| Final Score: Valour 1-2 Atlético Ottawa Goalscorers: Antongolou 86'; Rodríguez 32', Salter 64' Game of the 2025 season: 71 CPL Match: 666 |
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Match in a minute or less
Atlético Ottawa picked up their third win against Valour of the season in their first trip to Winnipeg, with a 2-1 win on Sunday.
David Rodríguez opened the scoring in the 32nd minute, before Sam Salter added a second for Atleti in the 64th. Themi Antonoglou made it close with his first of the season in the 86th minute, but Valour missed a few great chances late in the match to equalize.
Atlético Ottawa once again finish the weekend just a point behind Forge FC at the top of the CPL table, setting up a huge meeting between the two sides next Sunday in Hamilton.
Three Observations
Rodríguez masterful again as Atleti find ways to exploit spaces in behind against Valour
Despite facing a cagey and defensively resolute Valour FC side on Sunday, as has been the case often for Atlético Ottawa recently, they were able to create the goals they needed with more of their signature attacking brilliance.
What Atleti did particularly well, including on both of their goals, was finding the spaces in the half spaces behind Valour's wide defenders, forcing one of the three central defenders out of the middle. That allowed them to then shift the ball centrally again, with Valour's back five pulled out of position. From there, they were clinical in the box with their opportunities.
"I think we found all the spaces that they gave us, we found a lot of times the pockets, we found a lot of times the free man behind the second line, we found really well I think the space behind the backline," said Atlético Ottawa head coach Diego Mejía.
The Atléti attack was inspired by another outstanding performance from David Rodríguez, who opened the scoring with a thunderous finish in the 32nd minute. He also played a key role in the second goal, breaking the lines with a clever dribble before playing in Antinoro down the right, who picked out the goalscorer Salter in the middle.
Rodríguez, despite having his space limited all match being fouled four times, had a pair of shots on target, created four chances and completed 33 of 34 passes.
"When you talk about the best players in the league right now...I think we have the top five players, and David, for sure, is the best player in the league right now," said Mejía.
Atlético Ottawa begin big week with an important victory
In the lead-up to Sunday's match, Diego Mejía said this was the stretch of the season where Atlético Ottawa would show their true colours.
On the road for three matches in a week's span, they still have two massive tests remaining to pass. But they picked up full marks on their first.
Ottawa were excellent on both sides of the ball on Sunday. They are now up to 37 goals scored on the campaign, which, with 10 games remaining, is as or more as five of the league's eight teams scored all of last season.
Their defensive unit deserves plenty of credit as well, despite giving away a few clear chances in the second half. What they did especially well was get in the shooting lanes of Valour throughout the match. They also built out of the back impressively well, with Valour pressing them aggressively throughout the match -- something opponents have not done much in recent weeks.
Now, they will have to quickly flip the page to Wednesday and a huge Canadian Championship semi-final meeting with Vancouver FC in Langley. A different competition, but going into it knowing they have taken care of business in the league, and are back in the goals, will provide a big boost.
What these three points also does is only increase the importance and opportunity when they travel to Hamilton next Sunday. A loss, and they wouldn't have been able to catch Forge regardless of the result in that match. Instead, Sunday's contest sets up as a game to take control of the league's top spot with nine matches remaining.
Valour turn to back five to limit Atlético Ottawa's attack
Having conceded eight goals combined between their first two meetings with Atlético Ottawa this season, Valour elected to deploy a back three with Rocco Romeo making his 100th CPL appearance between Kelsey Egwu and Gianfranco Facchineri.
Valour's formation on the day in some ways mirrored the 3-4-3 of Atlético Ottawa, although their wide players, Kris Twardek on the right and Themi Antonoglou on the left, were far more conservative than their marauding counterparts. Especially without the ball, it set up in more of a 5-4-1.
Having a third central defender, with Romeo in the middle, allowed Facchineri and Egwu to be a little bit more aggressive in stepping forward and pressing higher up the pitch -- forcing Ottawa into uncomfortable situations in their buildup on multiple occasions. That aggression crossed the lines on a few occasions, with Valour racking up 19 fouls, but this also did its job in disrupting Atleti's tempo.
Whereas a lot of teams recently have elected to play in more of a lower block against Atleti, however, Valour were far more active in their press in general, looking to force Ottawa to play the ball out of the back quickly and win it in dangerous areas.
"I think we stayed in our plan," said Valour FC head coach Phil Dos Santos. "We didn't want to give them complete control of the ball all the time, not having pressure on the ball, we knew we had to be aggressive, especially when the ball would be inside our block, because if not, the game would be very long for us."
The approach had some moments of working well, but didn't come without its risks. In the 64th minute -- with Valour pressing high up the pitch, Rodríguez broke their lines with a clever dribble and was able to find Antinoro out wide in space, who picked out Salter to finish off the counter-attack.
Still, the overall strategy and execution from Valour was on point, limiting Ottawa's chances for large stretches of the match. It played a big role in why the game was so close on Sunday, and why, if Valour had been a bit more clinical, they could have come away with at least a point.
What They Said
"I think we have to look at the fact that we still lost three points in a week where we maybe could have gained ground when it comes to the gap that we have with that fifth position, and we didn't. So every game that passes by, if we're not able to shorten that gap, our hope or our goals gets further and further away from us.**" -- Valour FC head coach Phil Dos Santos
"All these matches in the second half of the season are really, really tough but I think that the behaviour of the team was incredible. [Valour] changed the way that they played before, they switched at the start to play with five, maybe we wait for a line of four. But it's good for us, because the last matches we played against a line of five." — Atlético Ottawa head coach Diego Mejía
CanPL.ca Player of the Match
David Rodríguez, Atlético Ottawa
Continuing his Player of the Year level season, Rodríguez was the best player on the park again on Sunday in Winnipeg. He scored the opening goal with a beautiful finish, created four chances, won foul fouls, and completed a pair of dribbles, consistently breaking with Valour lines with clever passes -- of which he completed a stunning 33 of 34.
What’s next?
Valour remain at home, where they host York United next weekend at Princess Auto Stadium (12:30 p.m. CT) on Sunday, August 17.
Atlético Ottawa, meanwhile, are off to Langley for the first leg of their TELUS Canadian Championship semi-final against Vancouver FC (10 p.m. ET). Their next league action comes against Forge FC in Hamilton on Sunday, August 17 (4 p.m. ET).
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