| Final Score: Atlético Ottawa 2-2 Cavalry FC Goalscorers: Salter 69', Rodríguez 72'; Musse 23', 35' Game of the 2025 season: 79 CPL Match: 674 |
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Match in a minute or less
Atlético Ottawa came back from two goals down to earn an important point on Saturday night, drawing 2-2 with Cavalry FC at TD Place.
Ali Musse was the star of the first half, finding the back of the net twice in a span of 12 minutes to give Cavalry a commanding lead. He squeezed the first goal over the line from close range after Mihail Gherasimencov lofted a cross to the back post. The second came from a direct free kick that took a huge deflection off the wall and beat Nathan Ingham, who had already dived to the other side of the net.
The second half saw Ottawa claw back two goals in three minutes to earn an important draw. After Manny Aparicio forced a big save out of Marco Carducci, Sam Salter pounced to tap in his league-leading 13th goal of the season, and spark some life into the hosts. Just three minutes later, David Rodriguez fired a shot that took a deflection of its own, this time off of Diego Gutierrez, and into the back of the net.
Both sides scrambled for the winning goal after that, and it was Cavalry striker Caniggia Elva that came closest to winning the game with a powerful header in the 90th minute, but Ingham reacted well to push it off the crossbar and keep the draw intact.
Three Observations
Tale of two halves keeps the gap between Ottawa and Cavalry at 10 points
Up against second-place Atlético Ottawa, Cavalry FC came into this match with an opportunity to reduce the gap from their third-place spot in the table to just seven points with eight matches remaining. That would have given them a much better opportunity to move up into second place in the table than the ten-point gap that remains after they squandered another two-goal lead.
A brace from Ali Musse had Cavalry up by two after 45 minutes, a lead they would maintain until the 69th minute when Sam Salter poked home the lose ball following a big save from Marco Carducci on Manny Aparicio. David Rodriguez's deflected shot three minutes tied things up for the hosts, and they had the momentum in their favour for a lot of the remaining 20 minutes of the match.
Tommy Wheeldon Jr's side must have been having flashbacks of last weekend's game against Vancouver FC, where they let a 3-1 lead slip -- and a 4-3 lead -- before coming away with a 5-4 win after a 97th-minute header from Daan Klomp. A hero was not able to step up for the Cavs on this occasion -- with Caniggia Elva coming closest but having a thumping header saved in the 90th minute by Nathan Ingham.
Vancouver is next weekend's opponent for an Ottawa side that is looking to get maximum points out of a three-game homestand to keep the pressure on league leaders Forge FC -- who after Saturday night have opened up a six-point lead in the chase for the CPL Shield. Two of those points were missed on this occasion, but Ottawa will head into the other games -- against Vancouver and fellow BC side Pacific FC -- as favourites.
Diego Mejia warned after the game that his side is in hunting mode as they look to win the regular season crown for the sceond time in club history, and pick up one of three possible domestic trophies this season. That deficit of six points behind Forge will not be easy to make up, but the two sides still have to play each other again this season before it's all said and done.
The top two is still reachable for Cavalry mathematically, but that might have been their best chance to close in on Ottawa. They return home next weekend to play Forge, however, in another incredibly high-stakes matchup.
More Musse magic in Ottawa as Cavs star scores first half brace
Last weekend against Vancouver FC, Ali Musse provided two assists and created eight chances in one of the better attacking performances of the season, and was rewarded by being named the Canadian Premier League's Player of the Week. This time around he changed his role from provider to finisher, scoring both of Cavalry's goals in a commanding first half performance for his side.
First, in the 23rd minute, Musse finished off a nice team movement into the Ottawa penalty area. Tobias Warschewski slipped a pass in behind the Ottawa backline for Mihail Gherasimencov to run onto, and the Moldovan youth international chipped the ball to the back post. Musse was there to meet it, first to it before a pair of Ottawa players, redirecting it into the back of the net to open the scoring.
