Atlético Ottawa officially clinched their spot in the 2024 Canadian Premier League Playoffs on Sunday afternoon, as they and Pacific FC added one point each from a 1-1 draw at TD Place.
For the matinee clash, neither manager saw a need to tinker much with his lineup; Atleti boss Carlos González made no changes from the side that drew with Cavalry FC last weekend, while Pacific’s only swap was the inclusion of 17-year-old Sami Keshavarz in place of Cédric Toussaint.
The opening of the match was a bit of a roller coaster; just three minutes in, Ottawa came close to scoring as Ballou Tabla hit a strike from the top of the box that smacked off the post — the first of several dangerous counter-attacks from the hosts in the first 15 minutes.
Soon, Atlético were rewarded for their repeated ventures into the final third. Ballou Tabla received at the top of the box and drew in a pair of defenders before slipping the ball through to Aboubacar Sissoko, who swept the ball past Emil Gazdov with a good finish to make it 1-0 before the 30th minute.
Pacific responded to a lacklustre first half by making a pair of changes at the break. Armando Sá, manning the touchline in place of suspended head coach James Merriman, chose to take off Keshavarz and Andrei Tircoveanu, replacing them with Steffen Yeates and Adonijah Reid.
It didn’t take long for Pacific to be rewarded for the change. Less than 10 minutes into the half, they broke up the pitch and the ball came to Dario Zanatta out on the left flank. He curled a good cross into the box to where Moses Dyer, somehow unmarked between the Ottawa centre-backs, leapt to get his head on the ball and scored his fourth since joining Pacific in August (with a goal in four consecutive games).
Pacific were much more aggressive in the second half, going blow-for-blow with Ottawa as the game began to open up a little more. However, a few changes by Atlético in the last 15 minutes or so gave them new life, as they began sending more and more crosses into the box in search of a winner.
The second goal did not arrive for either side, though, and it ended honours even at 1-1. So, Pacific increased their cushion over Vancouver FC in the final playoff spot to two points, while Ottawa secured their place in the postseason, seizing sole possession of second place in the table.
BOX SCORE
Lineups
Atlético Ottawa: Ingham; Morer (Dos Santos 83′), Walker, Didic, Iliadis, De Brienne (Tissot 83′); Tabla (Salter 71′), Aparicio, Torres (Zapater 71′), Sissoko (Bassett 61′); Del Campo
Pacific FC: Gazdov; Dada-Luke, Meilleur-Giguère, Ceceri, Greco-Taylor; Young (Toussaint 69′), Domínguez (Lamothe 83′), Tircoveanu (Reid 46′), Keshavarz (Yeates 46′); Dyer, Zanatta (Moore 65′)
Goals
29′ — Aboubacar Sissoko (Atlético Ottawa)
53′ — Moses Dyer (Pacific FC)
Discipline
30′ — Yellow: Aboubacar Sissoko (Atlético Ottawa)
37′ — Yellow: Marco Domínguez (Pacific FC)
39′ — Yellow: Dani Morer (Atlético Ottawa)
53′ — Yellow: Moses Dyer (Pacific FC)
56′ — Yellow: Sean Young (Pacific FC)
90+6′ — Yellow: Adonijah Reid (Pacific FC)
