A couple of days to reflect, and the enormity of what happened Tuesday night begins to take on a little more clarity.
Forge FC’s 0-0 draw against Los Tigres UANL was the first time a CPL team has ever registered a clean sheet in a Champions Cup game. And away goals are the first tiebreaker if Tuesday night’s return match at the famous El Volcán Stadium in Monterrey is tied after 90 minutes, so it was significant that the scoreless draw—Tigres had a goal called back that was so offside it shouldn’t have even required VAR—was preserved by the visitors.
The Tigres were frustrated by their lack of scoring finish, with the offside call, and with a last-second handball penalty call against Forge captain Kyle Bekker—who was strong all game—that the visitors argued occurred inside the box instead of a few inches outside of it. Led by head coach Guido Pizarro, they were self-critical, and visibly disappointed in their result after the game.
“It just shows what we’re capable of,” said Forge midfielder Ben Paton. “They’re really good but we’re also a top team. At the end of the day everyone is human and we all make mistakes. I think there could be an upset next week; we have the players that can beat them.”
Head Hammer Bobby Smyrniotis said after Thursday afternoon’s outdoor training session at Hamilton Stadium that he was “very positive about the performance that the guys put in. The biggest thing here is that tactically they were excellent. At this point in the season for us, it’s exactly what you need. You need a positive result.
“We’ve been talking about not having a win, and we probably wanted a bit more out of the game, but if you look at it, I think it was a balanced game. Both teams had good chances and the game was always under control. When they had the ball it was usually in an area of non-danger.”
After Vancouver FC’s 3-0 loss to visiting Cruz Azul Wednesday night, CPL teams have now played a combined 12 games in Champions Cup. There has been only one win (Cavalry 2-1 over Pumas in the first leg of their 2025 series, which they eventually lost 3-2 on aggregate), and one tie (Forge Tuesday’s). CPL teams have been outscored 20-5 in those games with Forge notching three goals and Cavalry two.
What Is the Concacaf Champions Cup and Why It Matters
That pair are also the only teams to score on the road in Cup play, with Calgary notching one at Orlando City two years ago and Forge scoring at Cruz Azul in 2022 and Guadalajara in 2024. And road goals are gold nuggets if the series are close.
“They’ve got an advantage of playing at home and we’ve got an advantage of having to score one goal and that makes the game a lot different than we’ve seen before for us going into a second leg in Champions Cup,” Smyrniotis said. “And that’s how we have to think about it; making sure we can get out there and get a goal in this game. That changes the dynamic totally.
“It gives good confidence to the guys, a different form of mentality than maybe in the past. But we also know that they’ll have that big crowd which will give them lots of energy and in the second game we’re going to have to suffer: you’re going to have to pour everything into this game. Physically, mentally, emotionally, it’s going to have to be there.
“It’s a difficult task. You’re not playing an average team here, you’re playing a global power. It’s not a team that’s just good on the continent, it’s good all around.
“We have to think about how they’re going to counter what they saw on Tuesday. Are they going to go the same? Are they going to change something? What would I do as a coach and you try to counteract it?
“At the same time, it’s a matter of looking at where our opportunities are and making sure we’re a little sharper in those areas and maybe a bit more composed in those first passes in the counterattack. And maybe on the ball be a little bit more patient… which we can do.
“We’ll have a practical plan. It doesn’t mean that what we did on Tuesday is what we’ll do next Tuesday. It could be totally different but if we stick to the plan, we give ourselves a very good opportunity.”
Kids versus the seasoned vets
With Nana Ampomah missing because of work visa issues, two-thirds of Forge’s front line comprised 19-year-old Spaniard Ismael Oketokoun, who is new to Forge, and 20-year-old Hoce Massunda, who was promoted from Sigma FC in time for last year’s Champions Cup series against CF Monterrey, but didn’t play.
Tigres’ striker André-Pierre Gignac just turned 40, which makes him older than the two Forge shooters combined.
“It was great to be on the same pitch as him,” Massunda said. “At the start of the game I said to him ‘You’re a legend!’ and he thanked me and said he appreciated it.”
Gignac, who played for France in the World Cup and Olympics, has over 400 French first division games and 103 goals under his belt and another 364 games and 192 goals over the last 11 years for Tigres. He had a couple of first-half scoring chances nullified by Forge keeper Dimitry Bertaud.
Massunda also had a great scoring chance early in the second half when he ran onto a superb pass from Tristan Borges. He was under rapid closing pursuit and pressure from Brazilian Romulo Zanre, a seventh-year pro, but still forced Nahuel Guzmán into a diving save to prevent a goal.
“It felt great,” Massunda said. “My debut in the Champions Cup against a big team. And we got a good result, 0-0 at home. No away goals.
“It’s totally different at this level. The tempo of the game is much different. It’s something we could adjust to though… our team is good too. At the start, I was just getting into it and later on in the game I settled in and it all gives you confidence.”
Paton goes against Tigres in the winter and his brother in the spring
One of the best players on the pitch Tuesday night—Dimitry Bertaud, Marcelo Flores and Juan Brunetta notwithstanding—was Ben Paton, the Kitchener native who started at midfield and surprised the Tigres right-side defence with his aggressive two-way play up the left flank. In the 17th minute he created a sparkling opportunity with a holding move then swept the ball across the front of diving Tigres goalkeeper Nahuel Guzmán. Had Forge been in mid-season competitive form rather than in just the first quarter-hour of their new year, someone might have pressed onto the loose ball for an uncontested tap-in.
Tuesday’s game marked one year less a day since Paton signed with Forge after spending nine years in Europe, six in Blackburn Rovers’ youth system and three more with Ross County of Scotland’s Premiership, where one of his teammates for two seasons was his older brother Harry.
Harry went on to play at Motherwell but signed with Forge last September for the remainder of the season, as the Patons became the first brothers ever to suit up together.
On Thursday, Harry Paton signed with Cavalry FC, who will visit Hamilton Stadium in the second home game of the season April 18. It will be the first time the siblings will play against each other in a real game, although they’ve practised against each other—fiercely—most of their lives.
The Cavs’ second visit here will be on May 31 which just happens to be their father, Alan’s birthday.
Good service can be a thing of beauty
While Tigres held a decided edge in ball possession time and shots toward target, both teams had excellent scoring chances, and each had glittering opportunities to break the scoreless draw in the final five minutes. In the 86th minute Forge defender Marko Jevremović loped up the vulnerable right side of the Tigres defence and left-footed a curling service right into a high-percentage scoring area in the box. Rezart Rama, also a defender, streaked onto the high ball but headed it over the crossbar.
“I told my parents that it was one of the best passes of my life, well it actually was the best pass,” Jevremović said. “And the timing was a big part of it, the way Rezart got right onto it.”