Final Score: HFX Wanderers 1-0 Pacific FC
Goalscorers: Lamothe 82′
Game of the 2022 season: 79
CPL match: 329

Match in a minute or less

For the second straight match, HFX Wanderers saw late drama, but this time in their favour as Pierre Lamothe’s 82nd-minute curling effort handed them a 1-0 home victory over Pacific FC.

Pacific played most of the match down a man as for the second time this season Manny Aparicio was sent off, this time for a challenge on Cory Bent in the 22nd minute.

The loss ended Pacific’s six-game unbeaten run and five-match winning streak. For Halifax, it was their second straight home victory and clean sheet.

Three Observations

Halifax leaves it late as Emil Gazdov stands tall in the net for Pacific FC

As the second half wore on and 10-man Pacific settled more and more into a defensive shape, the Wanderers launched wave after wave of attack at the visitors. They had nineteen shot attempts, four of which were on target, 17 touches in the Pacific box and 2.02 expected goals.

But despite their large territorial and chance advantage, as the match reached its closing moments Halifax still hadn’t found a way to beat 18-year-old Emil Gazdov in the Pacific net.

“I’m kind of lost for words when it comes to us not being more clinical in front of goal,” said HFX Wanderers manager Stephen Hart, “I sound like a broken record you know. I thought Mo [Omar] should have taken his chance, Lamothe had an easier chance than the one he scored but I’m really happy for the guys, they kept a clean sheet, it is not easy to play against such a well-organized block and I thought we were moving the ball a little bit too slow but in the end we managed to get the goal.”

Here is a full look at the shot chart for Halifax, who certainly gave Gazdov and the Pacific backline plenty of work even if only four of these shots ended up on target.

After missing a few chances earlier in the match, as his coach mentioned, Lamothe was the hero for Halifax as his stunning strike curled around Gazdov in the 82nd minute. It was just reward for a lot of hard work from the hosts, something they haven’t always had this season, especially after a heartbreaking late loss to Atlético Ottawa midweek.

WHAT A STRIKE! ?@lamothepierre_6 scores for the second match in a row, giving @HFXWanderersFC a late lead ⚓#CanPL | ? @onesoccerpic.twitter.com/vJLSjdOCwg

— Canadian Premier League (@CPLsoccer) August 20, 2022

“It feels great,” said Lamothe. “I think we worked hard all game, they got that red card that helped us for sure but in the second half I thought we pushed for that goal and I’m happy to deliver at the end.”

The fact that it took them that long was largely due to an impressive defensive effort from an undermanned Pacific side, who showed a lot of heart despite the loss. The aforementioned Gazdov was a big part of that, making three saves and showing an impressive command of his box despite his side being under significant pressure for most of the match.

“Immediately right when the whistle was blown I went right to Emil and I told him he deserved better because I thought he did,” said Pacific defender Jordan Haynes. “This was his second professional game ever. I thought he deserved a clean sheet, he was lights out, and when you start putting performances like that when you are young there’s only room to grow for him and I think there is a bright future for him for sure.”

Pacific manager James Merriman was also complimentary of his goalkeeper’s performance, especially given the circumstances in which it came.

“A bit of adversity as well dealing with that, it is a big crowd behind him and a lot of energy,” said Merriman. “He was calm, he was collected, he showed his maturity for a young player and he handled the game very, very well. There was nothing he could do on the goal so I think he had an excellent performance.”

New Halifax system continues to allow for more width in attack

Other than the obvious goalscoring struggles, one other major issue for Halifax’s attack at times this season has been a lack of width. Especially early in the year, they were often far too narrow and at times predictable.

However, a new system that has seen them play with wing-backs appears to have improved a number of different facets of the Wanderers’ game. Evidently, this gets magnified in a match where they are facing a defensive side with one less player, but it has allowed them to push those wide defenders further forward in attack.

Zachary Fernandez, who at 20 years of age is enjoying a fantastic debut season in the CPL, has been one of the main beneficiaries as he has made Halifax far more threatening out wide.

“Before, we were playing with a very high line and at times we would get caught with balls behind so Fernandez and at the time [Obeng] Tabi or [Colin] Gander would stay with the line and not push forward,” said Hart. “We with the way we are playing now it allows them to push higher up the pitch, we can be a little more patient with moving the ball. When I say patient it allows them to get into a good starting point and then we can attack.”

Fernandez was outstanding against Pacific. Aside from setting up Lamothe’s goal, he had five chances created, 24 passes into the final third and six total crosses. A look below at his passing, dribbles and crosses from the match shows just how far up the pitch he was on the ball during the match.

“It makes us really hard to beat defensively,” said Lamothe of the new system. “We aren’t scared to not have the ball and defend first and with the ball we start to create more chances in the last two games so yeah it is positive.”

Pacific rotates their side as Cédric Toussaint makes his first start

With a trip to Costa Rica coming up on Tuesday, Merriman elected to make five changes to his starting lineup from the side’s midweek fixture against Herediano in the Concacaf League. One was forced, as Josh Heard missed the match through suspension, as Gazdov, Haynes, Kamron Habibullah, Abdou Samake and Cédric Toussaint came into the starting eleven.

For Toussaint, it was his first start with Pacific, as well as his first CPL appearance for the Tridents. He was excellent, creating arguably Pacific’s best chance of the match with a stellar through-ball to Habibullah and winning back possession five times.

“Really happy with Cedric,” said Merriman, “that isn’t an easy situation that match, especially being new to the group, but he put in a ton of work, he defended extremely well, he did well with Sean [Young] and Manu [Aparicio] through the first 30 minutes until the 80th minute he had a very strong performance so I’m happy for him.”

The squad rotation also allowed Pacific to pick up some critical U-21 Minutes. Each club must achieve 2000 minutes played by domestic U-21 players over the course of a season, and thus far in 2022, Pacific has the second-fewest such minutes played with 1,337 heading into today’s match.

That was part of why the club acquired Toussaint earlier this month. U-21 players Sean Young, Kamron Habibbulah and Emil Gazdov also all saw significant minutes during the match. In total, they managed to add almost 300 more minutes to their tally.

Despite the loss, Merriman was pleased with the work his side put in ahead of what is undoubtedly their biggest game of the season coming up in just a few days.

“I’m proud of the team, they worked incredibly hard and I thought they did enough to not deserve that at the end,” he told media after the match.

CanPL.ca Player of the Match

Zachary Fernandez, HFX Wanderers 

Fernandez was brilliant on both sides of the ball during this match, creating several chances even before Pacific went down to 10 men. He had an assist, five chances created and three successful dribbles. He was also excellent defensively, with ten duels won during the match.

What’s next?

Pacific has quite the week ahead as they head to Costa Rica to take on Herediano in Concacaf League action on Tuesday, August 23 (8:15 p.m. ET/ 5:15 p.m. PT), before heading to Winnipeg for a big match against Valour on Sunday, August 28 (3:00 p.m. ET/12:00 p.m. PT). Halifax, meanwhile, is also on the road next Sunday as they head to Edmonton (6:00 p.m. ET / 7:00 p.m. AT).

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