Final Score: Pacific FC 4-1 York United
Goalscorers: Đidić 7′, Aparicio 42′, Brazão 82′, Ongaro 90+2′; dos Santos 55′
Game of the 2023 season: 20
CPL match: 387
Match in a minute or less
Pacific FC capped off a goal-filled week of CPL action in style on Sunday, as they downed York United 4-1 at a sunny Starlight Stadium.
To begin, they got the action started early in this game, as Amer Đidić opened the scoring off of a corner in the seventh minute to give his team the lead. From there, they’d do well to double right before the end of the first half, too, as Manny Aparicio finished off a well-worked team goal with a tidy finish to make it 2-0.
On the other side of halftime, however, York did well to grow into the game quite nicely. As a result, they made it 2-1 off a Kévin dos Santos Olimpico off of a corner. and then had several chances to make it 2-2, including a header from Brian Wright that was only kept out by a strong stop from Pacific’s Emil Gazdov.
Then, late on, Pacific blew this game back open with some late substitutions, as David Brazão scored his first CPL goal to make it 3-1 in the 82nd minute, before Easton Ongaro scored his first CPL goal for Pacific in the 92nd minute to secure the victory for the hosts.
Three Observations
Pacific put up complete offensive performance highlighted by well-worked goals:
After three CPL games, the alarm bells were starting to ring about Pacific’s offence, and understandably so. Despite playing three matches at home, Pacific had just two goals to show for it, even though they looked dangerous in large portions of each game.
At the same time, Pacific preached patience, and rightfully so. Given the attacking talent that they have in their ranks, it felt like it’d be only a matter of time before the goals would start falling in bunches, allowing them to forget that slow start to the year offensively.
Safe to say, after racking up eight goals in their last two games, they’ve made good on that potential.
Coming from seven different goalscorers, too, with their centre-back Đidić ironically being the only one to score twice, Pacific have done well to show off their impressive array of attacking talent at their disposal.
Plus, most importantly, these goals aren’t coming from individual efforts, either. They’ve been well-worked goals, ones that have come from team moves or set-pieces, showing how they’ve been able to grasp the ideas of head coach James Merriman in training.
Take their second goal in this game as an example. Starting at the back, they managed to carve right through York’s defence with a couple of clever passes and good movement, before Aparicio finished off an inch-perfect ball from Sean Young to cap off the move.
GOAL 🔱🔱
Manny Aparicio finishes off a beautiful team goal as @Pacificfccpl take a 2-0 lead over @yorkutdfc in #CanPL action!
Pacific are really enjoying their football at the moment!🔥
🔴 https://t.co/7JFAUhgjL6 pic.twitter.com/P9PDSGLw59
— OneSoccer (@onesoccer) May 14, 2023
There, York were left chasing shadows as everyone on Pacific seemed to know where to be and when, leading to a beautiful team tally.
That wasn’t the only time where Pacific did that, either, as they were fantastic on the ball in this match. Having had a few games to play with each other, players are seeming to better understand how their teammates want to play, and are really starting to make more selfless plays to help make goals happen.
“Players are enjoying playing with each other in training, you can see a good spirit in our locker room,” Merriman said after the match. “We’ve got really good team chemistry, players are quickly learning how to understand each other on the ball, which is beautiful, and you can see their relationships growing because of their quality.”
“I think there’s so much more to come for the group, too. We can change players in games, we’re very versatile and growing in confidence in each match. So it’s exciting, and I still think there’s a long long way for us to go and that’s how the group feels as well, so I think we’re just getting started.”
Most important is the fact that Pacific’s scoring has come from such a wide variety of sources. In particular, they’ll have to be pleased that two players came off the bench and scored in Ongaro and Brazão, as their fresh legs really helped put the game away.
Given that York was pushing for an equalizer at that point, and had gotten some good looks at the other end, the injection of life Pacific’s substitutes brought to the field absolutely changed the match in their favour.
