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MATCH ANALYSIS: Atlético Ottawa Battle Through to Earn a Draw Against Cavalry FC
September 16, 2024
Canadian Premier League
Atlético Ottawa Canadian Premier League Cavalry FC Match Analysis

Final Score: Cavalry FC 2-2 Atlético Ottawa
Goalscorers: Musse 16′, Klomp 66′; Aparicio 5′, del Campo 48′
Game of the 2024 season: 91
CPL match: 575

Match in a minute or less

Cavalry FC fell behind early in both halves of Sunday’s match against Atlético Ottawa, but both times were able to bounce back and tie things up again, as the two sides picked up a point each at ATCO Field.

Manny Aparicio gave Atlético Ottawa an early advantage, heading home a corner kick from Dani Morer to open the scoring in the fifth minute. Eleven minutes later, Ali Musse provided a moment of magic for the Cavs, cutting in from the right flank and firing an incredible dipping shot from distance into the top left corner of the net to tie things up at 1-1. Rubén del Campo put Ottawa back in front three minutes after halftime, but Cavalry battled back again and responded in the 66th minute when Daan Klomp headed home a free kick from Musse.

With a point each, neither side was able to make up significant ground in the race for the CPL Shield, perhaps a missed opportunity with York United drawing with Valour FC at home on Friday night and league-leaders Forge FC losing 3-0 to Halifax Wanderers FC on Saturday.

Three Observations

Morer and del Campo break Ottawa club records, and take confidence into final stretch of the season

A pair of Atlético Ottawa club records were broken on Sunday, while another has to wait at least another week.

With his assist on Manny Aparicio’s goal in the fifth minute, Dani Morer provided his seventh helper of the year in all competitions — a new single-season club record. Morer started at right back and put in another strong shift throughout his 73 minutes of work before being replaced by fellow Spaniard Jesús del Amo, who was making his debut for the club after signing a contract through the end of the season in August.

Morer has provided some key assists in his debut campaign in the capital, including two near-identical ones in June that led to Ottawa picking up important points at home.

Three minutes into the second half, Rubén del Campo scored to give the visitors the lead again, firing a shot that took a deflection off Fraser Aird on its way into the back of the net. It was del Campo’s 13th goal of the season in all competitions, which is a new single-season record for the club. The Ottawa striker also extended his lead in the CPL Golden Boot race, up to eleven league goals on the season, two more than York United striker Brian Wright.

He attributes his success this season to more confidence and more consistency.

“It’s good [personally], but as well for the team,” del Campo said after the match. “I think the most important this year is my confidence and my regularity all the season.”

Ollie Bassett, meanwhile, started the match on the bench for Ottawa and was an unused substitute. Had he entered the match it would have been his 87th appearance for the team in all competitions — a new club record. For now, though, Bassett remains on 86, tied with former teammate and fan-favourite right back Miguel Acosta.

While collective success is the priority, players having individual success is a confidence-booster and directly contributes to success among the team as a whole.

“I think it’s critical, mainly on the forward players,” head coach Carlos Gonzalez said after the match. “If they are sharp, the team will benefit from that, so very happy that del Campo did a good job today, a good job during the season, and also very happy of the job that Ballou (Tabla) did today. I think that he brings a different thing to the team, and that’s what we need from now on.”

Musse Magic helps Cavalry battle back twice after Ottawa score early in each half

It’s Ali Musse’s world, the rest of us are just privileged to live in it.

The Cavalry attacker, and reigning CPL Players’ Player of the Year, pulled out two more moments of Musse Magic on Sunday, leading his team to a crucial point at home. The first, in the 16th minute, was an outstanding goal from the right flank to tie the game at 1-1. Musse cut in onto his left foot, past Ottawa left back Matteo de Brienne, before smashing a shot from distance that soared into the top left corner, past the leaping Nathan Ingham.

Musse has provided so many special moments during his career, but this goal surely ranks among the absolute best. Last time Cavalry and Ottawa met, Musse scored both goals off the bench as the Cavs picked up three points on the road at TD Place as well.

“They know what Musse’s gonna do, but you just can’t stop it,” said Daan Klomp after the match. “It’s something really special. We know it’s gonna happen, we know he’s gonna shift to his left and he dips it perfectly into the far corner.

