Final Score: Forge FC 2-1 Cavalry FC
Goalscorers: Choinière 10′, Sissoko 52′; Musse 63′
Game of the 2022 season: 94
CPL match: 344

Match in a minute or less

Forge FC came out on top in a scintillating clash with Cavalry FC at Tim Hortons Field on Saturday, as they ended a three-match winless skid with a 2-1 triumph.

David Choinière put the hosts on the board just 10 minutes in with a sensational solo run and strike at the near post, and Forge went into halftime up 1-0. Shortly after the break, they added another goal courtesy of Aboubacar Sissoko, who finished a rebound after Woobens Pacius’ initial strike was denied.

Cavalry cut the lead in half just after the hour mark thanks to Ali Musse, and from there the match’s intensity continued to ramp up. Forge captain Kyle Bekker saw a red card with 20 minutes left for a stamp, but shortly after Cavalry’s Joseph Di Chiara was also sent off for an incident outside of the play. The Cavs would actually finish with nine men, as Mikaël Cantave received a second yellow card in stoppage time.

Regardless, the Hamilton side claimed all three points, jumping ahead of Cavalry for second place in the league table.

Three Observations

Krutzen’s return works wonders for Forge in possession

November 24, 2021.

That’s the last time Daniel Krutzen played a football match before this weekend. He made his much-anticipated return to the Forge lineup on Saturday, slotting into the back four for the first time since he ruptured his ACL in the Concacaf League semifinal first leg against Motagua last fall.

So, after 290 days of waiting, Forge boss Bobby Smyrniotis was at last able to put the Dutch defender in his starting XI, which not only strengthened his backline, but also allowed him to deploy Swedish stalwart Alex Achinioti-Jönsson in his natural number six position just in front of the centre-backs.

“I’ve said from the first year, he’s the best central defender this league has seen,” Smyrniotis said of Krutzen postmatch. “This is no knock to anybody else, but this is a guy that can play football. This is a guy who’s physical. This is a guy who wins tackles — in the first half I think he’s won four or five challenges in the middle of the field.”

Smyrniotis added: “It’s always tough bringing a player back from injury; how do I get this guy minutes? Do you throw Daniel Krutzen in at the 60th minute when everything is going on? Or is the best way to get him a start, get him into the game? That was the right thing to do today and we’re happy with his performance.”

"I missed this whole thing" ⚒️

After 290 days on the sidelines, @Danielkrutzen made his #CanPL return from injury for @ForgeFCHamilton and had a brilliant performance to help his side defeat @CPLCavalryFC

He caught up with @KristianJack after the match ? pic.twitter.com/U4pvlgpXPr

— Canadian Premier League (@CPLsoccer) September 11, 2022

The effect was tremendous. Krutzen and Achinioti-Jönsson have strong chemistry together, which they seemed to rekindle immediately upon sharing a pitch again. Krutzen, usually the defender tasked with leading the play out of the back on Saturday, would sometimes elect to carry the ball forward himself, at which point Achinioti-Jönsson would comfortably drop back to cover in defence. Alternately, Krutzen would play centrally to the Swede, springing various other options for Forge to launch an attack.

Both players are among the CPL’s best distributors of the ball and it showed in this match, although Krutzen’s official pass accuracy stat suffered because of his tendency to try ambitious passes forward to the likes of Woobens Pacius or Tristan Borges.

“You go back to the last few games and we’ve been missing a little bit of rhythm,” Smyrniotis said. “It may be an overconfidence in the guys from what was going on before, we could also be seeing the tail end of a team that’s tired from playing 40 games last year… Whenever you can get a player like Danny in, he also changes a little bit of the dimension of the way you’re able to play.”

Krutzen himself was, of course, thrilled to finally return to the pitch after such a long recovery process — as was Achinioti-Jönsson, who was delighted to play his natural position again.

“I was kind of surprised getting thrown into the game just like that,” Krutzen said. “But it was amazing. This crowd was amazing, the fans were great. It feels just like the same old.”

