York United remains undefeated in the nation’s capital after a 1-0 victory over Atlético Ottawa at TD Place stadium on Saturday evening.

Mo Babouli’s stunning first-half free-kick was the difference, handing the Nine Stripes their first points, and victory, of the 2023 CPL season. Atlético Ottawa, meanwhile, despite suffering their first loss of the year, sit at the bottom of the table through three match weeks in the Canadian Premier League.

The visitors held onto the vast majority of possession in the opening half, moving it from side to side as they looked to unlock the disciplined Atlético Ottawa low block. They failed to turn those chances into much of substance, however, as inventiveness and composure were lacking for both sides in the final third.

Ollie Bassett had the first clear sight at goal of the half, striking a ball from outside of the box in the 40th minute, but even that was ultimately a routine save for Niko Giantsopoulos.

The match needed a moment of magic, and it finally came in the 42nd minute. Babouli opened his account for 2023 from a stunning free-kick that curled over the wall and past Nate Ingham to give the visitors a deserved 1-0 lead.

The stats at half showed just how limited the chances were in the opening half, as the sides each only had four touches in the opposition box through 45 minutes.

York started the second half largely on the front foot as well, turning Ottawa’s mistakes on the ball into long spells of probing possession in the Atleti third.

As the half wore on, however, Ottawa started to take significantly more initiative on the ball. They nearly equalized in the 61st minute, as Jean-Aniel Assi saw his low effort well saved by Giantsopoulos. Gianni dos Santos forced yet another save out of Giantsopolous just a few moments later with a wicked dipping strike from distance that the York keeper palmed away.

Ottawa continued to swarm the York third as the clock ticked toward 90 minutes, but for the first time this season, they were unable to erase the deficit.

BOX SCORE

Goals

42′ — Mo Babouli (York United) 

Discipline

44′ — Oussama Alou (York United) 

53′ — Diego Espejo (Atlético Ottawa) 

90′ — Paris Gee (York United) 

90′ + 5 — Mo Babouli (York United) 

90′ + 5′ — Lassana Faye (York United)