The CPL champions widened their cushion in the top four on Wednesday night with a dominant 4-0 win at Tim Hortons Field over Atlético Ottawa to put them level on points with Valour FC in third — and five ahead of York United in fifth.

Forge’s lineup received a major boost for this game, with veteran defender Daniel Krutzen returning to make his first start since July 5 and slotting into the middle of a back three in Bobby Smyrniotis’ 3-4-3 setup. Ottawa, meanwhile, stuck with their 4-2-3-1 formation, as Brian Wright made his second consecutive start at striker.

The home side took control of the tempo really from the get-go, establishing possession early and moving the ball calmly through their backline while patiently looking for opportunities to get forward. Ottawa actually had some of the better chances in the opening half-hour from the counter-attack, but they weren’t able to trouble Forge ‘keeper Baj Maan quite enough.

Not long before halftime, Forge’s patience paid off; Woobens Pacius played a pass into the box for Tristan Borges, who was chopped down by Atleti defender Keesean Ferdinand to win a penalty kick. Cool as ever, Krutzen buried the spot kick to put Forge 1-0 up in the 44th minute.

Ottawa gaffer Mista made some aggressive substitutions at halftime while down a goal, taking off two of his back four in Ferdinand and Milovan Kapor in order to bring on striker Malcolm Shaw and central midfielder Tevin Shaw. With the changes, Atleti moved into a 4-4-2 (dropping Viti Martínez to centre-back and Ryan Telfer to left-back) and looked to get a little bit more of the ball than they’d seen in the first half.

It would be Forge who scored next, though; David Choinière found Kwame Awuah blazing down the left flank with a little backheel pass, and Awuah — as he’s done so often this year — sent a perfect cross into the six-yard box where it found the foot of Woobens Pacius for the 20-year-old’s first professional goal.

The reigning champions delivered a dagger just a few minutes later, this time coming down the right flank as Jonathan Grant hit Pacius with an incredible through ball and Pacius slotted a calm finish past Dylon Powley for Forge’s third, and his second, of the evening.

With the game essentially decided by then, both managers added some fresh legs toward the end, with key weekend fixtures looming; Awuah, Borges, and Kyle Bekker all got an early rest for Forge, while Ottawa gave minutes to youngsters Antoine Coupland and Nyal Higgins.

Chris Nanco — one of Forge’s late substitutes — added a fourth goal for Forge on the edge of stoppage time, getting on the end of a Maxim Tissot ball over the top and bringing it down smartly before finishing.

A dominant all-around performance from the champions improved Forge to five straight unbeaten in all competitions.

BOX SCORE

Goals

44′ — Daniel Krutzen (Forge FC) (PK)
54′ — Woobens Pacius (Forge FC)
61′ — Woobens Pacius (Forge FC)
90+1′ — Chris Nanco (Forge FC)

Discipline

36′ — Yellow: Milovan Kapor (Atlético Ottawa)
81′ — Yellow: Tevin Shaw (Atlético Ottawa)
86′ — Yellow: Viti Martinez (Atlético Ottawa)
87′ — Yellow: Maxim Tissot (Forge FC)