Atlético Ottawa snapped a three-game winless run at home on Saturday, defeating Vancouver FC 1-0 at TD Place to pick up their first home win since late-June.

Thanks to that, they kept pace in a tightly-contested CPL title race, sticking within two points of league leaders Forge after this win.

As for Vancouver, they remain in the fifth and final playoff spot in the CPL despite this loss, although they missed a key opportunity to gain some ground ahead of sixth-place Valour and seventh-place Pacific, who both dropped points this weekend.

It didn’t take long for Atlético Ottawa to open the scoring in this game, and it came off an early corner. There, Ilias Iliadis did well to whip in a dangerous cross, curling it towards the near post, sneaking the ball in past Callum Irving for a special Olimpico goal – the second time in the past three games in which he’s achieved such a feat.

Ottawa then almost added to that lead in the 10th minute, as Sam Salter turned and fired a shot  from inside of the box with his right foot after a nice slip pass from Dani Morer, skimming his attempt just past the far post.

At the other end, Vancouver had their first big chance in the 19th minute, as Vasco Fry played Alejandro Díaz in behind the Ottawa defence, but Díaz would be unable to get a shot off after a great defensive intervention from Iliadis.

From there, however, the game settled down, as both teams settled into a rhythm. As a result, the next big chance didn’t come until the second half, when Ottawa were rewarded for a nice period of pressure.

Through that, they managed to win a penalty thanks to Aboubacar Sissoko, who was taken down in the box by Vasco Fry to win Ottawa a 55th minute spot-kick. Despite that, however, they’d be unable to capitalize on the opportunity to take a two-goal lead, as Ollie Bassett’s penalty attempt would be denied by Vancouver’s Callum Irving, who got down quickly to save the attempt with a commanding save.

Then, right after that, Sissoko had a great look of his own in the 58th minute, as he snuck in behind Vancouver’s defence for a breakaway, but Irving would stand tall to his attempt, continuing a strong sequence from the Vancouver goalkeeper.

Despite that, the Ottawa pressure mounted from there, and they had another glorious chance in the 62nd minute, as Manny Aparicio was denied by a goal line block from Rocco Romeo. Then, on the subsequent corner, Iliadis nearly found his second Olimpico of the game, hitting the post with a curled attempt, before Ballou Tabla sent a deflected shot over the goal on the rebound.

Eager to get back into the game late on, Vancouver had a glorious chance in the 82nd minute, as Olvier Rommens managed to fire a dangerous shot after receiving the ball inside of the box, but his attempt would be just saved by Ottawa’s Nathan Ingham.

Meanwhile, Ottawa kept on pushing for the goal that would put this game away, and they came close to doing so in the 84th minute, as Rubén del Campo curled a dangerous shot from inside of Vancouver’s box, but his shot would hit the post and stay out, much to the relief of Vancouver’s defenders. Then, in the 89th minute, Tabla almost snuck a shot in, as he had a left-footed attempt deflect off Romeo, trickling wide just past the post behind a wrong-footed Irving.

Continuing the late flurry of Ottawa chances, Sissoko almost found the net after a nice feed from Tabla, curling a shot towards the top corner, sending his attempt just over the crossbar from the edge of the box. Right after that, Tabla decided to fire another attempt, but he too would struggle to keep his shot down, sending the attempt over the goal.

From there, however, they wouldn’t come to rue any of those missed chances, as Vancouver struggled to mount a late surge, allowing Ottawa to pick up a crucial victory for their title hopes.

BOX SCORE

Lineups 

Atlético Ottawa: Ingham; Morer (Roy 90+3′), Walker, Didić, Iliadis, de Brienne; Sissoko (Torres 75′), Zapater (Tabla 59′), Aparicio, Bassett (Antinoro 75′); Salter (del Campo 59′)

Vancouver FC: Irving; Chung, Romeo, Enyou, Bah (Tahid 90+1′); Rommens, Fry (Cantave 56′), Garcia (McDonnell 90+1′); Díaz, Bitar, Sellouf

Goals

3′ — Ilias Iliadis (Atlético Ottawa)

Discipline

45+3′ — Yellow: Matteo de Brienne (Atlético Ottawa)

63′ — Yellow: Renan Garcia (Vancouver FC)