Atlético Ottawa extended their undefeated run in CPL play to nine games, as they beat Valour FC 2-0 at Princess Auto Stadium on Sunday to remain atop the CPL table, the lone team not to lose a CPL match in 2024.
Despite facing off against an in-form Valour team on the road, that didn’t faze Ottawa, who now have an impressive 21 points in nine games to begin the season after this win.
Chances were hard to come by in the early goings of this game, however, as both teams tried to feel the other out. As a result, the first good look at goal didn’t come until the 27th minute, when Valour’s Diogo Ressureição fired a shot from outside of the box, but his shot was easily saved by Ottawa’s Nathan Ingham.
At the other end, Ottawa had their first big chance in the 30th minute, as Ollie Bassett found Rubén del Campo in the box with a nice cutback, but del Campo’s shot just deflected past the wrong side of the post to stay out. Then, on the ensuing corner, the ball fell to Matteo de Brienne in the box, and he’d come even closer to scoring, powering a shot off the crossbar and out.
Eager to find one before half time, Valour came close to scoring off a free kick in the 42nd minute, as Themi Antonoglou found Shaan Hundal with a dangerous cross, but Hundal’s header flashed just wide of the post.
Meanwhile, Ottawa once again struck the woodwork right before half time, as Bassett attempted an Olimpico from a corner, but he was unable to score his second-ever Olimpico in this stadium, striking the wrong side of the crossbar with his attempt.
Then, right after that, del Campo had an ever better chance, as he found himself on a breakaway against Valour’s Jonathan Viscosi, but he’d be unable to put his shot on target after trying to go around Viscosi with a dribble.
On the other side of half time, Ottawa continued to push for an opener, and Ballou Tabla nearly found it in the 46th minute, as he danced into a dangerous position in the box, but Valour’s Tass Mourdoukoutas did well to deny Tabla from a potential goal with a great block.
Valour continued to push from their side, as Jordi Swibel found Hundal in the box with a nice pass, but Hundal’s strike flew right into the hands of Ingham.
From there, however, it led to the game’s breakthrough in the 58th minute. After a dangerous ball into the box from Ottawa, Valour’s Noah Verhoeven pulled back del Campo, which gave Ottawa a penalty. A penalty that Bassett stepped up to take, he’d make no mistake with his attempt, either, slotting it into the bottom left corner to give his team a 1-0 lead.
Soon after, Manny Aparicio tried to double his team’s lead, firing a shot from range, forcing a nice save out of Viscosi. After that, however, the game would slow down, as Ottawa started to dictate the tempo of the game, feeling comfortable in their lead.
Despite that, though, they weren’t done scoring, as substitute Sam Salter got on the end of a great pass into the box from fellow sub Aboubacar Sissoko in the 91st minute, doing well to fashion a shooting lane for himself before tucking a low shot in off the post to make it 2-0.
That’d be enough for Ottawa to see out a result comfortably from there, giving them their sixth win of the year, while snapping a three game unbeaten run from Valour in the process.
BOX SCORE
Lineups
Valour FC: Viscosi; Alárcon, Mourdoukoutas, Chantzopoulos, Antonoglou; Ohin (Sukunda 65′), Verhoeven; Binate (Hanson 79′), Ressurreição, Hundal (Faria 65′); Swibel
Atlético Ottawa: Ingham; Twardek, Didić, Singh, de Brienne; Antinoro (Morer 67′), Aparicio, Zapater, Bassett (Torres 86′); Tabla (Sissoko 77′) , del Campo (Salter 86′)
Goals
59′ — Ollie Bassett (Atlético Ottawa) (pen.)
90+1′ — Sam Salter (Atlético Ottawa)
Discipline
13′ — Yellow: Matteo de Brienne (Atlético Ottawa)
55′ — Yellow: Raphael Ohin (Valour FC)
58′ — Yellow: Noah Verhoeven (Valour FC)
58′ — Yellow: Roberto Alárcon (Valour FC)
84′ — Yellow: Bench (Valour FC)