It’s not often a team like Pacific is able to bring off a player like Manny Aparicio with the game still 2-1 and get more goals afterwards, but that just shows the sort of offensive talent that they’ve got at their disposal in their squad. As they did in this game, they can start a front three of Kekuta Manneh, Adonijah Reid and Josh Heard and finish with Djenairo Daniels, Easton Ongaro and David Brazão, a luxury that can be so crucial for so many reasons.
That’s been on full display over these last two games, and all of a sudden, it’s allowed Pacific to show many why some saw them as an early-season favourite. With the depth at their disposal, it allowed them to navigate a busy week with ease, while giving them key weapons to use tactically within matches.
The scariest part about everything, too? Merriman feels his team still has another gear, so keep an eye on them as they look to build on this form going forward, using it as a springboard for what’s to come.
“I think we would challenge ourselves to maybe take some more chances,” he said afterwards. “I thought we had some great chances in the first half and the second half where we could’ve been more clinical, because we are creating this many opportunities in transition, so I think more’s to come, for sure.”
Second half push offers glimpse of York’s offensive potential
Through 45 minutes, there was not a lot to like if you were York. Not only were Pacific dominating play, but York had felt second-best in many regards, especially in terms of effort.
As a result, head coach Martin Nash let his team have it during the break, stating that their performance wasn’t good enough.
Which, to his credit, worked well, as York all of a sudden grew back into a game that looked done and dusted through 45 minutes.
“There was a lot of yelling, I had a bit of a go at them,” Nash said of his team’s half time talk. “I called a few players out, and I asked for a reaction. I don’t like losing my cool like that, but I think I got the reaction that I wanted.”
In particular, they’ll have to be pleased with the performances of their front four of Kévin dos Santos, Austin Ricci, Brian Wright and Clément Bayiha, as they were very dangerous on the ball for York.
Unfortunately, as has been the case for them this season, they weren’t able to make anything of their strong push, as they wasted some chances they’d want back, but they’ll have to be pleased with the overall response offensively. Considering they were missing Mo Babouli with an injury once again, that’ll only get better once he returns.
Of course, against teams like Pacific, you don’t want a two-goal punch to be what wakes you up, but the game could’ve easily gone south had they not responded, and that deserves credit.
“We started the second half well, and that’s the way we need to play the game,” Nash noted. “The 30 minutes until they scored the third goal, that’s the way we need to play, and if we did that for 90 minutes each game, we’d have more results.”
Now, of course, they’ll have to find a way to turn their chances into goals going forward. Considering that they generated 1.55 expected goals on 16 shots (six on target) in this game, that should’ve been enough to maybe grab two or three instead of just one.
In particular, they’ll have to be worried that through five league games, neither Brian Wright nor Osaze De Rosario have found the back of the net yet, although Wright’s hold-up play has continued to be an asset. They’ll be pleased that their wingers have continued to chip in with contributions, but they’ll need their strikers to get off the mark, and soon, to help them find those goals.
If they can do that, it’ll go a long way towards York’s push for more wins, as they just need that spark up front right now.
“It’s been a consistent theme, we just don’t take our chances,” Nash said afterwards. “Those are momentum-changing moments in games, too. If we take those chances, we can pick up momentum, as they were already on the backfoot at the time, but we didn’t take them, we were pushing forward, and then we conceded that third goal.”
To be fair, defensively they could also be better, but given the injuries and lack of goals, that’s put a lot of pressure on some players that typically might not be put in that sort of position, and it’s shown at times.
With a few more goals, however, that’d give them a bit more breathing room, which is why it’s so crucial they build off the flashes they showed in the second half in their quest to breach the target more, while tightening the screws at the back.
“When we’re pushing forward in most games, we’re going with reckless abandon instead of making sure we’re keeping numbers behind for when we get caught in those moments,” Nash finished.
“That’s something we’ll have to reiterate (to the team).”
Gazdov’s growing pains a concern for Pacific?
On one hand, when you look at Pacific’s sterling defensive record, there’s a lot to like there. Having conceded a league-low four goals, and having allowed the fewest xG in the league, Pacific have been dominant defensively, and it’s allowed them to grab results.
