2023 CPL Regular Season — Match #110
Vancouver FC vs. York United
October 6, 2023 at 7:30 p.m. PT/10:30 p.m. ET
Willoughby Community Park in Langley, British Columbia
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The path is clear for York United to make the CPL playoffs this weekend – they win on Friday, and they’re in.
If they lose or draw, they can still get in, but they’ll require help from rivals, Forge FC, who host Atlético Ottawa on Saturday, as Ottawa could then leapfrog them with a win should York drop any points.
Because of that, York controls their destiny right now, and will look to take advantage of that.
The only thing? A victory is no sure thing for them, as one of the hottest teams in the CPL, Vancouver FC, awaits them in this game.
Fresh off a big win on the road over Pacific, the Eagles are soaring at the moment, as they enter this game having won three straight games, and four of their last five matches.
Despite having been eliminated from the playoff race, they’ve been the second-hottest team in the CPL over the last five games, in which they’ve claimed 12 out of a possible 15 points (only Cavalry has more with 13 in their last five), as they’ve really found their stride as of late.
Not only that, but they’ve taken pride in disrupting the playoff hopes of their opponents, too – recent wins over Ottawa, Valour, Halifax and Pacific all put some sort of dent in those teams’ abilities to climb up the table, or in the case of Valour, eliminated them from the race altogether.
Because of that, one can imagine they’ll take pleasure in being able to potentially eliminate York, and will look to use that as fuel to help them in this match.
“To be able to put these kinds of victories against teams that are playoff-bound teams, top of the table teams, I think it’s remarkable,” Vancouver’s head coach, Afshin Ghotbi, said ahead of this game. “It’s remarkable to see that kind of growth in a team, one that went from being the worst team in the league to being one of the better teams, and maybe even one of the best teams in the league at the end of this season, even though we’re not able to show that in the playoffs.”
Therefore, York will need to come out strong, especially given that they carry all of the pressure on their backs heading into this one.
Yet, this is exactly what they would’ve wanted heading into this final matchday. After missing out on the playoffs last season, making it back was a big goal, so to now be within touching distance of that is huge for them.
Plus, in a sense, it’s fitting that their road to the playoffs goes through Vancouver, as sometimes you’ve got to beat the best to prove your merits as a team, and Vancouver has certainly been one of the best in the CPL as of late.
They haven’t been a typical expansion outfit, and their latest run exemplifies that, as they have no intention of slowing down as their inaugural campaign nears a close.
“I’m expecting us to come out all guns blazing, to be fair,” York’s head coach, Martin Nash said. “And we have to because they’ve been playing really well, they’ve been firing all cylinders, and they’re one of the hottest teams in the league right now. So it’s not going to be easy, as they’re closing their season at their place, so I’m sure they want to put on a good performance for the fans.”
All CPL matches are available to stream on OneSoccer, FuboTV, or on TELUS Optik TV Channel 980.
3 THINGS TO WATCH
- Can York get U21 minutes over the line? Of course, if York are to make the playoffs, they’ll need to get their U21 minutes in order, first, even if they do win. To be fair, they’ve done a great job of narrowing that gap over the last few weeks, but they now need 123 minutes from their U21 Canadians in this game to reach the required 2,000-minute threshold they need to reach in order to be eligible for the playoffs. That’s far from an impossible task – two players should cover that amount quite easily as they’d need both to either reach 62 minutes each or for one to reach 90 and the other 33, but there are some risks worth watching out for as they decide what to do. For example, do they go with multiple U21s from the start, knowing that Vancouver will want to come out flying in this game? Or do they start one, likely to be Noah Abatneh given his recent performances (which included a TOTW nod last week), and then hope that he can go the full 90 with subs filling in the rest of the minutes to get it over the line? It’s certainly worth pondering, as there could be merits to both, especially given York’s desire to book a playoff spot by their own performance, instead of relying on Ottawa dropping points. For what it’s worth, Nash was quite candid when asked what his plan could be, noting that he’s considering starting two, but either way, whatever he ends up choosing will carry a lot of weight, something that isn’t lost on him. “I’m leaning towards starting two to try and get there (to 2000 minutes), and then finish the game as strong as we can,” Nash said. “But either way, I’m very confident in my U21s.”