Musse slammed into the post in the process, seemingly injuring his arm, but was able to play through it despite grimacing at times.
It didn't take long for Musse to find another, doubling Cavalry's lead just 12 minutes later.
After having a free kick goal called off against Vancouver last weekend after Callum Montgomery drifted into an offside position, this one counted after deflecting off a defender and fooling Nathan Ingham, who had already been diving to his left to attempt a save before watching it bounce into the right side of his net.
Musse is no stranger to scoring in the capital -- it was his brace off the bench in August of last year that helped Cavalry beat Ottawa 2-1 at TD Place in his first game back from a months-long injury recovery. Saturday's brace was the fourth of his career, with another coming earlier this season in Halifax, and the other coming at home against the Wanderers in July 2022.
Musse's recent form has put him firmly in the Player of the Month conversation, and his seven goals on the season matches his career best from the 2022 campaign. He will need to be at his best again next weekend as Cavalry welcomes Forge to ATCO Field in another must-watch match at the top of the CPL table.
Ottawa's backline continues to impress despite being forced to make changes
With Amer Didic missing most of the season through injury, Atlético Ottawa's first-choice back-three has been a trio of young defenders -- 21-year-old Loïc Cloutier, 20-year-old Noah Abatneh, and 17-year-old Sergei Kozlovskiy. Cloutier and Abatneh were unavailable for this match after picking up knocks, so Tyr Duhaney-Walker and Brett Levis stepped into the defensive unit for just their fifth and third starts of the season, respectively.
In a full 90-minute performance, Duhaney-Walker had a clearance, an interception and won his only attempted tackle, and tied for the team lead with Levis with two aerial duels won. Completing 61 of his 70 passes on the night, Walker also created two scoring chances for his teammates, and was credited with the assist on the equalizing goal after the ball struck him before David Rodriguez fired it in.
Levis is a bit more experieced, and is also primarily a left back, but this was his second start of the year at centre-back. The other came in a road trip to Vancouver in May, but he was forced off after just eight minutes in that game through injury -- replaced by Duhaney-Walker -- and did not return to the pitch until last weekend. Despite missing significant time this year, Levis put in a very strong performance over 87 minutes of work, completing 61 of his 67 passes, winning eight of his eleven duels, and winning possession a joint-team-high six times -- tied for the latter stat with midfielder Juan Castro.
Kozlovskiy, who was the most defensive of the trio on Saturday night, hardly put a foot wrong as well as his status as arguably the best defender of his age in the country continues to grow with every passing week. Joaquim Coulanges, who stepped in at left wingback for Mejia as Kevin Dos Santos watched from the bench for the first 81 minutes, was lively as well, and led the team with three tackles won.
There is no concrete timetable announced by Mejia for when Cloutier and Abatneh will be ready to step back onto the pitch, but it was proven on Saturday night that they can still get results with their depth.
What They Said
"This sport has a lot of good histories [with] the teams that come back and win a trophy. I have a lot of experience as a professional player, as a coach, and when you feel that you have the Shield secure, aways something happens. I think that life and soccer will give us the opportunity to win something this year, and we are fighting for the Shield. We have another match against Forge, and then they need to feel the pressure, because we are hunting right now." — Atlético Ottawa head coach Diego Mejia
"We're not here to just take part, we're here to challenge for trophies. We gave ourselves a mountain to climb with the league, but what we've got to do is make sure that these are the type of performances that won us a playoff championship last year.**" — Cavalry FC head coach Tommy Wheeldon Jr
CanPL.ca Player of the Match
Ali Musse, Cavalry FC
Reigning Player of the Week Ali Musse's two goals had Cavalry on the verge of picking up three points, and saw him tie his career-high tally of seven on the year.
What’s next?
Both sides are involved in next weekend's Saturday CPL doubleheader. Cavalry FC host league leaders Forge FC for the first time since beating them in the 2024 CPL Final (2 p.m. MT/4 p.m. ET), while Ottawa welcome Vancouver FC to town later that evening (7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT).
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