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Atlético Ottawa vs York United FC August 5, 2023 PHOTO: Matt Zambonin/Freestyle Photography
MATCH ANALYSIS: Atlético Ottawa and York United split the points in six-goal thriller
August 6, 2023
Canadian Premier League
La Fiesta Night La Noche de la Fiesta Match Analysis TD Place York United

Final Score: Atlético Ottawa 3-3 York United
Goalscorers: Haworth 35′ + 59′, Espejo 81′; Wright 24′, Dos Santos 26′, Ingham 62′ (OG)
Game of the 2023 season: 71
CPL match: 438

Match in a minute or less

Atlético Ottawa and York United picked up a point each at TD Place in Ottawa on Saturday after a wild back-and-forth encounter.

York United scored twice in less than three minutes midway through the first half, as Clément Bayiha set up goals for both Brian Wright and Kevin Dos Santos with low crosses into the box that were fired into the back of the net. Wright had a chance to make it three moments after the second goal, but his shot struck the crossbar.

Carl Haworth pulled one back for the hosts with about ten minutes left in the first half, intercepting the ball, beating Tass Mourdoukoutas, and calmly putting the ball into the net. Haworth then tied the game 15 minutes after the break, placing the ball into the top right corner of the goal from a direct free kick at the edge of the penalty area.

Three minutes after Haworth’s second goal, the ball was in the back of Ottawa’s net again, on a fortunate sequence for York that resulted in them taking the lead. Brem Soumaoro played a pass forward that seemed to strike Mo Babouli’s unsuspecting leg, sailing forward to hit the inside of the far post, off of Nathan Ingham’s back, and trickled into the back of the net for an own goal.

Ottawa kept pushing for a goal, however, and found one in the 81st minute. Ruben Del Campo chased down a ball out wide and fired it into the box for Diego Espejo, who headed it home to earn a point for his side in front of their home supporters.

Three Observations

Bayiha provides a strong threat in wide areas, wins battles against Niba

Both of York United’s first two goals came as a result of a brilliant play on the right flank from York United winger Clément Bayiha.

The 24-year-old Canadian was tasked with facing MacDonald Niba, who put in a great performance last week against a CPL Player of the Year candidate in Cavalry FC’s Ali Musse. Bayiha stepped up to the task, and in the first half in particular was a dangerous threat along the right touchline.

On the first goal, scored by Brian Wright in the 24th minute, Bayiha received a diagonal pass from Tass Mourdoukoutas, but still had a lot of work to do. First he wrestled with Niba to get full control of the ball, before racing past the Ottawa left back. He took a few touches to create some separation, before playing a low pass across the six-yard box. Wright met the ball in front of goal, easily redirecting it past Nathan Ingham to open the scoring.

The second goal, scored less than three minutes later, was created in similar fashion. This time, Wright received the ball and quickly turned and played a pass forward for Bayiha to chase down. The pacy winger got to the ball first, beating Niba again before playing another low, dangerous pass into the box. This time it was met by Kevin Dos Santos, whose hard shot got the better of the diving Ingham.

After coming off the bench for a couple of matches in a row, York head coach Martin Nash showed some faith in his winger, and was rewarded for it with two excellent first half assists.

In total across his 72 minutes of work, Bayiha created the two goals, completed 15 of his 18 attempted passes, had two successful dribbles, and pitched in defensively with a couple of tackles. His production slowed down a bit as the match continued, but there was a stretch in the first half where he was nearly unplayable, something he can potentially build on.

“He was fantastic,” said Nash afterwards. “I didn’t start him the last two games, and I challenged him today, and he showed me that maybe I was wrong the last two games. That’s the type of performance we need out of him. I think that’s his first two assists all year, not that that should be the case because some chances have been missed from his creation.

“It’s good, hopefully he can go on a run of getting assists. He’s a talented attacking player, he just needs to get on a run. I thought he was tremendous tonight, he has been in a lot of games this year, but I thought that — especially the first 45 minutes — might have been his best performance.”

Two points dropped for York, one gained for resilient Ottawa side as playoff push continues

The playoff race is so tight at the moment, that both Ottawa and York will end the day in playoff positions, despite only picking up a single point each. Ottawa started the day in fifth, hanging onto the final spot, while York were in sixth prior to the match, but are now sitting in fourth and fifth, respectively.

Halifax Wanderers dropped two places as a result, from fourth to sixth. All three teams have 25 points on the season, but Ottawa and York are ahead of the Wanderers on the first tiebreaker — with seven wins to Halifax’s six. Ottawa are then ahead of York on the second tiebreaker, thanks to their superior goal difference, with plus-five as opposed to York’s minus-six. Pacific FC and Forge FC sit in second and third place, respectively, and both have 29 points, while Cavalry FC sits top of the table with 30. Valour FC and Vancouver FC sit in seventh and eighth, with 16 and 13 points, respectively, before they play each other on Sunday. Halifax hosts Pacific on Monday, which too could have big implications on the playoff race.

