Match in a minute or less

The Nine Stripes are in the number one spot in the Canadian Premier League table after a 1-0 victory over Valour FC on Sunday night in Winnipeg.

An end-to-end second half finally saw its decisive moment in the 77th minute as substitute Austin Ricci tapped home a pass from Brian Wright for his fourth goal of the season. That was the lone goal of the match, as Thomas Vincensini denied Valour’s Shaan Hundal’s 52nd-minute penalty kick en route to his third clean sheet of the season.

It is the first time that York United have ever finished a CPL match week in the league’s top position, a spot they will be incredibly keen to hold as they add a sixth straight match to their undefeated streak.

Three Observations

York United go top of the table as they flip the script in Winnipeg

In Benjamín Mora’s ten matches in charge of York United, he had suffered just one defeat, a 1-0 loss to Valour FC.

With a chance at revenge on Sunday at Princess Auto Stadium, the Nine Stripes flipped the script, with a 1-0 victory of their own which put them top of the Canadian Premier League table.

“It feels amazing, we have been working hard to achieve our objectives,” said York United defender Frank Sturing. “We come from far, when the coach came we were sixth, and now we’re first so we’re on a good way. Still, we have a lot of things to improve and we have to stay humble because we are first now but we’ve still got ten games coming up.”

A draw against a Valour side who once again put up a strong fight on Sunday night would have been enough to see York pass Atlético Ottawa in the table on head-to-head record.

York, however, were not interested in just a single point on the day, and that was made clear by a 65th-minute substitute which saw fullback Max Ferrari taken off in exchange for striker Austin Ricci. The aggressive move quickly paid off, as it was Ricci who tapped home the winner in the 77th minute on a decisive counterattacking moment.

Brian Wright, meanwhile, continued his outstanding season with another game-breaking performance on Sunday. For all the talk about his Golden Boot leading nine goals, Wright is having a fantastic campaign as a distributor as well.

Against the Winnipeg club, he recorded his sixth assist of the season, tying Valour’s Themi Antonoglou for the league lead with an unselfish squaring of the ball into the path of Ricci. He nearly found his strike partner moments earlier as well, with another clever cross from the byline that just went over Ricci’s head.

Getting to the top of the table is only a step in York United’s ultimate ambitions, however. While their rise has been impressive, they want something to show for it come the season’s end — and they know as they now become the hunted in the Canadian Premier League it is only going to get more difficult from here.

“The difficult part is not to get there, the difficult part is to sustain,” said Benjamín Mora. “So this is the stage of trying to convince them to stay on top.”

Sensational Vincensini saves penalty, denies Valour on multiple occasions

It was clear from the early stages of Sunday’s match that York United goalkeeper Thomas Vincensini was absolutely switched on between the sticks.

As Valour looked to quickly cut the Nine Stripes, who were playing a high line at times with their back three, open in transition, Vincensini was quick out of his box on multiple occasions to make crucial clearances.

However, on one such occasion in the 51st minute, the York United keeper got a little bit overzealous and brought down Shaan Hundal in the box. But he quickly made up for his mistake, with an outstanding penalty stop.

He also made an outstanding diving stop on Abdul Binate in the 81st minute to keep the Nine Stripes in front — with three saves in total.

“He was brave, he was a leader, and I think sometimes the strikers give us three points, but I think today, I think Thomas was very important to give us the three points,” said Mora.

Vincensini’s situational awareness didn’t just extend to preventing goals, however. In the 77th minute, he claimed a deflected Themi Antonoglou cross and, recognizing that Valour had committed a number of players forward, quickly slipped a lovely throw through the middle to Mo Babouli. Ten seconds later, the ball was in the back of the Valour net, all started by some quick thinking by the York goalkeeper.

“We are pressing high at some points, so it’s important for the goalkeeper to help us and cover us as well,” said Sturing. “And he did an amazing job, like he helped us like three times in the first half with that, and even with the goal we scored, he was really important with the quick transition we had.”

Valour FC rue missed opportunities during a thrilling second half

Before Shaan Hundal stood at the penalty spot in the 50th minute, Valour FC had managed just 0.04 expected goals — courtesy of a clever long-range effort from Diogo Ressurreição and a mishit cross from Themi Antonoglou in the first half.

That missed opportunity seemed to ignite their second half attack, however, especially Hundal who finished with 1.36 expected goals on three shots and eight touches in the York United box. He hit the crossbar in the 57th minute, and then had another great chance on a header in the 69th minute when he sent wide.

“Shaan has been there for the team, and he’s going to have other opportunities and he’s going to score,” said Valour FC head coach Phil Dos Santos.

Ressurreição was again the catalyst for the hosts, with several outstanding balls over the top looking to break the York United line. But on the day they just could not solve Vincensini.

What will ultimately frustrate Valour more than the chances they missed on the night, however, is the goal they gave up. Lining up in a 4-4-2 with two deep-lying central midfielders once again, Valour did an excellent job of keeping the Nine Stripes away from the central channels for most of the match.

They instead limited them to crosses from out wide, which their outstanding aerial central defensive duo of Tass Mourdoukoutas and Gianfranco Facchineri dealt with exceptionally.

But York United’s lone goal of the match came from a moment in which Valour committed too many players forward, and allowed July’s Player of the Month Mo Babouli to fly through the centre of the field and play Brian Wright in behind.

As a three-match unbeaten streak ends for the Winnipeg side, however, the focus now is making sure they don’t let it derail what has been a string of very good performances. This team is truly buying into their new system under Dos Santos, and the results are starting to show that.

“We played against a very good team today,” said Dos Santos. “It’s not for nothing that they’re sitting first as we speak, and I have to give them credit also and acknowledge the work that their staff has done. So something you can get on a run and you want to win them all, but there’s moments you have to accept what happens on the field. And I think the most important is, are we going to react to that?”