four points ahead of second-place Vancouver FC.
Before today, Forge had never conceded at TD Place. It only took Ottawa 13 minutes to change that.
A failed Forge defensive clearance fell to the foot of Aboubacar Sissoko, who delivered an
excellent cross across the pitch to Manny Aparicio who unleashed a rocket into the right corner of the net from over 25 yards out.
An early 1-0 lead gave Ottawa all the momentum and the ability to defend by maintaining possession of the ball after winning it back, moving it around frequently with smart passes even in promising areas of the pitch, and forcing Forge’s tired players –Forge beat MLS side CF Montreal midweek in the Canadian Championship– to run more and work extra hard off the ball to recover it.
When space presented itself, Ottawa would be direct and attack down both flanks, using long passes and the pace of Tabla and del Campo to beat defenders.
“It was a moment to make them run, to control, to do longer attacks, although we felt that we have the spaces to break them, sometimes it was a matter of having a bit more patience and taking the game to our side,” said González of his team’s ball control ability. “I think we did it perfectly. Alternating these types of attacks is good for the team because it makes it difficult for opponents to direct us.”
Atlético found plenty of success attacking down the left flank with Gabriel Antinoro and Ruben del Campo and also excelled in transition, moving the ball downfield quickly with long, accurate passes after forcing turnovers in the defensive third.
Atlético Ottawa vs Forge FC in Canadian Premier League action May 25, 2024 Photo: Tim Austen/Freestyle Photography
The first half was fairly even in terms of possession and saw both teams create a handful of chances, however, Ottawa outshot Hamilton 8-4 (1-1 on target), created the higher-quality chances, and were more clinical.
Both teams were great defensively in the first half, limiting their opponent to an xG tally of less than 0.35. Ottawa won the first half xG battle 0.33 to 0.13. A single defensive mistake by Forge, a poor clearance that led to Aparicio’s goal, was the only thing separating both sides.
In the second half, Forge came out flying, creating a handful of quality scoring chances, however, Rayane Yesli made numerous key saves to preserve Ottawa’s lead.
With under 20 minutes to play, Atlético doubled their lead and all but secured all three points.
After substitute Dani Morer won a foul near the edge of the box, Ollie Bassett crossed the free kick into the six-yard box. Alberto Zapater jumped over everybody and ferociously headed the cross into the back of the net to score his first CPL goal.
Ten minutes later, Ottawa put the icing on a historic victory.
Ruben del Campo equaled a CPL record for most consecutive games with a goal after netting his fifth goal of the season in his last five matches, continuing his stellar run of form this season after not scoring in 2023. He received the ball from a long transition pass, controlled it well, and ran past a defender before dispatching it cleanly with his right foot inside the near post.
At fulltime, Ottawa outshot Forge 12-7, both teams registered four shots on target, Ottawa had seven chances in the opposing box to Forge’s five, and Ottawa won the xG battle 0.88 to 0.31.
Despite losing the possession battle 57-43 percent, Ottawa was the better team, created higher quality chances –Ottawa had three big chances to Forge’s zero– and Ottawa was more clinical in the final third, scoring on three of its four shots on target.
The fatigue from their midweek Canadian Championship clash arguably impacted their play today. Defensively, they conceded three goals –two off defensive errors– and offensively, despite creating a handful of chances, they lacked that final spark.
Forge made 78 final third entries, and had 22 touches in the Atleti box, but managed just seven shot attempts and just 0.31 xG, their lowest tally of the season.
Forge head coach Bobby Smyrniotis said fatigue may have been an impact, but Forge has to learn to play well even with a congested fixture list
“It’s a tough one, you know, you turn this game around in less than 72 hours, you’re playing a team that’s fresh and is prepared in the week for this match, but you got to come in with a game plan,” Smyrniotis said, adding that other than a few errors leading to goals, he thought his team played quite well against Ottawa.
“We’re in good spots, but we’re missing a little bit that sharpness on the finish, on the final ball,” Smyrniotis said. “Maybe that’s the psychological drain of Wednesday, but you’re Forge, if you want to be good, you have to learn how to play every three days, and we’ve done this before. And yeah, it’s unfortunate. It’s the first time we’ve come to the nation’s capital and lost the game, but that’s always going to happen at some point.”
Up next for Ottawa: the second leg of the Canadian Championship quarterfinals against Pacific FC on May 29. It’s tied 0-0 on aggregate and an Ottawa away goal could have huge ramifications.
Up next for Forge: a huge test against a high-flying York United team on June 1 in the 905 Derby. Hamilton has never lost three consecutive league games, they’ll want that streak to continue.
