Final Score: Valour FC 2-1 Forge FC
Goalscorers: Froese 57', 64' ; Borges 22'
Game of the 2025 season: 89
CPL Match: 684
Match in a minute or less
In a result sure to send shockwaves across the Canadian Premier League, Valour handed top-of-the-table Forge FC just their second loss of the season on Thursday night in Winnipeg.
The 2-1 victory came off of a brace from Kianz Froese. Tristan Borges had opened the scoring in the first half for Forge, but they were unable to hold on for what would have been a big three points in the CPL regular season title race.
Instead, Forge will have to wait until Sunday to see if Atlético Ottawa can take advantage of their slip when they travel to York Lions Stadium. Forge will remain top on tiebreakers regardless of that result, but the clubs could be tied on points going into a clash in the capital next Sunday.
Valour, meanwhile, move up into sixth place, and are ten points out of the playoffs with five matches remaining.
Three Observations
Froese's heroics, Valour's fighting effort, result in a huge home win
The odds were certainly not in Valour FC's favour as they hosted Forge on Thursday night.
Their past two matches against the Hamilton club had ended in 5-0 losses, there were 30 points that separated the two teams going into the match, and Valour again trailed after just 22 minutes.
But they didn't lose the faith. Valour weathered that early Forge storm, and came incredibly close to equalizing on a few occasions before half-time, especially when Roberto Alarcón struck the cross-bar from a brilliantly taken free kick.
In the second half, they came out on the front foot, particularly attacker Kianz Froese who tested Forge's Jassem Koleilat less than two minutes into the half. In the next 19 minutes, he would score twice to turn the game completely on its head.
Froese is a player whose minutes have had to be carefully managed by Valour this season, owing to the fact that he did not play much football last year, nor had a preseason.
Ironically, moments before Froese scored, Dos Santos and his staff were considering when to sub him out of the match. When he did, they felt they had to leave him on for a bit longer, and he added a second seven minutes later.
While Froese will earn the headlines, this story's included, Dos Santos wanted to make it clear after the match that it was a team effort that saw this win over the line.
Several Valour players put in outstanding shifts on the night, both the team's starters and those coming off the bench, who put in a colossal performance to keep the league's top team at bay. Valour won 58.1 per cent of the match's duels, and out-tackled Forge 25-8.
It will take this sort of effort every match over the next five weeks for Valour to have any hope of a first-ever playoff appearance. But until they are told it is over, that hope remains -- and a result like this only ingnites that belief.
"There's still life," said Dos Santos. "It's still mathematically possible, so all we have is the hope, and the belief, and our ability to keep fighting."
Valour's high pressure proves crucial to disrupting Forge's rhythm
Coming off of a 5-2 victory over Vancouver FC this past weekend, Valour understandably stuck with the same formation that had delivered that result.
Their new-look 4-1-4-1 has Raphael Ohin sitting deep and allowing a very attacking central midfield duo of Kianz Froese and Diogo Ressurreição to operate in front of him.
From the start, this shape allowed Valour to press with four players at a time, while one of the two central midfielders would drop in line with Ohin in case Forge was able to beat that initial press.
Especially in wide areas, this aggressive press allowed Valour to win the ball in some dangerous areas high up the pitch and spring attacking moments.
This also seemingly allowed Valour to disrupt Forge's tempo, not allowing the visitors to build out of the back or progress the ball through the lines with much regularity. That first line of defence helped hold Forge to just four shots on target, and 1.1 expected goals.
"You fight fire with fire," said Dos Santos, later adding, "The truth is that we knew for us to be effective, we needed to put pressure on their centre back, find ways to gain the ball higher up, find ways to not allow them to progress into our half."
A look at Valour's defensive actions chart from the match shows just how well they did this over 90-plus minutes.
Valour FC defensive actions vs. Forge (Courtesy: Opta)
Forge drop important points in the CPL Shield race
Thursday's result was a shock for several reasons.
Not only has it been rare to see Forge lose this season, in their club history, it has been incredibly rare to see them lose a match in which they led.
After Tristan Borges opened the scoring in the 22nd minute, it seemed like Forge were destined to cruise to a 15th win after scoring the opening goal this season.
Instead, they suffered their first loss under such a scenario in 2025. A disappointing seven-minute stretch in the second half, where Forge will feel they could and should have defended both goals better, cost them what could be a big three points in the table.
"When you lower your tempo and you lower your concentration, this is the result that could come out of a game like this," said Forge FC head coach Bobby Smyrniotis.
The full damage report on what this result could mean for Forge's CPL Shield ambitions won't be available until Sunday, when second-place Atlético Ottawa play York United.
But it could mean they travel to the nation's capital on Sunday tied on points with Atleti. That would make for a marvellous match for the neutral, but a disappointing set of circumstances for Forge who had a six-point lead in the table as recently as August 30.
After going undefeated through their first 20 matches of the campaign, Forge have now lost two of their past three -- and the CPL title race is officially back on.
What They Said
"I think the guys gained belief as the match went on. The guys fought, they fight, I think they're enjoying their football right now. I think that we found a few dynamics and synergies that have worked for us the last few matches. We just need to keep going." — Valour FC head coach Phil Dos Santos
"Just keep moving forward. That's how football is. We've had a lot of positive results over the season. These are part of the game. There's three results, we've got quick turnarounds. We move on. It's not something you want, these wins help you to keep on climbing. But, at the end of the day they are something that occurs." — Forge FC head coach Bobby Smyrniotis
CanPL.ca Player of the Match
Kianz Froese, Valour FC
The Valour midfielder made the most of his 70 minutes on the pitch on Thursday, scoring twice on three shots on target.
What’s next?
Valour travel to Calgary next for a meeting with Cavalry FC on Saturday, September 20 ( 5 p.m. CT).
For Forge, it's the Vancouver Whitecaps next at BC Place in the second leg of their Canadian Championship semi-final, which is currently tied 2-2 on aggregate. That match is on Tuesday, September 16 (10 p.m. ET). Their next league action is a top-of-the-table clash with Atlético Ottawa at TD Place on Sunday, September 21 (3 p.m. ET).
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