Final Score: Cavalry FC 0-3 Atlético Ottawa
Goalscorers: Alemán 45+2′, Wright 79′, Bassett 89′
Game of the 2022 season: 82
CPL match: 332

Match in a minute or less

Atlético Ottawa reclaimed their spot atop the CPL standings on Sunday, as they picked up a massive 3-0 road victory over Cavalry FC, continuing a strong summer for them.

Despite not holding a lot of the ball in this game, that didn’t bother Ottawa, as they managed to nab a goal right before halftime via Keven Alemán, who scored his second goal in as many games for the club, helping his team grab an unlikely lead after having absorbed a lot of Cavalry pressure early on.

Then, after a long halftime break due to a weather delay, Ottawa then managed to continue to absorb Cavalry pressure defensively again in the second half, before breaking the other way on several occasions, wrapping up the game with goals from Brian Wright and Ollie Bassett late on to seal the result.

Three Observations

Ottawa turns ‘Atlético DNA’ in resilient road victory:

As has become clear in the modern game, possession is just a stat that tells you how much you have the ball. It’s not a be-all, end-all decider that means everything in a game, nor is it an irrelevant metric that tells you nothing about a match – in the end, it’s just a metric that gives you an idea of how much you have the ball.

At the same time, while it’s irrelevant how much you have the ball, with what you do with it being more important, you do still want to hold a decent amount of it, as it’s a lot easier to control play when you have the ball, which limits the amount of running you have to do.

Therefore, the fact that Ottawa went out and held just 24% of possession in this game was quite the risk, as while they’re a strong defensive team that is comfortable without the ball, they were still up against a Cavalry team that thrives with the ball, especially at home.

Yet, despite that, Ottawa took their punches, before making the most of their chances the other way. As a result, despite their low possession numbers, they won the Expected Goals (xG) battle 1.58 to 1.55, which shows that while their win was surprising, it was most certainly deserved.

For those who are familiar with European soccer, however, it just showed that they leaned nicely into the spirit of a team that they’re very familiar with, and for good reason, their Spanish cousins Atlético Madrid, who often thrive in these sorts of games.

Off the back of what has been deemed ‘Atlético DNA’, Madrid almost relishes defending as much as most teams enjoy scoring, thriving as much without the ball as they do on it.

Therefore, although Ottawa is a bit different stylistically from them, preferring to hold onto the ball a bit more, that DNA is always there, and certainly manifested itself in this game.

“Yeah, that’s kind of the Atletico DNA, eh?” Ottawa’s Owen Antoniuk said after the game. “It’s sitting deep, getting stuck in, shifting right and left.”

“And then, we do a lot of running.

Paced by a strong performance from the new-look back five of Carl Haworth, Drew Beckie, Miguel Acosta, Macdonald Ngwa Niba and Maxim Tissot, and then helped by big goals by Alemán, Wright and Bassett, Ottawa did what they needed to do at both ends to win, especially off the ball. And that’s key.

Of course, Ottawa would prefer not to play this sort of game when they can, as they do have the quality to impact games in possession, but sometimes, you have to adapt to the circumstances in front of you, and adapt did they ever in this game.

Which for head coach Carlos González, is just a credit to his side, one who has continued to find new ways to step up and impress onlookers, showing why they are where they are in the standings as September nears.

As the playoffs approach rapidly here, that’s key, as while Ottawa still has to book their spot there, assuming they keep it up, they’ll be there, and if they keep up, they could very well be favourites given how versatile they’ve proven to be in tough environments.

“I think that this shows that we are capable of showing different ways of playing during the season,” González said. “I think we are capable of being dominant in some games, we are also able to sit back a little bit more in other games and look for transitions.”

“So I think we are managing games really well.”

Cavalry lacks usual sharpness in key moments:

On Cavalry’s end of the pitch, however, a more frustrating picture was painted.

Overall, they played pretty well, to be fair, especially in the first half, but in the end, that all went down the drain in what ultimately ended up being a match to forget for the home team.

Of course, they’ll be happy with how they played, especially considering the circumstances, but at the same time, that doesn’t mean this result won’t leave a sour taste in their mouth.

It’s one thing to lose, but to do so when holding onto 76% of the ball, in a game where you came flying out of the gates before conceding right before half time? That’s frustrating, especially when you see that Ottawa emulated Cavalry’s famed tactical versatility in their approach to this game.

Yet, for whatever reason, that’s been playing Ottawa for Cavalry throughout their years, as they now fall to 1W-5L-1D against them all time, showing how badly they’ve had their number.

It’s not for a lack of trying, as this game showed, but it certainly is frustrating, as there aren’t many teams that have been able to stump this Cavalry side over the last four years in the way that Ottawa has.

