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MATCH ANALYSIS: Skipper Jensen finds his ‘super power’ as Forge brush aside Pacific
2024-08-30
by
Kristian Jack, VP of Media & Content (@KristianJack)
News

Final Score: Forge FC 2-0 Pacific FC
Goalscorers: Jensen 25′, 59′
Game of the 2024 season: 80
CPL match: 564

Match in a minute or less

Noah Jensen scored two brilliant goals, one in each half, as Forge continued their fantastic home form, securing their ninth home win from 11 league matches, to ensure they will end the weekend at the top of the table.

Jensen led the team on and off the pitch in one of the best individual performances of any player in the Canadian Premier League this season, adding a brace of right-footed strikes outside of the box.

Pacific were once again left to rue missed chances and careless defending at times, an all too familiar tale during a very difficult run that has seen them pick up just four points in their last 10 league games.

Three Observations

‘The Noah Jensen game’

Noah Jensen arrived at Tim Hortons Field in Hamilton on Friday night knowing he was starting in midfield. He was given a little something extra as he walked in the dressing room and saw the captain’s armband next to his kit.

“I got a nice little surprise when I arrived. It was surreal to lead my team today, I think it definitely gave me a little extra in my performance.”

Forge played 15 players in total on Tuesday night at BMO Field against Toronto FC. Jensen was not one of them. On a night when squad depth was needed, head coach Bobby Smyrniotis handed Jensen the captain’s armband and the keys to run the midfield and the 25-year-old from Courtice, Ontario delivered with two thundering strikes outside of the box to secure a comfortable victory for the Hammers. Jensen’s brace capped off a complete performance in just his eighth start of 21 league matches in 2024.

“Maybe I gave him a little bit more juice to help get those goals,” joked Smyrniotis postgame.

He added: “Noah is a born leader. He is excellent how he goes about his daily business. A great example to everyone. When he is playing he is fantastic and if he isn’t he comes in with the same mindset and attitude and that’s who he is for us. A very important player and when called upon in the biggest moments he delivers.”

Not only were Jensen’s goals special, the timing of each was also vital. After a disjointed opening 25 minutes, where Pacific had more possession, the midfielder’s opening strike settled any home nerves that allowed Forge to dictate the game.

“In our best moments, they scored,” admitted Pacific FC coach Armando Sa, who was in charge due to the suspension to James Merriman.

“We didn’t start the second half well, so it was great to score again,” Jensen reflected postgame.

Smyrniotis admitted that he talks regularly to Jensen about the ‘super power’ that he has with shots from outside the box.

“We talk to him about those spots of the field, sometimes he and (Tristan) Borges they like to make that extra pass, but each player has a super power and that’s his and if everyone brings out their super power and if you do that right more often than not you win games.”

Familiar story for visitors as their miserable run continues

For the first time in their history Pacific FC have now lost four league games in a row. They have won one of nine matches and not scored in 538 minutes in all competitions. There are reasons for their struggles in this game such as short rest and key injuries, but this is a team that is in badly need of a fresh offseason to change its attacking identity. They will be disappointed, once again, at the way they conceded their goals as both came from needless giveaways and they had chances to score, particularly through Moses Dyer who made his first start for the club and had a goal narrowly ruled out for offside.

“Its disappointing not to get a result, it was a game of moments, they took their moments. I should have scored,” said the striker from New Zealand.

Sa felt his side gave it their best. “It was a tough game for us, to play three games in seven days with this schedule and travel, it was very tough. It’s disappointing to lose, but the group is together. We are proud of the boys, they gave everything. Second half was our half, we dominated, we created a lot of situations on goal, but this season its been tough to score goals.”

The major area for concern for Pacific continues to be in the final third. On two significant occasions in the match, they were able to break on an attacking transition, but as they played the ball wide they had players more used to playing centrally occupying wide areas and without pace could not get in behind of Forge’s defence.

“We do have problems in wide areas, we need more in those areas, its not helped by the injury to our captain Josh Heard, but when we arrived in the final third, particularly in the first half, we did not put balls into the danger zones,” reflected Sa.

Pacific are now in real danger of missing the playoffs, just three years after winning it all inside this stadium. “I do see positives in every game we have played and I don’t see any reasons to see why we cannot make that final playoff spot. We are a good team, we have good players and we just need to move forward,” said Dyer.

Sa was even more direct in his analysis: “We have eight games left and they are eight finals for us.”

Game impacted by short turnaround following Canadian Championship semi finals

Matches under the lights at Tim Hortons Field are always special, but it was never going to be easy for both of these teams to find the rhythm and tempo we often see in Hamilton, after they both played competitive semi finals against MLS opposition just three days ago. The visitors, who flew directly from Vancouver on Wednesday, chose to make five changes to their starting XI and began the game brighter. In fact, the Tridents could have been ahead in the opening two minutes when defender Kevin Ceceri misplaced a header directly from Steffen Yeates’ corner. This was particularly notable as James Merriman’s side had only four goals in their last eight league matches coming into this one, with three of those coming from set pieces. Once again, with chances few and far between, it was a missed opportunity they would go on to rue.

Forge FC made six changes themselves to the side that played Toronto FC at BMO Field, with skipper Kyle Bekker rested from the squad completely. With that in mind, when winger Nana Ampomah left the game after 36 minutes through injury, Smyrniotis turned to 19-year-old Amadou Kone to replace him rather than Tristan Borges or Daniel Parra. Kone’s directness and athleticism proved to be the difference on Jensen’s second goal. “He is a player that has a lot of upside,” Smyrniotis said of Kone.

It was a night where Forge showed great depth when they needed it. Matteo Schiavoni performed well on his his first professional start, Dominic Samuel was excellent in defence, as was Christopher Kalongo back in the net.

Smyrniotis added: “This match was very important for us, it was not a matter of rotating the squad and see how it goes, it was rotate the squad and be confident this group will give us three points, so credit to all the guys who came in. It’s always great when you have these options that you can move around, especially in this time period, and it gives me good options going forward.”

CanPL.ca Player of the Match

Noah Jensen, Forge FC

Who else? The Forge midfielder had the game of his career at a time when Forge needed him the most.

What’s next?

Both of these sides return to the pitch next Saturday (September 7th). Forge stay home and welcome rivals Cavalry FC in a top-of-the-table clash at 7pm ET, while Pacific host Halifax Wanderers at 7pm PT in the tonybet match of the week.

Watch all CPL and Canadian Championship matches live on OneSoccer. In addition to its website and app, OneSoccer is now available on TELUS channel 980 and on Fubo TV. Call your local cable provider to ask for OneSoccer today.

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