Final Score: Valour FC 1-0 Vancouver FC
Goalscorers: Gutiérrez 57′ (PK)
Game of the 2023 season: 46
CPL match: 413
Match in a minute or less
Valour FC continued their dominance at home on Sunday, as they defeated Vancouver FC 1-0 at IG Field, extending their home unbeaten run to 13 games.
The game started out cagey, but Valour still had several opportunities in the first half, only finding themselves kept at bay by some big saves from Vancouver’s Callum Irving.
In the second half, however, they would not be denied, as they finally won a penalty through Dante Campbell in the 57th minute. There, Diego Gutiérrez stepped up to take it, and he did well to slot it home to make it 1-0.
From there, Vancouver did nearly snatch a draw at the death, as Nicky Gyimah was denied by Rayane Yesli, but in the end, Valour did enough to grab all three points on the day.
Three Observations
Professional performance from Valour brings Vancouver back down to earth:
Heading into this game, Vancouver was flying.
Boosted by a midweek win over the defending champions, Forge, a result that snapped an eight-game winless run, Vancouver entered this game with the joy of winning in their minds. A feeling that head coach Afshin Ghotbi described this week as a “vitamin for the soul”, they were now looking to make that feeling a more permanent one with another win.
Yet, knowing that, Valour were ready for Vancouver’s youthful enthusiasm. Eager to build off some recent performances of their own, they were eager to focus on that, knowing that they could contain Vancouver if they did so.
As a result, Valour did well to come out with a hunger about that, as they seemed focused on one thing – dominating this game.
That domination wasn’t immediately obvious, as Vancouver did well to respond to Valour’s intensity from the first whistle, but it’d become clear as the game went along.
Instead of coming out in top gear and risking burning out over the course of the 90, Valour slowly worked their way up the gears, knowing that they could wear out Vancouver, who just couldn’t find the same energy they had in midweek.
“We’re a young team,” Vancouver’s Gael Sandoval said afterwards. “And sometimes that’s the growing process of a young team.”
Which, to Valour’s credit, would really start to pay off in the second half. Valour had lots to be pleased with from their first half, as they defended excellently, and had a few good chances to take the lead if not for the heroics of Vancouver’s Callum Irving in goal, but they knew that they had to build off that in the second.
Because of that, they completely hit another level in the second half, eager to take control of the game. Through relentless forrays down the wings, to the on-ball domination of Diego Gutiérrez and Juan Pablo Sánchez in midfield, and the work rate of Jaime Siaj and Anthony Novak up front, Valour did well to really take another step forward.
That doesn’t mean it was easy for them – due to Irving’s heroics, Gutiérrez’s penalty would be the lone time they breached Vancouver’s goal, and there were a few opportunities where Vancouver could’ve clawed back into the game, but ultimately, Valour escaped as deserved victors in the end.
The stats only paint the picture of how thorough the dominance was, too – Valour finished by outshooting Vancouver 17-4, and had more shots on target (5-1), big chances (3-0), touches in the box (37-2), possession (65-35) and xG (2.28-0.22), just showing how good of a performance they had.
Therefore, while they’ll also ponder if they did miss out on a chance to win by more, they’ll be pleased that they did what they needed to turn this domination into a win, as they easily could’ve let it slip.
Earlier in the season, Valour might’ve been left wanting in a game like this, but instead, they can leave knowing that they’ve got three points in their back pocket, and are continuing to build game over game.
On a day where they also surpassed the required Canadian U21 minutes threshold for the season, the first team to do so (although Vancouver then joined them by the end of the match), that just further shows how Valour’s project has started to come together this season.
“We played similar games 12 months ago where we would come out with a draw and find a way not to win,” Valour’s head coach, Phil Dos Santos, mused afterwards. “And I agree, with our dominance it feels that was one goal feels like we came up short, but at the end of the day, it’s one step forward for us, right?”
Niyongabire’s return paces dominant wide performance from Valour:
One of the best players in the CPL so far this season, it was a big blow for Valour to lose Pacifique Niyongabire over the last two games, as he was called up to Burundi’s National Team for a crucial AFCON qualifier versus Namibia.
The good news is that both sides did well to thrive without the other – Niyongabire played 16 minutes as Burundi beat Namibia to stay alive heading into the final round of qualifiers, while Valour picked up one win and one loss, with the latter only coming to the league leaders Pacific on the road – but there’s no doubt that they missed each other.
That quickly became evident in this game, as Niyongabire’s return proved to be an immediate boost to Valour’s attack.
In particular, he gave them a direct outlet down the flanks, as his ability to drive at defenders with speed is among the best in the CPL.
As a result, he was able to both create several dangerous entries into Vancouver’s final third, while also stretching out their defence with his runs.
Along with the play of Jared Ulluoa on the right flank, who did well to run at defenders and drift into dangerous areas, that allowed Valour to really dominate the flanks.
They weren’t able to turn any of that dominance into any open-play goals, however, but they certainly made life tough for Vancouver’s full backs. That paid off for them in the end, too, as one of them, James Cameron, ended up conceding the penalty that would win Valour the game.