As an extra storyline, York have played two more matches than Halifax and Pacific as of Saturday night, and one more than Ottawa and Cavalry, giving the teams around them a chance to use those games in hand to move, and stay, ahead of the Nine Stripes.

With all of that in mind, Saturday’s match was a huge one for both teams. For York especially, who had a two-goal lead in the first half as well as another lead with ten minutes to go in the second half, it was two points dropped rather than one gained.

They let the initial lead slip as Carl Haworth scored a great solo goal in the first half, and then a direct free kick in the second half to tie things up at 3-3. After a bizarre own goal restored York’s lead, Diego Espejo scored a thumping header in the 81st minute to rescue a point for his side.

“It’s a tough blow against a good side, who’s had a really good run of form at home as of late,” said York defender Tass Mourdoukoutas after the match. “We’re happy that we scored three goals in the game, that’s an important milestone for us because we’ve struggled to score three goals in games this season.

“Goals haven’t come easy, so to show that kind of touch has been nice and promising for future weeks. There’s definitely a lot of positives to take, but we’ll be disappointed inside to know that we could’ve got three points out of that one for sure.”

For Ottawa, after going down twice in the match, a point is a good result for them. They will obviously want to avoid conceding three goals in future matches, but this was an important home point for a side that is looking to challenge the teams at the top in order to win a second regular season title in a row.

“I think this is a big character result for us,” said the captain and goalscorer Haworth after the game. “We started really well, and after about 15-20 minutes or so, [there was] that ten minute spell where we just didn’t seem to win our challenges, we were in poor positions at times, and that game was pretty much won for them at that point. This team in the past in certain moments might have caved a little bit, but you could see the determination from the guys to get back into the game, make a couple of subs at halftime that brought new energy.

“I think everyone that came on gave us something, a little bit of spark to go and get something from that game. To claw back into it, then concede probably the weirdest goal I have ever seen on the field, then to go again and claw back in and get the point in the end… it just showed that the guys are willing to fight and that they’ve got strong character.”

Brian Wright finally scores first goal of the season, could have had another

It has been a bit of a challenging season thus far for York United striker Brian Wright. Nearly every week, one of the stories around this Nine Stripes side has been the lack of production from their strikers — Wright and Osaze De Rosario — and wondering when they will start to produce at the level CPL fans have come to expect from them.

For Wright in particular, he was brought to York in the offseason to try and bring a boost to their attack after difficult periods last season where they struggled to score goals. To be in August already without him finding the back of the net was as surprising as it was frustrating.

Playing against his former team on Saturday, Wright finally got the monkey off his back, scoring the opening goal against Atlético Ottawa for his first of the season. He made a great late run into the box to get onto the end of a low cross in from Clément Bayiha, opening the scoring by redirecting the ball past Nathan Ingham from a few yards out.

As Wright celebrated in front of the fans who used to be cheering for him to put the ball into the back of the net, the reaction from him and his teammates was clear to see. This was a goal that meant a lot to Wright, and one that he will be hoping can kick off a better run of form as York look to hang on to a playoff spot.

Kevin Dos Santos scored to double York’s lead less than three minutes later, and Wright had a chance to make it three less than three minutes after that. He could have essentially put the game to bed after opening up a chance for himself to get a shot away in the box, but that effort came back out off the crossbar. He could have potentially played a lower shot to one of the corners, but opted for power more than precision and watched his strike rattle the woodwork.

“I think it’s massive for his confidence,” York boss Martin Nash said of the goal after the match. “He’s going to be big for us over the next month, and get a lot of playing time as we still have a lot of games. It was important for him to get that one out of the way, he’s been great in some games that he’s played this year, just hasn’t been able to find the back of the net. Hopefully it’s big for the team and he can continue on.”

“He’s someone that works hard every day, he’s one of the first players in at training, he’s a top pro and experienced guy at this point in his career,” added defender Tass Mourdoukoutas. “He helps a lot of the players around him. To watch the performance he put on tonight against his old club, a difficult place to play as well, he showed the level he can be at and week in and week out. Really happy for Brian and his performance, more than just the goal.”

Wright’s former head coach Carlos Gonzalez was happy for him, but wished he picked a different day to find that first goal of the season.

“I think that this type of games, for former players, are special games,” said Gonzalez after the match. “Today wasn’t the day that we wanted that for Brian, that’s the reality. I hope that he has a good season but he doesn’t score many goals, because we need them to lose points is the reality.”

CanPL.ca Player of the Match

Carl Haworth, Atlético Ottawa 

Ottawa’s reliable captain came up big for his side in this match, scoring two brilliant goals to first cut York’s lead in half, and then tie the game.

What’s next?

York United head to Hamilton next weekend to play Forge FC in a 905 Derby clash on Saturday (7 pm ET). Ottawa are in Langford on Sunday to play Pacific FC at Startlight Stadium (1:30 pm PT/4:30 pm ET).

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