Valour, Pacific left unsatisfied after trading early goals in 1-1 draw | MATCH ANALYSIS

Match in a minute or less

Despite both needing a win to boost their dwindling playoff hopes, Valour and Pacific were unable to break each other down in a tightly-contested matchup, leaving them to settle for a 1-1 draw at Princess Auto Stadium on Sunday.

Valour took an early lead in this game, as newcomer Diego Konincks did well to find the back of the net with a powerful header in the 15th minute, but Pacific responded quickly through an Alejandro Díaz penalty in the 22nd minute.

From there, neither side would be able to find a decisive marker the rest of the way, even as they pushed late into this game, pushing them to a draw that leaves Pacific nine points and Valour 13 points behind fifth-place, which is currently occupied by both the Halifax Wanderers and York United, who happen to face each other in a Labour Day clash on Monday.

Three Observations

High-quality chances hard to find as both sides settle for an unwanted draw:

Not only was this a classic 'must-win' game for both teams, who entered this matchday both needing a win to keep their respective playoff hopes in decent shape ahead of the last round of games, but it's starting to be that time of the year where these are also 'must not drop points' matches for them, too.

When you've got single-digit games left and a double-digit point gap between yourself and the playoff line, the margin for error becomes quite slim, and both teams were keenly aware of that.

Unfortunately, the challenge of a game where you know you don't want to drop points is that it can be hard to take risks as you chase the win, knowing that any mistake you make might cost you your season.

Unlike in a pure 'must-win' match, where you've got everything to gain and nothing to lose, making it more palpable to take risks, this was one of those matches where both teams were aware that they had just as much to lose as to gain.

Because of that, it makes it almost ironic in a sense that both will feel like they lost when considering that they had to share the points, as they'll both look at the point they gained and instead feel the sting of the two points they dropped.

It's tough for both sides, as they each put in a strong showing - this ended up being a good battle with some good end-to-end sequences - but they weren't able to find that decisive breakthrough that they needed to win.

To that point, both teams combined for just two big chances among the 21 combined shots each side took, and both came from Pacific - one being Díaz's penalty, and the other being an Aly Ndom chance off a corner that clocked in at just 0.1 xG. Despite sending eight of those 21 shots on target, most of them were from low-quality positions, with neither side creating a non-penalty opportunity worth more than 0.18 xG among those attempts.

In a sense, credit has to be given to how both teams defended, as there were several strong defensive actions worth highlighting, but ultimately, this game was defined by a lack of cutting edge in key moments.

Perhaps that should've been expected from the two teams with the fewest goals in the CPL this season, but it still looms large given the importance of this outcome, one that leaves both sides quite far from the playoff spots with not a lot of time left to make up ground.

"Overall, we needed one of those moments to go our way at the end, to take maximum points," Pacific's head coach, James Merriman, noted. "But it was a difficult game both ways, for both teams."

"There were spells from both sides," Valour's head coach, Philip Dos Santos, added. "I think that it's a game that's got to be a little bit clearer, where we need a little bit more quality in the final third, as the game was there for us. I think that the draw ends up being the fair result."

Konincks shines for new-look Valour in his debut:

Having switched to a back three formation a few games ago, Valour made a bit of a tweak in this match, as they returned to a back four set-up.

They still used three defenders to build-up, as Kelsey Egwu was asked to defend like a left back before shifting inside and becoming a centre back in possession, but this tweak allowed Valour to press with a front three instead of two, and that helped them protect their goal a lot better.

Yet, while their defensive shape was a big reason for the change, a bonus was that it allowed Valour to get a good first look at their new centre back, Diego Konincks, who has recently arrived on loan from the Chicago Fire's second team.

A centre back who is comfortable on the ball, Konincks slotted in at the left-centre back position in this game and didn't look out of place in his first start with his new club, scoring a goal as part of a strong showing.

He wasn't flashy, as he did most of his best work by making simple and effective decisions on the ball, but he brought a certain level of calm to his team's back line, which allowed them to keep 51.3% of possession and complete 88.9% of their passes - Konincks himself completed 98% of his 61 pass attempts.

Through that, and the insertion of that extra body out wide in Jordan Faria, that gave Valour a bit of a different look in the attack, as they were able to cause some problems for Pacific in wide areas, sending a whopping 79% of their attacks down the flanks (and interestingly, they sent a perfect split of 39.5% of their attacks down the right, and 39.5% down the left, too).

Unfortunately, despite making 56 more final third entries than Pacific, and taking 20 touches in the box, Valour weren't able to find enough quality to break Pacific open more than they did, generating just 1.01 xG. In particular, they struggled to get the ball to striker Myles Morgan, who had just one touch in Pacific's box - although it's worth noting that he was flagged for offside on four occasions.

In a sense, though, Morgan's struggle to stay onside sums up Valour's game quite well - they got to good areas, and did good things on the ball, but were just a bit out of sync once they needed to execute. That either led them to being offside, missing a shot or taking a poor touch, as they just couldn't capitalize on what they created for themselves.