“We created chances today,” Cavalry’s head coach, Tommy Wheeldon Jr., mused. “There, you can talk about all the tactics and X’s and O’s in the world, but it really comes down to execution. And that was the only thing that hurt us today, we didn’t execute in their box and we didn’t execute in ours, and that’s the tale, really.”

The good news, for Cavalry, however? There is still a lot they can glean from this game.

Defensively, it was a rare off-night, so they’ll probably want to forget that, but they’ll have to be happy with how clean they were in possession, completing 89% of their passes, and putting together some great attacking moves.

Along with bright offensive performances from the likes of Joe Mason, José Escalante, Jean-Aniel Assi and Ali Musse, who really drove play forward for the hosts, they’d have to expect that on a different day, goals would flow if they keep playing like this.

Of course, that won’t matter if they allow goals as they did in this game, but as they’ve shown throughout the season, that isn’t something that happens too often, so they’ll want to prove that in the next game.

Because of that, while they’ll have a lot to be frustrated about from this game, the message is simple – they’ll shift their attention to next week, and go from there.

Plus, with one more game against Ottawa remaining before the end of the regular season, they’ll have a chance to exact revenge before the season is over, which considering these two teams could very well meet in the playoffs, could make that game a big one, potentially tipping the scales ahead of a possible meeting, which is a bonus.

“Yeah, that game will be circled on our calendars,” Cavalry’s Marco Carducci admitted. “But also we have a match to play next weekend, so first it’s about learning from this, looking at each other, see what needs to be improved, and then get back on track from there.”

Weather delay creates a tale of two halves for both sides:

Heading into this game, the weather was always going to play a role, in some form or another. With heavy rain set to drop on the Calgary area on Sunday, it was only a matter of when, not if, the game would find itself impacted by those adverse weather conditions.

Yet, what was unexpected, however, was how the game would be impacted, as it didn’t actually rain all that heavily during the 90 minutes in which the game was played.

Instead, what happened was a strong lightning storm right at half time, one that turned the 15-minute break into one that was over an hour long, giving each team and the fans an extended break.

Then, once the lightning cleared, that paved the way for both teams to return, ironically to blue skies and little rain, showing how quickly the storm passed through the city.

Therefore, while the conditions in which the game was played were hardly affected, at least beyond the playing surface looking slightly slipperier in the second half, that led to a tale of two games, as the harsh break between meant that both sides had to hit the reset button in the second half.

Because of that, it was going to be intriguing to see which team responded better to that extended break.

Would it be Cavalry, who having just conceded before half time, were going to use that extra break to find a way to get back at Ottawa, coming out strong? Or would it be Ottawa, who in their third game in a week, got some much-needed rest time, potentially giving them extra energy?

Turns out, the answer would be Ottawa, as while the half started quietly for both teams, with Cavalry sitting as more of the aggressor, Ottawa would come on strongly, before wiping away their hosts with a late storm surge of goals.

Through that, they were able to pick up a crucial result, one that could very well define their season, doing something that just two other teams have been able to do in 2022 (ironically enough, those two teams being fellow Ontarian sides Forge and York), which is to beat Cavalry at home.

Of course, weather delay or not, based on how they were trending, they certainly had the edge before the break happened, but they most certainly made the most of it, allowing them to take care of business, something that they were quite pleased with post-game.

“The first half was really difficult for us, so to even take the lead was remarkable,” Antoniuk noted afterwards. “Defending really lot of effort, so it definitely gave the guys a break, that was our third game in a week, so we were lucky it happened, we were calm in the dressing room, we knew this was our time, and that rest really benefitted us in the end.”

“Yeah, the players did a great job, and the staff did a great job to maintain the players,” González added. “This is a unit, and we knew that the fitness of our players were going to be very important for this last game of the week and for the last 30 minutes, so I think we did a good job of managing it.”

In a game of fine margins, that was key, because while both teams had the advantage of the break, Ottawa made the most of it, and that was the difference between them grabbing this result and heading home empty-handed.

CanPL.ca Player of the Match

Carl Haworth, Atlético Ottawa

On a night where his team did well to balance defence and attack, it only makes sense that the player of the game was someone who was quite involved in both facets of the game, and that was wing back, Carl Haworth, who was seemingly everywhere for Ottawa. From his work defensively, which saw him nab two clearances, one tackle, two recoveries, and win two duels, to his offensive work, which saw him pick up an assist and create two big chances, he was very active at both ends, helping Ottawa nab this monumental victory.

What’s next?

Cavalry will stay right where they are for their next game, as they get set to welcome York United to ATCO Field on Saturday, August 27th (1:30 p.m. MT/3:30 p.m. ET). Meanwhile, Atlético Ottawa will head back to Ontario, as they get set to host Forge FC at TD Place later that same Saturday evening (6:30 p.m. ET).

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