“Apparently I just looked back at it and I got an assist for it,” he added with a laugh. “He did all the work, but at least I got my name on it too. Hopefully I can pay him back with a couple more assists because he’s been giving me a lot. We know how special Musse is when he’s on it, and I think today was a different class.”

Musse then turned provider, setting up Klomp for Cavalry’s second goal. He sent a cross into the box from a free kick, right onto the head of the defender, who headed it past Ingham to tie the match at 2-2, which is how the game would end. Those two have an excellent track record together, with the Musse-foot-t0-Klomp-head combination proving to be nearly unstoppable over the past few years, even though opponents know it’s coming.

If they can continue their good run of form the rest of the way, the Cavs will continue to try and defend their CPL Shield and potentially go on another deep playoff run.

Ali Musse and Tobias Warschewki celebrate Musse’s goal in the first half. (Photo: Cavalry FC/Mike Sturk)

Warschewski makes his return to the lineup, but Cavalry lose Klomp for next week’s match

On Sunday Tobias Warschewski returned to action for the first time since an August 17 match against York United, and stepped right back into the starting lineup like he never missed a beat.

Warschewski, who leads the Cavs with seven league goals in his first season with the club, played the full 90 minutes up top on Sunday, and led all players in the match with six shots — three of which hit the target. Two of those attempts on target came in the first seconds of either half — a driven low effort in the second minute, and a curling effort toward the bottom right corner 17 seconds into the second half that forced a great diving stop from Nathan Ingham.

Always the entertainer, Warschewski showed off his dribbling ability on several occasions, including on the shot at the start of the second half, and pitched in with a couple of big tackles on the defensive side of the ball as well. A goal eluded him, but it was a very promising return for the Cavs striker, who will be important for the final run in of the season, especially with Malcolm Shaw missing out on this match with an injury.

“He’s good, isn’t he, and he’s entertaining,” said head coach Tommy Wheeldon Jr after the match. “I think if nothing else we’ve certainly entertained the crowds in these games because we refuse to lose, that’s been a great mentality. We’ve just got to be a bit grittier to win, and I think that probably if we win the last game of the season, that’s all people remember. I think we’ve just got to be looking towards that at this point.

“Tobi’s special, same with Musse same with Klompy, they’re special players, and when they’re on the pitch you’ve always got yourself a chance.”

Another crucial player down the stretch will of course be the Cavs’ superstar defender Daan Klomp as Wheeldon Jr eluded to. The reigning Player of the Year, who scored yet another headed goal in this match to tie it up at 2-2, will have to watch from afar on Friday when his team visit York United on Friday, as he picked up an early yellow card on Sunday to trigger an automatic one-game suspension for yellow card accumulation.

The suspension snaps an incredible streak of consecutive games played by the Dutch centre-back. Klomp had not missed a match in any competition for the Cavs since August 27, 2022 — a streak of 68 matches. He played the full 90 minutes in 67 of those 68 matches, only missing about 70 minutes of action in Cavalry’s final regular season match of the 2022 CPL campaign. Klomp has been the pinnacle of consistency, and an absolute rock since coming to Canada.

He admitted after the match that he knew as soon as he made the eighth-minute tackle on Rubén del Campo, he knew that the streak he was so proud of had been snapped. As Wheeldon Jr said after the match, though, if anyone deserves a bit of a break before the final push of the season, it’s Klomp.

“I was really frustrated because I knew exactly when the tackle happened it was a yellow, and it was dumb on my part,” Klomp said after the match. “It’s just such a shame that I think an almost a 70-game streak is coming to an end now and that I can’t go for an ironman this year, because I would love to do it back-to-back, but it is what it is.”

CanPL.ca Player of the Match

Ali Musse, Cavalry FC

With an outstanding goal and an assist on Cavalry’s other goal as well, Ali Musse was the central figure again in an important match for his side.

What’s next?

Both sides head to Ontario next, with Cavalry visiting York United on Friday night (8 pm ET/6 pm MT), and Ottawa hosting Pacific FC on Sunday (2 pm ET/11 am PT).

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