York drop four on Vancouver in dominant home win | MATCH ANALYSIS

Match in a minute or less

York United FC are now ten unbeaten against Vancouver FC after their most dominant result yet against the Eagles, a 4-0 victory on Saturday at York Lions Stadium.

Adonijah Reid opened the scoring in just the third minute, before York well and truly put the match to bed late, with three goals in the final ten minutes, all from former Vancouver FC players. Gabriel Bitar scored a brace off the bench, while Kembo Kibato scored his first as a York United player in the 88th minute.

This is the fourth consecutive match, and third this season already, that the Eagles have failed to score against York United. As a result, they now slip 13 points below the playoff line. York, meanwhile, create further space above that line, and they are now nine points ahead of sixth-place Pacific FC.

Three Observations

Statement win for York United as they further solidify spot in the table

York United will remain in fifth place at the end of this CPL weekend, a spot they have held for some time now.

But Saturday's performance, and particularly its result in a 4-0 victory over Vancouver FC, was another statement from the Nine Stripes that they are in hot pursuit of the league's top four, while further leaving the playoff line in the rearview mirror. Now nine points ahead of sixth-place Pacific FC, and just one behind fourth-place Cavalry, who are in action in the CPL on TSN match on Sunday against Valour.

It wasn't a perfect afternoon for the hosts. Particularly after they opened the scoring in just the third minute, they invited Vancouver FC back into the match and were lucky their opponents weren't sharper on the day. But with multiple key players missing, York flexed their depth and quality in a dominant display.

"The scary thing is we came into the changing room and we all know, yeah, we won 4-0, but we still feel like we have an extra gear," said York United midfielder Kembo Kibato.

Particularly, there was a lot to like in the ruthlessness with which York finished off this match. They didn't sit back and protect their lead, but instead recognized vulnerabilities in Vancouver's backline and added several attack-minded substitutions into the mix, including Gabriel Bitar, Shaan Hundal and Shola Jimoh.

For a club who has struggled to see out matches all season, this was the most competently and comfortably they have done it. It also showed just how deep they are in attack, that they can essentially send in a second wave of attackers now, completely changing their front three late in the match, and still be just as dangerous, and dangerous in different ways.

Shaan Hundal impresses in York debut

Another hometown boy pulled on the green of York United on Saturday for the first time and made an impression. In his Nine Stripes' debut, Brampton Ont.'s Shaan Hundal put in a strong shift against his former side, Vancouver FC.

Hundal came into the match in the 64th minute and instantly started linking play in the final third, setting up Massimo Ferrin for a great chance just a few minutes after coming into the game, before narrowly missing the target himself on the rebound. He finished with 12 of his 13 passes completed, created two chances, and looked like he fit right in with the York attacking unit.

In particular, he dropped back and held up play really well, combining with his teammates quickly, particularly Ferrin, and really doing a good job of drawing in the Vancouver central defenders. In the 84th minute, he had his finest moment, playing an excellent one-two with Ferrin, before slipping in Gabriel Bitar down the left who converted for York's second goal.

"We play a style of play that I think will fit him extremely well," said York United head coach Mauro Eustáquio after the match. "And I think now you look at us, we have [Altobelli] with a lot of goals, a lot of assists, and someone that's always ready to score more, and when he comes off we put in another body in Shaan. So I think it makes us stronger, that we can at times play two up top, or can play one up top, and play with different ways to play, but still sticking with our DNA. So extremely happy for him right now."

For a player looking for confidence, who has certainly been an effective striker in this league before, Saturday's match could not have been a better debut for either club or player -- other than, of course, the dream of scoring on his debut. York's already lethal attack looks like it has another element, as evidenced by Hundal's passing chart below, showing his excellent hold-up play throughout his just under a half-hour on the pitch.

Listless Vancouver drift further from below the playoff line

After arguably the best week in club history, in which they advanced to the Canadian Championship semi-final for the first time, Vancouver FC kicked off the second half of their CPL season with a result that did further damage to what has been a difficult league campaign.

Playing against York United, who held the fifth and final playoff position, Vancouver FC struggled on both sides of the ball before capitulating late in their biggest loss of the season to date.

In attack, they didn't test York goalkeeper Diego Urtiaga once over 90 minutes, managing just 0.23 expected goals on five shot attempts -- all wide of target. After Pathé Ndiaye's exit in the 56th minute, they lacked any real central presence in attack, with attacking midfielder Juan Batista making just eight touches, and completing two of four passes. They held a lot of the ball, managing 54 per cent possession, but turned that into just five touches in the York box.

Defensively, there were alarm bells throughout the match as Vancouver left plenty of space for York to operate, particularly between the lines of midfield and defence. They were carved open on many occasions, before York finally started to finish their chances late -- but gave up eight shots on target, six of which were considered big chances.

To add further pain for Vancouver FC, a number of their former players were instrumental in York's victory. Gabriel Bitar scored twice, Kembo Kibato chipped in with a late goal and on his York debut, Shaan Hundal, who is Vancouver FC's first-ever goalscorer, had an assist.

It was the exact kind of performance that Vancouver couldn't afford in a match like this, where they had to at least keep York United, and that final playoff position, within reaching distance. Instead, they are further adrift, and have lost almost all of the momentum from that historic result against Cavalry that they were hoping would ignite their league season.

What They Said

"I think it was an important win due to multiple factors. I think we knew it wasn't going to be an easy game, I think it's a weird one to say but the early goal made it more difficult for us. We came into the game, good mentality, a couple of chances, and I think we relaxed a bit. We got a little bit sloppy...but we had the [starters] weather the storm, and then had players come off the bench that finished the game. So extremely happy with the guys." -- York United head coach Mauro Eustáquio

"I'm disappointed to take three goals in seven minutes, that's not really who we are. I'm disappointed about of course the result, and overall just the way we played this game. We move on, we grow, we learn from it and we go after the next game. But congratulations to York because I think they played a very good game." -- Vancouver FC head coach Afshin Ghotbi

CanPL.ca Player of the Match

Gabriel Bitar, York United

Bitar played just 18 minutes off the bench, but he made a significant impact in the way that York were able to see out Saturday's match. His crucial goal in the 84th minute made it 2-0, which opened the floodgates for the Nine Stripes. He added a second in stoppage time, and also played a key role in setting up York's third goal. He won possession twice in the final third and completed a pair of crosses.

What’s next?

York United are headed to Calgary, where they meet Cavalry FC on Saturday, July 26 at ATCO Field (5 p.m. ET). Vancouver FC, meanwhile, head home to host Valour on Friday, July 25 (7 p.m. PT).

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