Funnily enough, the one player who was able to execute was none other than Konincks, who scored a great header to cap off his remarkably efficient game - perhaps his arrival can help spark his team to be a bit less sloppy with their actions.

Certainly, he also brought that quality to his team's defence, helping them bounce back from a loss to the Halifax Wanderers last weekend, where they conceded four, so it was overall a strong first showing from their newcomer.

"I think as a backline we did well," Konincks offered. "I was proud of the guys that we adapted this quickly, going from a back five to four, which shows adaptability."

Formation tweak pushes Bustos, Chung down right side:

Much like Valour, Pacific also made a tweak to their formation ahead of this game, as what was supposed to be a battle of teams with back three set-ups turned into a battle of the back fours.

While Valour's shift was much more tactical, however, Pacific's was as much out of necessity as it was anything else.

That's not to say that they didn't ponder the tactical implications of switching from a 5-4-1 to a 4-2-3-1, namely in terms of the boost they gave their midfield for this game, but the big reason for this move was a lack of options at centre back after some injuries and key departures over the past few months.

Having just lost 5-1 to York United last week, showing some of the defensive woes that had cropped up as they looked to keep using the back five formation that helped them find a bit of stability earlier in the summer, this switch to that 4-2-3-1 worked quite well for them in this game.

Not only did Pacific win more duels than Valour this game, winning 53.8% of those battles, but they were also able to reignite the partnership of Marco Bustos and Kadin Chung down the right side.

That's key, as Bustos had fallen down Pacific's pecking order lately, finding himself coming off the bench for their last four matches before returning to the starting XI for this one.

He made the most of this return to the lineup, too, as he had three shots and created two chances from right wing, finding himself involved in more than half of Pacific's nine shots. Along with the link-up that he provided with Kadin Chung, that helped Pacific quite massively in the attack, as they tried to attack Valour's new-look set-up.

Interestingly, what worked well for Pacific, though, is that they didn't actually force that Bustos/Chung partnership too much, either, which is something they could be guilty of doing at times earlier in this season.

In fact, they sent just 28.6% of their attacks down the right wing, compared to 45.8% down the left, as they tried to keep the field balanced. By doing that, it actually opened up a lot more space for Bustos and Chung to be found on wide switches, which was to their benefit.

That's a credit to the work Dario Zanatta did on the left, however, and the support that Yann Toualy looked to provide him when shifting over from a #10 role, as they offered that balanced Pacific needed to attack.

Therefore, while Pacific will rue that they had just 0.55 non-penalty xG on the day, they'll be pleased to see the areas they got into with the ball, especially when factoring in that their defence was as solid as it's been in recent weeks - they did enter this game having conceded nine times in their last three games, after all, showing why they'll be pleased to concede just one.

Now, they'll want to be a bit more dangerous offensively, while avoiding conceding first (something they've now done in six of their last seven games), but this was a good start.

They won't have much time to build on it, as they'll need to pick up wins quite quickly here if they're to keep their playoff hopes alive, and they have some tough games ahead, but they'll look to grow from the positives they showed.

"It gives us a bit more stability in midfield with that extra body in there," Bustos said. "When we lose the ball, it gives us an extra guy in defence and to help slow the game down in transition."

"It also gives us a bit more freedom out wide," he added. "Either for me to come inside or stay wide, and for Kadin to come inside or to stay wide, so we've just gotta keep working on that."

What They Said

"It's all fine margins. I think that we did enough to into good positions, but then it's about execution. We had to execute better, and when I say that, it's not lack for a lack of desire or willingness; the guys played a good game. When you look at the overall game, I think that the guys started strong, positively and on the front foot. We knew that this game would have momentum shifts, but we managed the momentum shifts, and we were able to not give too much momentum to Pacific." -- Valour FC head coach Philip Dos Santos

"The decision making in the final act and in the final third comes down to rhythm, confidence and timing. I thought we got into really good situations. (...) We were there, we were where we needed to be, we've just got to make more of those opportunities and those chances. The good thing is that we're getting to where we need to be, but the challenge for us is to execute now, we don't have time (in our season). Guys are pushing, they're putting it all out there, they wanted to make something happen today, but it's not easy with how both teams pushed to defend right until the very end." -- Pacific FC head coach James Merriman

CanPL.ca Player of the Match

Diego Konincks, Valour FC

In his first start with the club, having made an appearance off the bench last week vs. the Halifax Wanderers, Konincks was a key piece for Valour at the back, as mentioned earlier.

Not only did he score his team's only goal, but he was strong in possession, making 60 out of 61 passes (98%), including four passes into the final third and five long balls, while also chipping in with one tackle, six clearances, four recoveries and two won duels defensively.

What’s next?

Valour will head out to British Columbia for their next matchup, as they get set to face Vancouver FC at Willoughby Community Park on Friday, September 5th (7:30 p.m. PT/9:30 p.m. CT). Meanwhile, Pacific will stay on the road, as they'll travel east to take on Atlético Ottawa at TD Place on Saturday, September 6th (4:00 p.m. PT/7:00 p.m. ET).

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