The fortress at TD Place held strong once again on Saturday night as Atlético Ottawa withstood a late surge from Cavalry FC to pick up their fifth straight home victory, this time 1-0.
Sam Salter scored the game’s lone goal in the seventh minute and Ottawa held on for their league-leading fourth home clean sheet of the season.
The result denied Cavalry a chance to finish a second consecutive week at the top of the CPL table. Ottawa, in fact, are the only side to have defeated Cavalry in their last seven matches and have now done so twice in the month of July.
Picking up where they have left off of late at TD Place, Atlético Ottawa opened the scoring in the seventh minute. A lovely through ball played by Zach Verhoven split the Cavalry backline and straight into the path of Salter who slid home his fourth of the season.
The pair nearly connected again a few minutes later, as Verhoven was a constant threat down the left flank of the pitch. Cavalry nearly equalized in the 11th minute during a chance-filed start to the match, but Fraser Aird’s sliding effort at the back post was cleared by MacDonald Niba.
It was Jean-Aniel Assi’s chance next, as Salter made another clever run in behind in the 16th minute. He played the ball across goal but Assi’s strike was over the net. Cavalry responded with a few chances of their own, largely from direct free kicks after a pair of fouls committed by Ottawa’s Alberto Zapater and Karl Ouimette respectively were deemed to be yellow card worth. None of their free-kick attempts, however, truly challenged Nate Ingham in net.
In added time of the first half, a frustrated Cavalry bench rose to protest an uncalled penalty as Ben Fisk looked to be pulled down in the box by Assi as he attempted a header, but their calls were unheard. Instead, the hosts headed into the half with a well-earned 1-0 lead.
Ottawa created a pair of excellent chances early in the second half down the right flank as Ollie Bassett and Jean-Aniel Assi exploited the space left by Fisk who was on the sidelines being treated for an injury. However, two dangerous low crosses from Bassett were dealt with well by the Cavalry backline.
As the match neared the hour mark, both sides made double substitutions looking to shift their approaches. Cavalry brought on Goteh Ntignee and Shamit Shome to add some directness to their attack. While Ottawa brought on fresh attackers, with Ruben Del Campo and Malcolm Shaw checking into the match.
Cavalry searched desperately for an equalizer as the clock ticked toward the 90 minutes. In the 75th minute, a beautiful flowing movement down the left flank fell to Ethan Beckford in the box, but the striker’s turning effort hit the underside of the bar and stayed out.
Looking to see out the match, Ottawa added some solidity in midfield in the 83rd minute, bringing on Gabriel Antinoro and new signing Ilias Iliadis for his debut. The substitutes brought the energy needed for Ottawa to see the match over the line, as they withstood a flurry of late Cavalry opportunities.
With the victory, Ottawa move up into fourth in the table for the time being, just three points behind Cavalry who are now in third with both Pacific and Forge picking up victories earlier in the weekend.
BOX SCORE
Goals
7′ — Samuel Salter (Atlético Ottawa)
Discipline
25′ — Yellow: Alberto Zapater (Atlético Ottawa)
31′ — Yellow: Karl Ouimette (Atlético Ottawa)
54′ — Yellow: Charlie Trafford (Cavalry FC)
NEXT MATCH:
