Final Score: Valour FC 2-0 Forge FC
Goalscorers: Pianelli 39′, Ponce 63′
Game of the 2023 season: 38
CPL match: 405
Match in a minute or less
Forge’s struggles in Winnipeg, and during this stretch of the Canadian Premier League season, continued — with their third loss in the past four matches this season. It was also their sixth straight loss against Valour at IG Field, a stadium that is becoming a house of horrors for the league’s most successful side.
The win ended a league-leading eight-game winless streak for Valour, who had not secured three points since the opening day of the season. Central defender Guillaume Pianelli scored his first professional goal in the opening half to give Valour the lead, while Walter Ponce added his first of the season from a stunning second-half volley.
Valour remains undefeated at IG Field this season, adding a win to four draws. That extends their run without a loss at home, dating back to July of 2022, to twelve straight matches.
Three Observations
Valour continue to find success with 4-2-3-1 formation against Forge FC
After playing Forge incredibly close during a 3-2 loss at Tim Hortons Field on May 13, Valour manager Phil Dos Santos elected to roll out a very similar 4-2-3-1 formation at home on Friday night.
With slightly different personnel, the approach was nonetheless effective in earning Valour a critical three points and frustrating Forge on the night. Kian Williams again played through the middle, with Walter Ponce drawing in to take his wide position on left and Jared Ulloa drawing in for Pacifique Niyongabire (away on international duty) on the right. Juan Pablo Sanchez and Marcello Polisi formed an industrious pairing in front of the back line.
“We know how they attack, we know that they like to attack the gaps between the centreback and the fullback and how important it is to fill those gaps,” said Dos Santos. “So we felt that with two deeper players, it would allow us to do that and then maybe have a little bit more options in transition moments with a player like Kian in between the lines or a player that could eat space the way he does and accelerate our game.”
With Forge electing to play a double pivot of Alex Achinioti-Jönsson and Kyle Bekker, having extra numbers in midfield also allowed Valour to put added pressure on Forge’s key distributors instead of sitting back and allowing them to have time and space on the ball.
“I think the most important thing is that we were together, we were compact as a team, we fought for every ball and we just didn’t let them play,” said Sanchez.
The chart below shows just how close Sanchez (#21) and Polisi (#20) in black, were to Achinioti-Jönsson (#13) and Bekker (#10) in purple in terms of their average positioning on the night.
Offensively, Williams became a key outlet in counterattacking situations. The English attacker progressed the ball well with three completed dribbles, created a chance and an assist, and played in three crosses during a solid 90 minutes of action.
Meanwhile, regular midfielder Dante Campbell shifted back into left fullback, the third different position he has played for Valour this season, and was excellent, winning seven of 10 duels and making four clearances.
Dos Santos mentioned after the match that it was more about his side’s effort and energy on the evening than any tactical decision, but putting players in good starting points to success within a 4-2-3-1 system.
With key players missing, replacements impress for Valour
When it was revealed before the match that captain and key midfielder Diego Gutiérrez would be missing due to yellow card accumulation, attacking force Pacifique Niyongabire on international duty, and Matteo de Brienne as a result of injury, it looked like Friday night would be a massive challenge for the hosts.
However, without three of their most important players this year, Valour showed surprising depth and resilience on Friday night as those who replaced them in the lineup took full advantage of the opportunity to play and were key to a critical three points for the Winnipeg side.
“Sometimes these moments are important for a player, because it is a window that opens and it shows the staff that, let’s be humble here, sometimes we as coaches maybe we need to trust certain guys a bit more,” said Dos Santos. “I’m happy that today they responded, because they earned every moment and every time they spent on the field.”
Making just his second start of the season — he lasted just 54 minutes against Forge on the road in his only other start of 2023 — Walter Ponce was immense. From wide left midfield, he thwarted Rezart Rama’s attempts to get forward all match long winning 12 of 20 duels contested. The Chilean’s energetic performance was capped off with an outstanding goal in the 62nd minute.
ANOTHER ONE! 👏
Walter Ponce secures a banger of a goal for @ValourFootball against @ForgeFCHamilton giving them a 2-0 lead.
— Canadian Premier League (@CPLsoccer) June 17, 2023
On the opposite flank, Jared Ulloa was a key reference point in attack for Valour as he consistently looked to get in behind with Kwasi Poku pushing up down the left for Forge. The approach found success as shown in the clip above when his cross connected with Ponce to double Valour’s lead.
Finally, Juan Pablo Sanchez, a 20-year-old midfielder who Dos Santos continues to tout as underrated, delivered a composed performance in the middle of the park, completing a team-leading 86.2 per cent of his passes and winning possession 10 times, including four times in the final third.
“It was very important, I think that every minute you get you have to give it your all, because there is a lot of competition,” said Sanchez of his performance. He certainly made the most of his opportunity on Friday night.
Lack of finishing, Rayane Yesli combine to deliver another frustrating Forge performance
It was yet another match for Forge FC where they created more than enough opportunities in front of goal, but will leave Winnipeg incredibly frustrated once again.
A total of 1.65 expected goals and two big chances on 19 shot attempts — 13 of which came inside the box, amounted to nothing for the Hamilton side, as they are now scoreless in back-to-back matches for the first time since August of 2022, coincidentally also during a trip to IG Field.
Despite a league-leading 151 shot attempts, 90 of which have come inside the opposition box, as well as 14.28 expected goals, Forge have scored just 11 times in CPL matches in 2023.
“We look at it, we look at what we can change in training sessions and so on, and we just needed to be sharper in front of goal,” said Forge FC head coach Bobby Smyrniotis. “Today, I think it is five or six very good opportunities. Yesli has made a couple of very good saves, but we have had some very good opportunities from inside the box.”
Yesli, meanwhile, stopped anything that Forge directed towards the net, adding six saves to a league-leading 38 so far this season.
Late in the match, Forge even pushed central defender Manjrekar James forward as a striker in what seemed like a desperate attempt to break their scoring drought. To be fair to the Forge defender, he did come close on a few occasions.
To make matters even more frustrating for Forge, the hosts scored on their first shot on target in the 39th minute. They then added a second on their second shot on target in the 62nd minute, and managed just 0.29 expected goals on the night.
“It hurts, because we do good things during the game, we get multiple chances, they don’t fall, they get one and it stings,” said Forge defender Dom Samuel. “It takes the momentum that we have and just kind of flips in the opposite way. Now they start putting pressure and things change.”
Despite having plenty of depth, especially with attacking options, it might be time for Forge to just create some consistency in which players they choose up top. Simply giving strikers multiple consecutive runouts in a row has often led to good things for Forge in the past.
CanPL.ca Player of the Match
Walter Ponce, Valour FC
With an outstanding defensive performance, Ponce might have even been the Player of the Match before he smashed home a brilliant volley in the 62nd minute. His work rate all night was unmatched, as he contested 20 duels, winning 12 of them, and made five successful tackles.
What’s next?
Both sides are back in action midweek, as both travel to British Columbia. It is a quick turnaround for Forge who play again on Tuesday, June 20 in Langley against Vancouver FC (10:00 p.m. ET), while Valour are off to Starlight Stadium to take on high-flying Pacific FC on Wednesday, June 21 (9:00 p.m. CT).
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