There is no place like Willoughby Park for the Vancouver FC Eagles who returned home after a difficult road trip for Matchweek #5 of the Canadian Premier League (CPL) regular season. Looking to maintain their winning-ways at home, Vancouver faced a dominant Atlético Ottawa-side and after a hard fought match, VFC were able to stay undefeated at home. Although a team effort, there were two VFC veterans who stood out in Sunday’s match and earned CPL’s Team of the Week recognition, goalkeeper Callum Irving and defender Kadin Chung.
Captain Callum had a tremendous game on Sunday backstopping the Eagles to a 1-1 draw against a very attacking forward Ottawa team. The native of Vancouver registered a season high of five saves in the match including the initial stop on Ottawa’s lone goal. Irving was recognized in Sunday’s game as the Performance of the Match and kept Vancouver’s undefeated streak at home alive.
The @AllstateCanada Save of the Match is this huge stop from @vanfootballclub's @CallumIrving 🧤#CanPL I 📺 @onesoccer pic.twitter.com/nRIMmeGP0B
— Canadian Premier League (@CPLsoccer) May 13, 2024
Chung returned to the lineup for the first time since Vancouver’s Canadian Championship match on April 23rd and made a clear impact on the game. The native of Port Coquitlam was active offensively in creating the chance for Wero Díaz’s equalizing goal and controlled the game with 36 accurate passes. Chung was also busy on the defensive side of the match, registering a team high of nine duels won and four interceptions plus winning three out of his four aerial duels.
Vancouver hits the road once again to visit Forge FC for their sixth game of the season before returning to Willoughby Park for Derby Day on May 25th against Pacific FC. Tickets to that match can be purchased online here.