Atlético Ottawa are now a perfect two-for-two in visits to Calgary this year, after they beat Cavalry FC 2-0 on Saturday night to tighten their grip on first place in the Canadian Premier League.
A well-worked early goal gave the visitors a lead just a few minutes in, and a critical miscommunication at the back for Cavalry gifted Atleti an insurance marker in the second half as they sailed to another win in Alberta.
The opening stages featured a brief feeling-out period, with both possession-hungry sides keen to establish themselves, before Atlético Ottawa landed the first blow. Before the match was 10 minutes old, Ottawa drew the Cavs into a trap; the home side stepped forward to press, at which point Juan Castro lobbed a clever pass over the top to Kevin Dos Santos, who suddenly found himself plenty of space behind the Cavalry defence.
Dos Santos took a few touches toward goal before scoring with an audacious toe-poke finish low and just inside the near post, which caught Marco Carducci by surprise and snuck under his hand.
After the early goal, the game took on a rapid, back-and-forth pace; Cavalry were eager to find an equalizer quickly, and so pushed forward via Tobias Warschewski and Ali Musse. The latter had a great chance around the 25th minute, just getting on the end of a cross-box pass from Mihail Gherasimencov after an exceptional run from the touchline, but Nathan Ingham was in perfect position to stifle the opportunity and claim the ball.
A few minutes later, Warschewski played an outstanding ball behind the Atleti backline, but Jay Herdman couldn't get his outstretched leg to the ball to redirect it goalward.
In the second half, despite a bright start from Cavalry, another quick error doomed them around the hour mark. Carducci, attempting an innocuous pass out of the back, had his slow effort picked off by a sliding Manny Aparicio, who fed it immediately up to Sam Salter. The CPL's Golden Boot leader made no mistake finishing the chance into an open goal, holding off Levi Laing to roll in his ninth goal of the season.
Ottawa would see the match out convincingly from there, absorbing pressure from Cavalry in their own half but not giving up many high-quality scoring chances — and expertly clearing away anything that did come close. The Cavs' best chance, perhaps of the whole game, was one ball that came across to the head of Callum Montgomery in the six-yard-box, but he put a little too much power on his header and it went wide of the back post.
The home side were thus shut out, and Atlético Ottawa restored their stranglehold on first place in the league, moving now to 28 points from their first 13 games played.
BOX SCORE
Lineups
Cavalry FC: Carducci; Aird (Wähling 59'), Laing, Montgomery, Gherasimencov; Gutiérrez (Kobza 84'), Shome (Henry 79'); Musse, Camargo (Myroniuk 84'), Herdman (Elva 59'); Warschewski
Atlético Ottawa: Ingham; Duhaney-Walker, Abatneh, Cloutier; Antinoro, Aparicio, Castro (Zapater 77'), Dos Santos (Ortega 86'); Rodríguez (Sissoko 78'), Salter (Patterson 81'), Tabla (Kozlovskiy 86')
Goals
9' — Kevin Dos Santos (Atlético Ottawa)
61' — Samuel Salter (Atlético Ottawa)
Discipline
13' — Levi Laing (Cavalry FC)
38' — Callum Montgomery (Cavalry FC)
62' — Diego Gutiérrez (Cavalry FC)
87' — Ballou Tabla (Atlético Ottawa)
