Match in a minute or less
Valour FC picked up a monumental 2-1 victory over the Halifax Wanderers on Saturday in Winnipeg to move within one spot of the Canadian Premier League playoff positions.
After the Wanderers opened the scoring through Massimo Ferrin, the hosts equalized before the half on a Themi Antonoglou cross that Dan Nimick inadvertently deflected into his own net. Then Jordan Swibel scored his seventh of the season with a lovely flick in the 63rd minute to win the match for Valour.
The Winnipeg club pass Pacific in the table with the win to move up into the sixth spot, and are just three points below Vancouver FC for the fifth and final playoff position. Halifax, meanwhile, remain seven points below the Eagles, and bottom of the CPL table.
Three Observations
Valour come from behind to win an intense clash with Halifax in Winnipeg
Both sides came into Saturday’s match desperate for three points, and that undoubtedly played out on the Princess Auto Stadium pitch.
With Valour and Halifax sitting seventh and eighth respectively in the CPL table prior to the match, it is getting pretty close to now-or-never territory for both sides as they look to go on a run to bring them above the postseason line.
The intensity was clear from the opening whistle, with the sides combining for six bookings and 33 fouls (21 for Valour to Halifax’s 12) over the course of 90 minutes and a further gruelling eight minutes of stoppage time.
But despite being out-chanced and out-possessed for most of the 90 minutes, Valour FC dug deep, and dealt better with the emotions of the vital match, to pick up three points. After allowing an early goal, Valour won a match after trailing for the first time this season, a result which will surely galvanize this group.
“I just like the reaction of the team,” said Valour FC head coach Phil Dos Santos. “I think that even going into half-time 1-1, and coming back in the second half our team showed a lot of personality, until we took the lead, and then we suffered to finish the game. The last 20 minutes were very difficult, but again we were playing against a team that wanted the three points too, that absolutely wanted to get out of here with something, and when it’s like that you have to be prepared to suffer. You have to be prepared to pay the price.”
When they got their few chances on the day, Valour were clinical and composed in the moments when they did get the opportunity to go forward. The Winnipeg side managed five shots, four of which were on target, despite just nine touches in the Halifax box. Otherwise, they were compact and calm in their defensive shape, with goalkeeper Jonathan Viscosi making three tremendous saves whenever there were breakdowns.
After a tough stretch on the road to open the season, Valour have now won four home matches, more than all of 2023 already. With six of their final nine matches of the season played at home, there is a significant opportunity for this group to now parlay this strong run of recent form into a first-ever club playoff appearance.
“I can’t say enough about how they came together after going through so much adversity in the early stages of the season, and, you know, very new as a group,” said Dos Santos. “So they’ve grown together a lot. And I’m just seeing how all of it is coming together. And for me, my joy is because I see how much they want this and I really want this team to succeed, for this group of players.”
Campbell – Mlah double pivot crucial to Valour victory
For the third consecutive match, Valour FC trotted out the exact same starting eleven, as they have been able to find consistency and quality in their recent performances.
One continued bright spot has been a budding central midfield duo of Dante Campbell and Safwane Mlah. The pair once again shone in the middle of the park on Saturday, even up against a Halifax group that included multiple past CPL award winners.
“The way we were able to get the midfield involved in this game, it’s something that was lacking in the [last game] game we played, against York,” said Dos Santos. “So for us, there’s progress there, and I still think there’s another level.”
Among the crucial work that the pair did was rarely losing the ball, especially in dangerous areas. Campbell completed 87.9 per cent of his passes, while Mlah was at 94.7 per cent, and lost possession just four times in his 90 minutes on the pitch.
Campbell put in a tireless shift, consistently pressing Halifax players all over the pitch, with 13 duels contested and winning the ball back five times — including twice in the final third. He also won four fouls, helping to break up the Wanderers’ attacking momentum.
Beside him, Mlah played perhaps the best game of his young career, demonstrating his technical ability to hold onto the ball well throughout. He completed two dribbles, and 18 of his 19 attempted passes.
The 22-year-old showed good anticipation to get himself into a pocket of space out wide in the 63rd minute after Jordan Swibel had picked off a pass high up the pitch. He then sent in a dangerous cross, which Swibel flicked past Yann Fillion in the Halifax net. It was Mlah’s first CPL assist.
“They’ve complemented each other,” said Dos Santos of his central midfield pairing. “I think that sometimes, as a coach, you have to balance things, and I like what they’re both doing and what they bring to the table.”
Halifax take the lead but unable to hold as they conclude frustrating road trip
After losses in Calgary and Hamilton already in the past 10 days, there is no question that the Halifax Wanderers came into Saturday’s match intent on exerting control.
By almost all statistical categories they did just that, with 61.7 per cent of the ball, 61 final third entries and 19 touches in the box which they turned into 17 shot attempts.
They also started in a way that surely went right into their game plan, finding Sean Rea in a pocket of space just outside the Valour box to fire a dangerous shot, with Massimo Ferrin opening the scoring on the rebound. It was just the fourth time all season that the Wanderers have scored first, and ends a six-match run of failing to score the opener.
But in the match’s vital moments, the Wanderers made some lethal errors which cost them points on Saturday. First, it was an own goal from Dan Nimick after a dangerous cross from Valour’s Themi Antonoglou had been allowed into the box. Then a needless giveaway just outside the Halifax box to Valour’s Jordan Swibel was the catalyst for the second goal.
“The stats are par for the course for most of our games,” said Halifax coach Jorden Feliciano, who was filling in for the suspended Patrice Gheisar. “To be fair, we want to be the protagonists. We want to be the aggressors, we want to be the team that’s on the front foot. And to be those kinds of teams, you’ve got to limit individual errors. And unfortunately, we saw two today that led to the result swinging the other way.”
Errors like that only become more magnified and likely for a team like Halifax whose margin for those sorts of errors gets smaller with each and every loss.
The only thing they can do now is return home to the East Coast, where they play four of their next five matches. They must hold out hope and belief that they can use this vital stretch to finally right the ship that has been their season which continues to be blown well off course, especially away from the safe harbours of Halifax.
“There’s going to be that feeling of disappointment and failure kind of over the past 10 days,” said Halifax’s goalscorer on the night, Ferrin. “We know that games come quick, and next weekend we need to be ready, and mathematically we’re not out. So we have to find the belief that we can get on a roll, use our own field as maybe a little bit of a momentum boost, that it’s definitely still possible.”
CanPL.ca Player of the Match
Jordan Swibel, Valour FC
He had to stay patient for his opportunity, but Swibel made the most of a Safwane Mlah cross in the 63rd minute to score his seventh of the season. He was Valour’s main offensive catalyst, with three shots, two of which were on target — and his run into the box also played an important role in forcing Halifax’s own goal.
What’s next?
At long last the Halifax Wanderers return home, where they host Atlético Ottawa on Saturday, August 24 (3:00 p.m. AT /2:00 p.m. ET). Valour, meanwhile, play their fourth straight home match as they host Vancouver FC on Sunday, August 25 (2:00 p.m. CT /3:00 p.m. ET).
Watch all CPL and Canadian Championship 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.