- Bitar’s excellent form a huge asset for Vancouver: A big reason for Vancouver’s success as of late? Their attack, as they’ve really found their form in that regard in recent matches, scoring 12 goals in their last eight games, only being shut out once. Yet, there’s been one player that has really found his feet, in particular, and that’s Gabriel Bitar, who now has five goals and two assists in that span, after he had a goal and assist in his team’s win over Pacific this past weekend. Thanks to that, he now co-leads the team in goals, as he’s been one of the best players in the league. That’s been huge, as along with the emergence of Mikaël Cantave as a running mate (three goals and two assists since coming to Vancouver), they’ve filled in nicely as their strikers continue to struggle for goals. As for Bitar’s success, however, this won’t come as a surprise to those on this Vancouver team – he shone on FC Edmonton last year and was excellent to start the season before an injury derailed his campaign. Between that injury and his team’s struggles, however, he struggled to find his feet in the summer, and that appeared to affect his confidence massively. Now, however, that’s clearly behind him, and his recent form proves that. Vancouver’s profiting from that, and now they’ll look for him to keep it up as he aims to finish the season on a high note this weekend. “For Gaby, there have never been questions about his talent,” Ghotbi said. “The questions were about consistency, mental power, his approach to his game, fine-tuning his decisions and actions, and I think he’s become much more decisive, more confident, and we’re seeing it when he gets into dangerous areas right now.”
- York looking to build off strong defensive performance: It’s safe to say that York hasn’t been at the level that they want to be at defensively this season. Given that they’re a side pushing to be in the playoffs, they’ll be frustrated that they’ve allowed the second-most goals in the league with 43, and have only kept five clean sheets, tied for last in the league, as it’s hard to be a playoff team when putting up those sorts of defensive numbers. Because of that, they’ll be pleased that they found their feet defensively in their win over Ottawa this past weekend, as they ensured not to add to their tally of 43 goals, picking up one of those five clean sheets for their efforts. Given that their last clean sheet had come all the way back in July, that’ll be a big confidence booster for this team, one they’ll look to take into this final game. If they’re to win this game, or go on a run in the playoffs, they know that they’ll have to be better defensively than they have been this season, so they’ll know that this game will be a chance for them to prove that last week was a sign that they’re turning a corner in that regard. “I thought we defended really well as a team,” Nash said. “There have been games this year where we’ve conceded a lot, and it’s been not so much about the goalkeeping or our defence, but our team effort, but we got a full team effort defensively (vs Ottawa), and we’ll need to continue that if we want to get into the playoffs.”
PROJECTED STARTING XIs
Vancouver FC (4-3-2-1): Irving; Chung, Bakare, Romeo, Cameron; Simmons, Garcia, Fry; Cantave, Bitar; Díaz
York United (4-2-3-1): Giantsopoulos; Grant, Abatneh, Mourdoukoutas, Gee; Soumaoro, Gagnon-Laparé; Ricci, Babouli, Santos; O. De Rosario
ALL-TIME SERIES
Vancouver wins: 1 || York United wins: 2 || Draws: 0
Previous match:
August 25, 2023 — York United 2-1 Vancouver FC
KEY QUOTES
“We are very, very excited to have an opportunity to finish this season on a high note. We also want to use this opportunity to put up a great performance and exhibit in front of our fans. The appreciation and the love that that they’ve given us is key, and the support has been so endearing for me, our staff and our players, so we’re hoping that we can send them home happy and entertained, while at the same time still being hopeful of the better days that are to come for our football club. The players are extremely excited, they’re extremely confident and you can see it in training, so I think in the match you’re going to see a very united front, and a very entertaining and exciting team, one that puts everything towards winning games, entertaining and growing as a team for next season.” — Vancouver FC head coach, Afshin Ghotbi.
“This is a great group. You can just can see it, our training has gotten way better, and I think that’s reflected on the field, as we’ve been getting the results, and when results come, everything gets better,” — Vancouver FC midfielder, Vasco Fry.
“Yeah, I don’t think it was too hard (to come down) after the Ottawa win. I think, you know, it was a bit of a relief in the moment, really, to get those three points, as it was a much-needed three points, but by the time Tuesday came around, we went through the good and bad from Sunday while going over the game, and saw what we could do better, how we could improve, what we did well, and what we’ll need to continue to do well.” — York United head coach, Martin Nash.