Canadian Premier League leaders Atlético Ottawa were held to a surprising 2-2 home draw by bottom-of-the-league Valour FC in the nation’s capital Sunday.
In a very entertaining and competitive game, Atlético Ottawa failed to capitalize on a York United slip-up which could’ve seen Ottawa’s lead atop the Canadian Premier League table grow to seven points.
“I think that we lost a good opportunity today to open up a large gap between the second-place team,” a disappointed Ottawa Head Coach Carlos Gonzalez said post-game. “I think that’s two points lost in a game that we should impose our football we should impose our level and we should win so I’m not happy at all about our team’s performance.”
‘Complacent’ Atlético Ottawa pay the price
With the draw, Ottawa maintains a five-point lead over second-place York United.
However, in a game that saw Atlético open the scoring 45 seconds in courtesy of a Valour own goal off a corner kick, Ottawa failed to build on their advantage. The home side didn’t will feel they didn’t create enough quality scoring opportunities. And when the limited opportunities came, Ottawa could have been more clinical. And Atlético midfielder Manny Aparicio admitted his club was also guilty of surrendering too much control to the visitors.
“We obviously started on the front foot,” Aparicio said post-match. “We put them under pressure early. And then we just gave them too much I feel. They played three days ago and it looked like they had more energy in us at times.
“We went with the mentality of trying to put them under pressure and to keep the ball from them and in the first half, I think it was completely the opposite.”
Atlético Ottawa and Valour FC in Canadian Premier League action Sunday, July 21, 2024. Photo: Matt Zambonin/Freestyle Photography
When asked about what went wrong today, Gonzalez emphasized the complacency his team showed in certain important moments of the match.
“Once we scored, we had to go look for a second goal, but instead our intensity dropped, we started to lose the ball regularly, and soon we started to give them control of the game, so my opinion is that we throw the first half (film) into the bin,” Gonzalez said.
“In the second half, we didn’t compete in certain moments. Again, we concede off a corner that we shouldn’t concede on and that makes us start to go chasing the game again. So, repetition of certain things – as I say, we have to start to focus a little bit more on ourselves, and be more demanding on ourselves,” he continued.
Ottawa started the match incredibly well, going on the front foot immediately. In fact, Ottawa’s first attack resulted in a corner that Ollie Bassett swung into the box. Tyr Walker’s header at the edge of the six-yard box took a deflection off a Valour defender before crossing the line less than 45 seconds in.
Ottawa played well for the next 10 minutes, creating numerous chances to build on their early lead, however, they weren’t able to finish it.
Valour FC responds well to own goal
For the rest of the first half, particularly the next 15 minutes, it was Valour who showed its dominance by playing free-flowing, attacking football in the Ottawa half.
From the 10th to the 25th minute, Valour played almost exclusively in Ottawa’s half, had the lion’s share of possession, outshot Ottawa 3-0 (2-0 on target) and created the more dangerous, higher-quality chances.
It felt like an equalizer was coming for Valour. It didn’t take long to happen.
In his first CPL start, Safwane Mlah –recently acquired from Ligue-1 Quebec side CS St. Laurent– tapped home a loose rebound in the six-yard box that Ottawa goalkeeper Nate Ingham spilt immediately after making two quality saves to deny Valour.
It was a well-deserved goal to equalize the match in the 26th minute. Through 30 minutes, Valour was the much better side, creating more chances and outshooting Ottawa 6-0 (5-0 on target).
Valour only got sharper as the first half continued, fluidly moving the ball up the field around Atlético’s compact, organized defence. At the half, Valour proved to be a much bigger threat offensively, outshooting Ottawa 7-2 (6-0 on target), creating four big chances to Ottawa’s zero and handily winning the expected goals (xG) battle 1.45 to 0.18.
Ottawa had 59 percent possession, led the final third entries battle 28-25 and each team had seven touches in the opposition box, however, it was Valour that created a larger quantity of high-quality scoring chances with less of the ball and capitalized on more of its chances.
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Valour continued their dominance at the start of the second half and continued to press for quite frankly, a deserved lead.
Italian-Canadian centre-back Gianfranco Facchineri –who has experience playing for Canada’s u-17 national team, in the MLS for the Vancouver Whitecaps and also is a member of the Windsor University Lancers soccer team– was able to run into open space and jump above all Atlético defenders in the vicinity to guide a corner kick into the bottom corner with his head to give Valour a 2-1 lead.
Gonzalez called the mistakes leading to both Valour goals unacceptable, particularly failing to clear its lines on the first goal and conceding directly off a corner on the second. He added that his players’ mental lapses in crucial moments stem from mindset.
“I think that we have to be more consistent throughout the entire game, (these mistakes are) not good at all,” Gonzalez said. “In the last four or five games, we’ve conceded so many goals and we have to change that very soon.”
Gonzalez believes they have the talent and quality to fix their defensive issues and mental lapses but added they have to do it quickly or else it will be harder to maintain their lead atop the league table.
“We have to realize that it’s on us. The quality is there. All of our players work well throughout the week. But we’re not giving our best in the games, that must change.”
Ottawa equalize but can’t find winner
Luckily for Ottawa, as we’ve seen so many times this season, their grit and determination to never give up paid off.
Sam Salter made an immediate impact, five minutes after coming off the bench, sending a perfect cross into the 18-yard box toward Ruben del Campo, who fired a low shot into the back of the net to tie the match 2-2 in the 73rd minute. Del Campo leads the CPL with eight goals in all competitions in 2024.
Ottawa were revitalized after their equalizer and created numerous quality scoring chances that could’ve resulted in the winning goal, their biggest chance was a transition attack in the 90th minute, but Valour’s keeper made two incredible saves to keep the match 2-2.
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Unfortunately for Atlético, the second half was very stop-and-start, with play being halted often for a foul or an injured Valuour player, which made building any momentum near impossible for Ottawa. In the first five of the original seven minutes of allotted second-half stoppage time, there were three injuries to Valour players, each lasting at least 60 seconds. The Ottawa crowd didn’t like that at all.
Ottawa created a couple more chances, but Valour’s defence –which played well all game– held strong to preserve the 2-2 draw.
In 11 home games this season in all competitions, Ottawa has amassed a 5-4-2 record and dropped a whopping 14 points. In just league play, Ottawa has a 4-3-2 home record, dropping 12 points at home. These figures are astounding considering Atlético has generally played well in front of its fans, scoring a whopping 24 goals at home this year (17 in the CPL). Meanwhile, Ottawa is undefeated on the road with an impressive 4-2-0 record in the league, only having lost in the Canadian Championship quarterfinal second leg to Pacific.
Valour remains in last place with a 3-2-10 record (11 points), however, they can hold their heads high knowing they played extremely well, especially defensively, against the league leaders holding them to a tight draw in Ottawa, less than 72 hours after their previous match against Halifax. It’s also the first time this season Valour got a point against Ottawa, having lost their last three matches against Ottawa in 2024.
Ottawa’s next match is away at second-place York United on July 26 at 7:00 p.m.
Valour’s next match is a visit to BC to play Pacific FC on July 28 at 5:00 p.m.
