2022 CPL Regular Season — Match #81
Valour FC vs. FC Edmonton
August 21, 2022 at 1:30 p.m. CT/ 12:30 pm MT
IG Field in Winnipeg, Manitoba
Watch Live: OneSoccer.ca & TELUS Ch. 980 // Tickets available here
In addition to i**ts 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.
Valour FC host the first match of a Sunday doubleheader in the Canadian Premier League, welcoming FC Edmonton to IG Field in Winnipeg. Both teams are coming off defeats on the road last weekend. Valour were in Halifax for the ComeOn! Match of the Week, and fell 1-0 to the Wanderers, on a late penalty from the lethal Samuel Salter, scored moments before halftime and deflating the visitors.
FC Edmonton, meanwhile, were at York Lions Stadium to take on York United, and were leading 2-1 with 10 minutes left thanks to goals from Gabriel Bitar and Azriel Gonzalez to cancel out Ronan Kratt’s early opener. York made a late comeback, however, with Lisandro Cabrera tying it up at two goals apiece in the 80th minute, before Jordan Wilson won it with a header from a corner kick four minutes later. Edmonton boss Alan Koch said himself after the match that both sides were beaten in important moments, but it was his side that were beaten in one more moment than their opponents. It’s all part of a season-long learning experience for his squad, and his inexperienced bunch will hopefully come out stronger on the other side of their latest narrow defeat.
The two sides have met twice already in 2022, and both matches ended in 1-1 draws. They squared off in the third match of the CPL’s opening weekend in April, a match at Edmonton’s Clarke Stadium that ended with a heroic bicycle kick from Tobias Warschewski five minutes into stoppage time — a strike that will likely go down as the best goal of the season. That cancelled out a goal from Andy Baquero at the end of the first half. On June 5 they met for a second time, at IG Field in Winnipeg — where they will again meet on Sunday. In that June match, Mamadi Camara had The Eddies up 1-0 after 32 minutes, a lead that they thought was going to give them their first win after a slow start to a season that’s very difficult for a reasons off the pitch, that are out of the players’ control. Valour kept pushing for an equalizer, however, and found it in the 94th minute via William Akio putting the ball into the back of the net after a cross lofted to the back post from the left wing. Whether or not the third of four meetings between the two sides will feature even more late drama remains to be seen. It was frustrating for a patient and perseverant FC Edmonton side, although they would finally get their elusive first win of the season a few weeks later against Atlético Ottawa, and a second one shortly after against York United. The Eddies will host the fourth and final meeting of the season, to kick off the final match of the regular season on October 8. Overall, Valour have had the upper hand in this fixture over the past three and a half seasons, winning five of their thirteen CPL meetings. They have also drawn five times, including their last four meetings, while The Eddies have won three times themselves — most recently a 3-0 victory at IG Field last September. Valour FC enter the weekend in fifth place — a position they’ll remain in regardless of what happens this weekend. They’re eight points back of fourth-place Cavalry ahead of the four CPL matches, and five up on sixth-place Halifax, but the results of this set of games can certainly impact which direction they trend in. FC Edmonton remain in eighth place, nine points back of York United.
*Make your match picks prior to kickoff at canpl.ca/predictor for a chance to win prizes, including the grand prize of a trip to the 2022 CPL Final! To learn more about ComeOn!, click here.
- All CPL matches are available to stream on OneSoccer, or on TELUS Optik TV Channel 980.
3 THINGS TO WATCH
-
Valour looking to bounce back after recent stumble: It isn’t quite “must-win” territory for Valour FC yet, but if they’re going to make the playoffs they need to start winning consistently and beating the teams they should be beating. They were defeated last weekend in Halifax, one of the teams below them in the standings, and lost Nassim Mekidèche to a red card in what was a disappointing overall performance. They can’t afford to keep missing opportunities to pick up points, especially with four more consistent teams ahead of them in the table that they’re looking to overtake. Sunday’s match is a big opportunity to put one foot forward again, against the league’s last place side FC Edmonton. The Eddies won’t be an easy team to beat at all, but it’s a fact that Valour have a team with more quality, and a group that should enter this match with the mindset that they can pick up three points. With two of those four teams they’re chasing playing each other later in the day — Cavalry FC vs Atlético Ottawa — at least one team will drop points, so Valour have a chance to close the gap a little more. With five of their remaining nine matches at home as well, including the next four in a row, taking advantage of playing at IG Field will be a major talking point. “You’re at a stage of the season where every game becomes important, especially if you’re behind the line,” said Phillip Dos Santos on Friday. “You need to win your games and do your job. We need to do our part, especially playing at home.”
-
Eddies lose a couple of university players, retain rights to a pair: FC Edmonton announced on Friday that forward Kairo Coore and midfielder Ousman Maheshe have left the team in order to return to university ahead of the 2022/23 school year. Coore was a promising talent for the Eddies, scoring twice in ten matches after being taken second overall in the 2022 CPL U Sports draft. Maheshe, meanwhile, only played eight minutes for the club this season in one appearance off the bench. Coore will head back to Cape Breton University, while Maheshe is off to MacEwan University. Gabiel Bitar will remain with the side until the end of the season, and the Eddies have retained the rights to Coore and Bitar for the 2023 CPL season. “Kairo was a pleasure to work with and showed significant growth over the last few months, hopefully positive club news over the next weeks, will allow a plan for his return in 2023,” said Edmonton’s head coach and general manager Alan Koch. “Gabi has been fantastic so far this season, and we are excited to work with him for the rest of the season. He has a massive upside, and we are excited to see how he continues his positive progression.”
-
Valour putting an importance on scoring first: Last time FC Edmonton played at IG Field, they scored the first goal of the match, and held that lead until the 94th minute, before William Akio scored a very late equaliser. Valour did end up taking a point from that match, and were the better team on the night, but squandered several opportunities to get back into the game earlier, and spent most of the night chasing from behind. That’s something Phillip Dos Santos are trying to avoid as they look to pick up an important win and continue to push for a first-ever playoff spot. “I think that’s an important element in the game as well, so we’re not chasing and we’re not having to open up too much,” said Dos Santos on Friday. We look at the last game we played here against them and we conceded around minute 30, and then it was chase mode the full game. We want to stay away from that.”
ALL-TIME SERIES
Valour FC wins: 5 || FC Edmonton wins: 3 || Draws: 5
Previous match:
June 5, 2022 – Valour FC 1-1 FC Edmonton
KEY QUOTES
“It’s a team that has stayed in their identity since day one, and what that creates is stability. They’ve bought into what they’ve needed to do in order to try and get results. They haven’t gotten the results, but it’s always very tight and very close. It’s a team we’ve played twice this year and we haven’t beaten them yet.” — Valour FC head coach Phil Dos Santos “In every game you play, teams have different desired outcomes, and going to play Valour, their number one priority, no matter how the game goes is to get three points. That is also one of our outcomes. Is it our top outcome? Probably not, but for us we want to see individual progression of our players, we want to see the group rise, we want to see guys go execute exactly what we’ve asked them to do.” — FC Edmonton head coach Alan Koch