Brave, high-quality football produces entertaining showcase

When these two sides play there’s never any danger of one side sitting back or playing a low-tempo game. Both sides have played a few recent matches where they enjoyed plenty of possession, but had to spend significant stretches trying to break down a deep-lying opponent.

In this game, however, both sides were up for a fast-paced attacking matchup from the get-go. With 20 total shots — 11 for Cavalry, nine for Forge — neither team was lacking for chances to score, and both sides enjoyed lengthy stretches of possession where they were able to attempt brave link-up passing movements and try to beat defenders.

Ultimately, the contest was another excellent showcase for the CPL between two of its best teams. A strong crowd of almost 5,000 fans at Tim Hortons Field will undoubtedly have gone home satisfied.

“The fans, did they enjoy it?” Smyrniotis said in his press conference. “We’re building a league, we’re building clubs, I think we need to entertain. That’s my way of doing it. There’s different ways to get games, but I think that’s the one thing you’ll get out of Forge and Cavalry; they’re entertaining from a tactical end, sometimes a little bit physical but I think there’s a lot of good football being played.”

“These are great games,” Wheeldon agreed. “The intensity of it, how close we were to them, almost had the opportunity to win the game but we had our moments and they had theirs. They took theirs and gave themselves that insurance with the second goal right after halftime. We didn’t quit, I think that’s part of our DNA.”

He added: “Anything for the championship has to come through Forge. I still think they’re the best team in the league right now, and their history shows that. We’re still the contenders.”

These two sides will continue to play brave, expansive football, and there’s no greater advertisement for the sport in Canada than such a match where two quality teams go toe-to-toe.

The dribbling and ball movement on display was highly entertaining as both teams attempted to beat one another with pace and tactical tricks to exploit spaces. Both Smyrniotis and Wheeldon always have a few ideas up their sleeves to adjust to one another — for instance, Dominic Samuel playing left-back created a different dynamic for Forge with Tristan Borges cutting in or running in behind for short passes from the flank.

As ever, this Forge-Cavalry match was somewhat of a chess match — if chess was a contact sport, and played on motorcycles.

Emotions boil over in second half as hostilities continue

Forge versus Cavalry literally never disappoints. The trademark intensity and physicality were on fully display the whole game — José Escalante and Rezart Rama repeatedly locked horns, as usual — but after Cavalry brought themselves back into the game with Ali Musse’s second-half goal the game found a new level.

Perhaps no exchange between the sides this year has been as heated as the scuffle prompted by Kyle Bekker’s red card-worthy challenge around the 70th minute on Saturday. Whether deliberate or not, the incident drew the fury of Cavalry’s entire side, and the two groups of players came together in extraordinarily heated fashion.

Absolutely no love was lost over the final 20 minutes, with each physical challenge or foul followed by a few words of hostility between players. Referee Mathieu Souaré did not hesitate to turn to his book again after that, ultimately sending off both Joseph Di Chiara and Mikaël Cantave from Cavalry in the closing stages.

The stats sheet does not quite do justice to this spectacle, but a total of 78 duels and 25 fouls — and nearly as many cards as a poker table — does help paint the picture of how much contact there was in this game.

With this being the fourth and final regular season meeting between these sides in 2022, the players are extremely familiar with each other. Escalante and Rama have had some high-emotion battles each time they’ve met each other the past few months, and that individual rivalry seemed to culminate in this heavyweight bout.

Over the four Cavalry-Forge games in 2022, 26 cards have been handed out in total — eight of them on Saturday. Should these teams meet in a playoff clash, more fireworks will certainly be on the menu.

CanPL.ca Player of the Match

Daniel Krutzen, Forge FC

Making his return to the backline after 290 days off, Krutzen looked like he hadn’t missed a beat. The Dutch centre-back won all five of his duels, made two tackles and six clearances, and won possession seven times in a resolute and poised display.

What’s next?

Up next for Cavalry is a trip to Clarke Stadium for one last Al Classico matchup with FC Edmonton on Saturday, Sept. 17 (2 p.m. MT/4 p.m. ET). Forge, meanwhile, will head to Vancouver Island to take on Pacific FC on Sunday, Sept. 18 (5 p.m. PT/8 p.m. ET).

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