Final Score: Pacific FC 1-1 Atlético Ottawa
Goalscorers: Didic 45+2′ ; Bassett (Pen.) 26′
Game of the 2022 season: 95
CPL match: 345

Match in a minute or less

The final matchday of the weekend provided no movement in the table as Atlético Ottawa remained in the top spot and Pacific FC in fifth after a 1-1 draw at Starlight Stadium.

The two sides traded first-half set-piece goals. Former Pacific midfielder Ollie Bassett drew the ire of his former fans after opening the scoring from the spot and then proceeding to greet them with a finger wag. But they were ignited by an Amer Didic free-kick goal on the final kick of the first half.

Both sides also extended their winless streaks, as Ottawa have now drawn three straight matches, while this was the first point Pacific have picked up in their last four outings.

Three Observations

Draw keeps Canadian Premier League playoff race incredibly tight

At the start of this weekend, the Canadian Premier League saw five points of separation between its top five sides. Nothing changed in that regard over the past three days.

In fact, things are arguably even tighter than they were previously as Pacific now move into a tie on points with fourth-place Valour in the table. They still sit outside of the playoff line as Valour have a +7 goal difference compared to their even 0, but do have a game in hand on three of the top four.

With Valour and Cavalry losing this weekend, however, this match was a missed opportunity for Pacific to climb back above that line. Head coach James Merriman spoke after the match about how his side continues to squander chances to move up the table.

“It has felt like that for the last few weeks,” he said. “So we keep speaking about the same things and we need to really understand this. We need to understand it and I’m not sure, I think there were a lot of good things today. But in the last 20-30 minutes we have to want it more. We have to push for the three points, and we have to push for the win, and I think we lacked that again today.”

With margins so thin at the moment in the league, any points left on the table could prove costly.

“Looking forward, we’ve got five games left and it’s close as everyone knows,” said Pacific defender Amer Didic. “It is a top-five battle and every point is going to matter. So coming out of here with one point, it’s better than zero obviously, but we’re gutted not to get three and all we can do is just keep going.”

Here is a look at how things stand after this past weekend in the Canadian Premier League:

While they certainly would have preferred to extend their lead at the top of the table, the point on the road was much better received in the Atlético Ottawa dressing room. They took another step closer toward booking a first-ever playoff appearance, and an improbable worst-to-first run after finishing dead last in 2021.

“I think it is a good result for us because we maintain our advantages over other opponents and we have one less round to play and at the end of the day we [stay top],” said their head coach Carlos Gonzàlez.

Set pieces loom large as both sides struggle to create chances from open play

At this point in the year, there are few secrets. For the most part, every side in the league has played their opposition three times and knows what to expect.

This has made for cagey matches of late, especially when playoff sides are concerned. Other than York United, no club has scored more than two goals in a game through two matchdays in September.

It was once again a tightly contested affair at Starlight Stadium on Sunday afternoon, as Pacific had 0.42 non-penalty expected goals to Ottawa’s 0.25. So when neither side is looking to give up an inch in open play? Set pieces become critical.

“This type of situation in the game is going to be critical,” said González. “Because now all the teams are going to play trying to avoid big mistakes and they are going to try to control the game with and without the ball so now the details and the set pieces are going to be very important until the end of the season.”

After Bassett opened the scoring from the spot, Pacific equalized in a somewhat surprising fashion. Having earned a free kick in a good position in first-half stoppage time a somewhat unlikely hero emerged for the Tridents.

Early in the first half, defender Amer Didic had a well-hit strike from a free kick that was well stopped by Nate Ingham. So when Pacific got another opportunity from a similar spot, he waved off usual freekick taker Marco Bustos and sent another blistering effort off the wall and past the Ottawa goalkeeper.

“He has got great technique, and he’s got great power,” said Merriman. “He hits these balls in training all the time so I think it was a moment where we decided to let him have a go and happy for him to get the goal.”

? @Pacificfccpl are level!@amerdidic_ makes it 1-1 with a beauty of a free kick just before halftime ?#CanPL | ?: @onesoccer pic.twitter.com/znnhw3jo3g

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

Pacific, however, still feels they could have done better to capitalize in this area both in this match and over the course of this season.

“We had a bunch of free kicks today and corner kicks, and free kicks today and disappointing to not be able to get something out of those,” said Didic. “As a team, all season we have struggled with set pieces and it has been a negative aspect of our game. So we work on it, we have been training on it so we are just looking forward to hopefully being able to capitalize these next few games on these moments.”

Coming into this match, only FC Edmonton had fewer set-piece chances created than Pacific’s 29 so far this season. It is an area upon which they will almost certainly need to improve over the next few weeks should they want to get back into the playoff picture.

Excellent back three allows Ottawa to keep possession on the road

While Ottawa wasn’t able to pick up a first-ever club victory at Starlight Stadium, the league’s best road team continued to show evolution in their performances away from home.

For most of the year, Atleti has been so difficult to beat on the road because they cede possession and territory to the hosts, staying organized and waiting for a clear opportunity to pounce on a mistake.

Lately, however, they are looking to take on more of a protagonist’s role, and did that well on Sunday, especially in the first half. They finished with a respectable 47.2 per cent possession.

“This is one of the aspects we have worked on over the last few months, to now only be comfortable in situations without the ball, also to be comfortable and capable to win games with possession and being dominant,” said González.

A big part of why Ottawa was able to be so comfortable on the ball during the match was the work of their back three: Diego Espejo, Sergio Camus and Miguel Acosta. Even in moments where Pacific pressed them, they rarely lost the ball, moving it fluidly out to Acosta, who would then play forward. Acosta had 16 passes into the final third and completed 60 of 70 attempted passes, while Camus made 57 of 64, and Espejo 49 of 52.

“Camus, I believe it was his first start, did a fantastic job for us,” said Ingham. “Diego, I spoke to him before the game and told him he is going to have to be a bit more of a leader today, without Carl [Haworth] and Drew [Beckie] on the field. I had to speak more and we all had to play a role in being leaders. Miguel Acosta is always out there and loud and a good cat. So the three of them are fantastic and I think they all stepped up maybe beyond their usual expectation, and their usual expectation is quite high.”

The chart below shows Acosta (17), Camus (5) and Espejo’s (4) passing actions during the match.

Espejo, in particular, was the match’s stand-out performer. The 20-year-old central defender felt he had been at fault the last time Ottawa played at Starlight Stadium on Josh Heard’s goal in a 1-0 loss. But he showed mental fortitude beyond his years in his ability to learn and improve from that error.

“All I was doing after that was watching the next match and how he performed, and he was fantastic,” said Ingham. “Then coming back to Pacific, he was our best player today. He won so much in the air, he was going up against big bodies, he was an absolute rock for us.”

Espejo won five or six aerial duels, made 11 clearances and had five interceptions during an all-around outstanding defensive performance.

CanPL.ca Player of the Match

Diego Espejo, Atlético Ottawa 

Whether Ottawa was in possession or defending, Espejo was a leader at the back for 90-plus minutes, mostly spent without usual backline general Drew Beckie.

What’s next?

Atlético Ottawa’s road trip brings them to the prairies on Sunday, where they will take on a Valour side in need of a bounce-back victory on Sunday, September 18 (5:00 p.m. ET). Pacific, meanwhile, have an equally critical fixture as they host Forge FC on Sunday, September 18 (5:00 p.m. PT / 8:00 p.m. ET)

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