Yet, this just shows how important the flanks are for Valour, with Niyongabire proving to be a key asset in the regard, along with the likes of Ulloa, Kian Williams and the others that have played there, such as Walter Ponce.
As Dos Santos mentioned after the game, with how most teams at this level do well to clog the middle, you need to find entry points elsewhere on the field to make things happen, and for Valour, that’s been the wide areas.
Now, Valour will want to diversify their attack, no doubt – Dos Santos has noted he wants his team to be more aggressive in the final third, and they’ll look to create more from central areas – but will have to do so without sacrificing their strength in wide areas.
In fact, it’s the opposite – any of the success that Valour finds in central areas will likely come from the space that they can create when they stretch out the field as they did in this game, which is why its key that they continue to do so in future games.
“I think today in football, the most difficult thing is to find entries centrally,” Dos Santos said. “So wide areas become an area where if you move the ball fast, switch the points of attack and accelerate the game, you’ll find opportunities there. We have players that can unbalance the opposition in those wide areas, too.”
“Again, it’s that one cross that needs to come in a little bit better, the timing of our movement on our runs needs to be sharper, and we need more aggressive movement in the box and want to get on the end of balls, because we get a lot in a lot of good spots.”
‘We’ve got a nice orange, but that orange needs to start producing juice.”
Hunt for consistency continues for Vancouver attack:
It’s always a big challenge for a young team – how do you follow up on a strong performance?
Can you find a way to keep rolling and grab another? Or will they take a bit of a step back?
Sometimes, the highs of a big victory or strong game can be hard to maintain for a young team, showing how difficult it can be to win at the professional level.
Vancouver unfortunately got a taste of that reality in this game, as after a huge victory over Forge in midweek, they just couldn’t find a way to follow it up with another win in this game.
To be fair, there were a few factors that they’ll be frustrated with – namely, their growing absentee list, both due to suspensions and injuries. While they’ll feel unlucky about that, especially with the injuries, it’s worth noting that they can only look at themselves to blame for the suspensions, however.
Sometimes, a key ability at the pro level is availability, as the best teams do well to get their best players on the field as much as possible. That’s not always possible, of course, as injuries and other issues will crop up, but for the most part, they avoid any needless absences.
Unfortunately for Vancouver, however, some of those absences have come at the wrong time, as that left an already shorthanded side in a bit of a tough situation for this game.
“I think of football almost like a table, one with 11 legs,” Ghotbi said. “If one leg is maybe not even with the others, if one piece is not 100%, the table will wobble regardless if you have gold on the other legs of the table.”
“So when you lose certain players in a team, you can lose the connection, the coordination and the synchronization in the group.”
The good news, however? They didn’t let themselves get too down by that.
Instead, they fought right until the final whistle, and even had a few chances to win.
Plus, despite being on the road in one of the toughest environments in the CPL, they went toe-to-toe for most of the game, doing well to hold on as Valour pushed for an opener. Then, when that came, Vancouver didn’t let it snowball, finding a way to stay in the game.
Yet, that just shows the strong mentality of this Vancouver team, who despite being a very young and inexperienced outfit, does well to not show it in tough moments.
At the same time, this game showed another area where they’ll want to grow as the season goes along, suspensions aside – their attack.
After scoring two or more goals in a game for just the third time in midweek, this was the fifth time they’ve been shut out this season, as they just couldn’t find a way to string together much in the attack.
Certainly, the absences played a role in that, especially in terms of their build-up play, but they still had most of their main attacking options available and on the pitch, so it’s not as if they could look at that as a factor.
Ultimately, they were just unable to connect much between those players in the attack, which is reflected in the fact that they completed just 61.9% of their overall passes, including just 41.4% in the final third.
Along with their struggles to generate chances, it made it far too easy for Valour to defend them on the day.
Because of that, it shows how important it’ll be for Vancouver to find some consistency in their attack going forward. In a match like this, they could’ve used their attackers as a way to alleviate the pressure that their short-handed defence and midfield were facing, but instead, they just couldn’t get into the game.
It’s easier said than done, as attacking is often seen as the hardest thing to do in the sport, but it’ll be something that they’ll look to continue to work on, as they keep progressing through their first season in the CPL.
“We need to keep the ball more,” Sandoval said afterwards. “We need to think more about where the ball is, and what our positioning looks like, and then be patient with our creation.”
“It’s a part of the game that we have to work more on.”
CanPL.ca Player of the Match
Diego Gutiérrez, Valour FC
He may garner headlines because of the winning goal, but that was just the cherry on top of the cake of a strong performance from Gutiérrez, who was everywhere for Valour in this game.
That’s reflected in the statistics, too, as he completed 75 out of 84 of his passes (89%), and finished with two chances created, one big chance created, four shots and six dribbles offensively, while also chipping in with two tackles, one interception, 14 recoveries and winning 12 out of his 16 duels defensively.
What’s next?
Valour are back in action on Saturday, July 1st, as they host Cavalry FC at IG Field in a Canada Day clash (1:00 p.m. MT/2:00 p.m. CT). Meanwhile, Vancouver will host York United at Langley’s Willoughby Community Park on Sunday, July 2nd (1:30 p.m. PT/4:30 p.m. ET).
Watch all matches live on OneSoccer. In addition to its 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.
