A Julian Altobelli brace and a strong road performance helped York United defeat Vancouver FC 2-0 in their Canadian Premier League (CPL) opener at Willoughby Community Park in Langley on Sunday.
Building on the success from the 2024 season, head coach Mauro Eustáquio went with the recognizable fluid formation under Benjamín Mora switching between a 5-4-1 formation and 3-4-3 in attack.
“I’m thankful right now that everybody’s fit, everybody’s healthy, and everybody wants to play,” said York United FC head coach Mauro Eustáquio post-game. “Now it’s up to them to go out there and show me they’re good teammates, and today they stuck together. So I’m happy to now have those solutions off the bench.”
York United take early initiative
At the beginning of the game, there was an early appeal for a penalty by Alejandro Diaz as he felt he was pushed after a cross into the box by Allan Enyou. But the referee saved away th appeal.
The fluid attack of York United was demonstrated early on as York had two great chances in the 11th minute to open the scoring. A pass from newcomers, Gabriel Bitar into the run of Steffen Yeates, led to a breakaway chance in tight that Vancouver goalkeeper Callum Irving denied. Off the ensuing rebound, he made another brilliant save, a flying kick save off a shot by Massimo Ferrin.
Loading ...Keeping up on the pressure, Adonijah Reid hit a curling right trivela aimed for the top right corner, but Irving came up big again with an incredible save to keep Vancouver in the game. Ferrin had a couple of open long-distance strikes from the top of the box to pile on the shots in favour of York.
Offensively, the flexible attack of Ferrin, Reid, and Bitar dragged the Vancouver defenders out of position, while Ferrari and Ferrazzo ran into space down the wings to occupy positions in the wide channels. The constant movement off-ball and jumping on mistakes led to more goal-scoring opportunities for York throughout the game.
York United (green) beat Vancouver FC 2-0 in Canadian Premier League action Sunday, April 6, 2025. Photo courtesy Vancouver FC
Vancouver had a great chance of their own in the 29th minute after a long ball from Campagna towards Bah was not handled well by Ferrari, leading to a cutback attempt to Diaz which was parried away safely by Pavela.
At the end of the first half, York United had plenty of shots and goal-scoring opportunities that were not converted, but they looked to remedy that in the second half.
York United pressure eventually pays off
At the beginning of the second half, there were a couple of half-chances from either side. Ferrari collected the ball in his own half and made a decent run to the top of the box where his attempt was easily saved by Irving. Vancouver almost opened the scoring in the 61st minute, as Diaz fired a difficult shot that was narrowly handled by Pavela over the crossbar.
Looking to his bench for some energy following a strong start, Eustáquio brought on attackers Julian Altobelli and Shola Jimoh in the 65th minute. The impact was instant as in the following minute, a run and cross into the box by Jimoh was deflected off the chest of centre-back David Norman into the path of Altobelli, who sent the close-range shot into the roof of the net to score York United’s first goal of the season.
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The former Toronto FC II striker showed his attacking prowess once more in the 83rd minute. Off a throw-in, a deft touch by Altobelli sent him past his defender where he fired a tight-angle shot from the left side into the top right corner to make it 2-0 for York United.
“I think as a forward, you’re just looking to put the ball in the back of the net,” said goal scorer Altobelli after the game. “Goalkeepers are always going to pull off great saves, you just have to look up, find the corners and put the ball in them.”
And head coach Eustáquio believes his club is already seeing the benefits of the off-season acquisitions.
“In the past with different squads that we’ve had here at York, we didn’t have that ability to (bring in those impact subs),” said the York manager.
Vancouver had a late chance of their own to bring them back in the game when Henri Godbout fired a shot from the edge of the box that sailed past the post. Defensively, York controlled the tempo of the game and was compact in the midfield. Holding on during the last parts of the game, their compact shape limited the space on the field and cut off service to the Vancouver attackers, Diaz and Campbell.
After a strong road performance, York look to continue with their success when they return home to face Halifax Wanderers next weekend on Sunday, April 13.
