2023 CPL Regular Season — Match #40
Atlético Ottawa vs. Vancouver FC
June 17, 2023 at 2 p.m. ET
TD Place in Ottawa, Ontario
Watch Live: OneSoccer.ca & TELUS Ch. 980 // Tickets available here

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Two teams looking to turn the tide on a loss in Week 9 meet in the nation’s capital this weekend, as Vancouver FC make their first ever visit to TD Place for a pivotal matinee clash with Atlético Ottawa.

The hosts Atleti find themselves in the midst of an up-and-down season so far, sitting seventh in the table at 2-2-5 through nine games. They lost last Friday night to York United in a frustrating 2-1 final, as a late Osaze De Rosario header left them empty-handed — even though they hit the post three times, prompting coach Carlos González to feel his side had done more than enough to win.

That said, last time Ottawa played at TD Place they were excellent in a 2-0 win over Halifax Wanderers, erasing a darkening narrative with their first win at home this year. That may have been the high point of their season so far — the only rival to that being Ottawa’s last meeting with Vancouver FC, when they trounced the expansion side 5-0 in Langley.

Vancouver have struggled since that heavy loss to last year’s regular season champions, winless in the four games following (for an overall seven-game streak right now). They’ve lost their last two games, 6-3 to B.C. rivals Pacific FC and 3-1 last weekend at Cavalry FC.

As it stands, VFC sit at the bottom of the table with a 1-4-4 record, but just one point back of Ottawa. They haven’t won since April 22, when they beat York United for the first win in club history. With Atleti having lost twice at home already, though, Afshin Ghotbi’s side will feel they may have a chance to get back on track during this road trip.

Both sides will be dealing with a significant absence for this game outside of the injury list, as well. Atlético Ottawa’s attack will be missing striker Malcolm Shaw, who has travelled to represent Trinidad and Tobago on international duty in the Concacaf Gold Cup. Vancouver, likewise, are missing Marcus Simmons, who’s gone to play for Guyana. They’ll also be missing centre-back Pele Martínez unfortunately, who was handed a three-match ban by Canada Soccer for an elbow on Roberto Alarcón in last weekend’s loss to Cavalry.

“I’m very sad for Pele,” Ghotbi said Friday. “I know him as a human being and I know him as a player, that’s not who he is. He didn’t intentionally try to hurt someone.”

Nonetheless, VFC will be forced to find a way without a key player once again.

All CPL matches are available to stream on OneSoccer, FuboTV, or on TELUS Optik TV Channel 980.

3 THINGS TO WATCH

• Time for Salter to step up: This game represents a significant opportunity for Atlético Ottawa forward Samuel Salter, who will likely get the start up top with Malcolm Shaw on international duty. Salter hasn’t started the last three games, but with Vancouver missing a key centre-back in Pele Martínez this could be an opportunity for him to find his scoring boots. Salter’s only goal of the season so far came in that 5-0 win over Vancouver in Langley, and he’ll certainly be eager for a repeat performance. Aside from Salter, the likes of Gianni Dos Santos and Jean-Aniel Assi are looking to build up their scoring records. Ollie Bassett has scored four goals already, and he continues to lead the way for this club, but Carlos González won’t necessarily want a midfielder to be his leading goalscorer.

• Vancouver looking for goals: Attacking play has not necessarily come easily to the expansion side this year, with just eight goals scored in total through nine games. Four of those have come in losses — three of them in the B.C. derby that they lost 6-3 to Pacific. The emergence of Shaan Hundal as a top goalscoring threat in the CPL has been a welcome development of course, but it’s never ideal for one player to have 62.5 per cent of a team’s goals, as he does with five. Afshin Ghotbi will particularly want high-profile Mexican attacker Gaël Sandoval to step up and add to the three assists he’s got so far this year. “I think Sandoval has to take more responsibility and be more goal dangerous,” Ghotbi said. “We expected him to score more goals for us. … We have to find ways to score not only by different players but in different ways and in dead-ball situations.”

• Ottawa sticking to identity after frustrating loss: Atleti boss Carlos González said after last Friday’s defeat to York United that he wasn’t quite sure what more his side could’ve done to win the game. They scored first, they hit the post three times, and ultimately were undone by an own goal and a late set-piece. The key message in Ottawa is to stick to the tactical identity — which worked in their last home game, a win over Halifax — and iron out a few minor details that have been frustrating them in some matches. “We have to be demanding; the boxes are penalizing us — both boxes — so we have to be better in those both defensively and offensively,” González said. “The team are doing many good things, and I think that in many moments of the game we’re showing a great face in attack with different possibilities, and also defensively but my feelings are that at the moment the other teams don’t need to do much to create important chances.”

PROJECTED STARTING XIs

Atlético Ottawa: Melvin; Ouimette, Espejo, Singh, Tissot; Assi, Bassett, Acosta, Verhoeven, Dos Santos; Salter

Vancouver FC: Irving; Kwak, Bakare, Romeo, Crawford; Bitar, Simmons, Moazeni Zadeh; Tahid, Hundal, Sandoval

ALL-TIME SERIES

Atlético Ottawa wins: 1  || Vancouver FC wins: 0 || Draws: 0

Last meeting:

May 13, 2023 – Vancouver FC 0-5 Atlético Ottawa

KEY QUOTES 

“I think that it’s going to be a completely different game, because of the different circumstances that happened from that game until now. I felt that [last] game was the perfect game for us, so the reality is that I cannot expect a perfect game. We have to work thinking that it’s going to be tough.” — Atlético Ottawa head coach Carlos González

“I feel like Ottawa is a much better team than their record and their results — same as us. We’re talking about a team that last year was in the final, was one of the best teams in the league. I still think they have the quality to climb the table and finish very well. We saw that against us they were fantastic.” — Vancouver FC head coach Afshin Ghotbi

“Last time they came into our house, it felt a little personal. I think now would be a great time to show them who Vancouver really is.” — Vancouver FC attacker Gabriel Bitar