Atlético Ottawa extended their unbeaten run to six games to begin the 2024 Canadian Premier League season, as they defeated Pacific 1-0 at Starlight Stadium on Friday.

With that, they also climbed to the top of the CPL table, having entered the weekend tied for first with Pacific. Speaking of Pacific, they suffered their first lost of the season in this match, and conceded their first goal after picking up clean sheets in each of their first five matches, with that streak also sitting as a CPL record for most games without conceding a goal.

After an early flurry of Ottawa chances failed to reach the target, they were able to test Pacific’s Emil Gazdov for the first time in the 15th minute, as Ollie Bassett stepped up to take a dangerous free kick from just outside of the box. There, he nearly found the top corner with a curling strike, only finding himself denied by an excellent save from Gazdov, before Rubén del Campo then slotted the ball just over in the subsequent scramble caused by the original rebound.

At the other end, Pacific’s Andrei Tîrcoveanu, who had entered the game early off the bench after an injury to Adonijah Reid, nearly opened the scoring, as he got on the end of a great Dario Zanatta cutback in the box, but he sent his shot well over the goal from close-range.

Eager to breach Pacific’s goal, Ottawa continued to threaten on set-pieces, as Bassett found del Campo with a perfect outswinging corner, but the Ottawa forward’s header deflected just over the goal to keep the game tied at 0-0.

In excellent form heading into this game, however, del Campo wouldn’t be denied the next time he popped up in the box, as he then opened the scoring for Atlético Ottawa in the 33rd minute. There, he managed to take a Maxim Tissot cross in stride before firing the ball off the far post and in with a half-volley, becoming the first player to breach Pacific’s net this CPL season, doing so in style.

Wanting to double his team’s lead, Bassett tried to get in on the action in the 34th minute, as he struck a dangerous low shot after being teed up by del Campo, but the 2023 Golden Boot co-winner sent his shot just wide of the post.

Meanwhile, Tîrcoveanu looked to avenge his earlier miss by stepping up to take a dangerous free kick in added time of the first half, but while he struck the ball well, his shot sailed just over the target.

On the other side of half time, Ottawa came out looking to double their lead, and nearly did so on a chaotic play in the 51st minute. After a dangerous Tissot cross, Christian Greco-Taylor nearly bundled it into his own net before making a big goal-line clearance, but the ball then went right to Kris Twardek, who fired a dangerous strike that Greco-Taylor had to again block at the line to keep the game at 1-0.

Meanwhile, after a wave of pressure and strong possession, Pacific had an excellent look at goal in the 60th minute, as Kunle Dada-Luke found Zanatta with a perfect cross, but his header would be easily saved by Rayane Yesli in the Ottawa goal.

After a couple of half-chances at both end, Pacific came close to equalizing in the 83rd minute. After a dangerous cross into the box from Thomas Meilleur-Giguère, a wide-open Zanatta seemed sure to tie the game with a header, but he’d head it well over the mark, before then getting whistled for offside.

On the next chance he’d get, however, Zanatta would come much closer to finding the mark. After sneaking in behind Ottawa’s defence, he fired a shot from a tight angle, and he’d catch Yesli by surprise, hitting the post, but luckily for the Ottawa goalkeeper, the ball would then fall right back into his grateful hands.

From there, that’d all that Pacific be able to muster up, allowing Ottawa to head back home with all three points in the pocket, with their efforts ensuring they can do so as the top team in the CPL through six weeks.

BOX SCORE

Lineups

Pacific FC: Gazdov; Dada-Luke, Meilleur-Giguère, Ndom (Greco-Taylor 5′), Lajeunesse; Yeates, Toussaint, Young (Lamothe 35′); Zanatta, Reid (Tîrcoveanu 11′), Heard

Atlético Ottawa: Yesli, Twardek, Didić, Singh, Tissot; Sissoko (de Brienne 62′), Zapater, Aparicio, Bassett (Antinoro 90+3); Tabla (Morer 86′), del Campo (Salter 86′)

Goals

33′ — Rubén del Campo (Atlético Ottawa) 

Discipline

29′ — Yellow: Andrei Tîrcoveanu (Pacific FC)

39′ — Yellow: Rubén del Campo (Atlético Ottawa)

45+4′ — Yellow: Luke Singh (Atlético Ottawa)

47′ — Yellow: Rayane Yesli (Atlético Ottawa)

49′ — Yellow: Josh Heard (Pacific FC)

70′ — Yellow: Christian Greco-Taylor (Pacific FC)