Led by the continued strong play of Đidić and Thomas Meilleur-Giguère at centre back, along with strong contributions from their full backs and midfielders, they’ve been a tough unit to crack, for the most part.
Yet, at the same time, there’s been a bit of a concern brewing within their group – the growing pains of young 19-year-old goalkeeper, Emil Gazdov.
After a bright start to the season, Gazdov has struggled a bit lately, as all four of the goals Pacific have conceded have come off errors of sorts from him, coming in each of the last four matches.
It hasn’t fully hurt Pacific, as they still got seven points out of 12 from those games, but it did potentially cost them two points against Cavalry and at least one against Forge. Yes, the attack can bear a portion of that given that they scored just one goal in those two games, but the goals they allowed are not ones that teams can afford to give away against teams of that calibre.
That’s led to an important question: could this spell see the insertion of Pacific’s backup, the 21-year-old Kieran Baskett, formerly of Halifax? Given that he’s only played one game this season in all competitions, it’s something to monitor, especially if this continues.
GOAL 👑
Kévin dos Santos scores an OLIMPICO for @yorkutdfc and cuts @Pacificfccpl's lead in half!
Game on with plenty of time to go!!
🔴 https://t.co/7JFAUhgjL6 pic.twitter.com/WtvnU7b780
— OneSoccer (@onesoccer) May 14, 2023
On the flip side, however, there’s a reason why the change hasn’t been made in the first place, and that’s because Pacific have strong belief in Gazdov’s ability and potential.
Which, to be fair, he did show glimpses of it in this game, one that could’ve easily gone south for him after York’s goal.
After allowing the first goal, and then nearly gifting York a second, he did well to bail out his own error with a huge stop, and then made some big stops with the game still 2-1 to keep his team’s lead intact.
Had he not made those saves, his team easily could’ve dropped points, and then he really would’ve faced a lot of scrutiny for his earlier error.
Instead, he did well to recover, and that’s something to be encouraged by. Mistakes happen all the time, especially for goalkeepers, but the key is to limit them and not dwell on them.
There’s a reason why goalkeepers typically don’t hit their prime until their late 20s, and why it’s hard for goalkeepers to get first-team opportunities at clubs before the age of 23, as it’s a position where the mental side of the game is more important than your skills.
Therefore, it’s not surprising that there are growing pains for Gazdov – that’s only natural. As Merriman noted afterwards, yes he could be doing better, but also this will teach him how to have thicker skin and know how to bounce back from these things.
Those are the realities of a younger league, where you need a quota of U-21 Canadian minutes, as while these youngsters will show their immense potential on occasions, with that potential comes errors. Pacific knows that better than anyone else, as they’ve always been a team that’s been steadfast with their “play the kids” motto, and know what that entails.
The big thing, however, is how you grow from those errors, and now, that’s where the big challenge will be for Gazdov, one he’ll now look to dive into headfirst.
“That’s his age, these are learning experiences you get in these matches, you learn how to control a match,” Merriman said of Gazdov. “Yeah, he makes a mistake, but then he makes an amazing save to make up for the mistake.”
“He just needs to keep working hard, he needs to develop thick skin and move forward quickly. We don’t need to talk about these too much, we just take action every day, he needs to improve, and we need to keep improving in front of him.”
CanPL.ca Player of the Match
Sean Young, Pacific FC
Young has been a revelation for Pacific this year, and the 22-year-old showed why with another strong performance on both sides of the ball in this game. Headlined by two well-deserved assists, he also had four key passes, one shot, eight passes into the final third offensively, as well as one tackle, one clearance, one block and three recoveries defensively, marking an active performance from the midfielder.
What’s next?
Pacific will head to Winnipeg next week, as they take on Valour FC at IG Field on Saturday, May 20th (2 p.m. PT/4 p.m. CT). Meanwhile, York will head to the opposite side of the country, as they’ll take on the Halifax Wanderers at the Wanderers Grounds earlier that same Saturday (3 p.m. AT/2 p.m. ET).
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