| Final Score: Forge FC 1-1 Vancouver FC Goalscorers: Borges 45'; Fotsing 72' Game of the 2025 season: 102 CPL Match: 697 |
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Match in a minute or less
Vancouver FC are unbeaten in their last four games now, as they took a 1-1 draw from Hamilton against Forge FC on Saturday to upend the CPL Shield race.
Although Tristan Borges opened the scoring just before halftime for the hosts, Vancouver youngster Emrick Fotsing slotted home an equalizer midway through the second frame.
VFC became the first visiting CPL team to take a point at Hamilton Stadium since June 29, and the first to score there since they did in a 2-1 loss on July 5. Forge now sit three points ahead of Atlético Ottawa in the race for first place, with Atleti set to play at Valour on Sunday afternoon.
Three Observations
Vancouver offer chance to energetic youngsters after exhausting week
Martin Nash was dealt a difficult hand this week, tasked with energizing and motivating his team in very limited time after Wednesday night's TELUS Canadian Championship final.
The loss to the Whitecaps had been a taxing evening, both physically and emotionally, for a Vancouver FC side who had been building up to it for weeks. So, it won't have been easy to dust themselves off, travel all the way across the country, and play the first-place team in the CPL just four days after.
Hoping to put as energetic a team as possible on the pitch, Nash rotated his team heavily, making eight changes from the starting XI for the final.
Aidan O'Connor was out anyway due to yellow card accumulation, but regular starters Nicolás Mezquida and Vasco Fry also didn't make the trip to Hamilton, while Thierno Bah, Hugo Mbongue, Paris Gee, Michel Da Silva and Terran Campbell all dropped to the bench.
The starters that came in for this one were, by and large, a young group. Teenagers Emrick Fotsing and Kevin Podgorni (making his first pro start) slotted into the lineup, as did 21-year-old Tyler Crawford — who only returned to the squad three weeks ago after rehabbing an ACL injury. The backline was anchored, as usual, by 21-year-old Matteo Campagna, while U SPORTS signing Thomas Powell played on the wing.
"They just put their heads down and put the work in," Nash said in his post-match press conference. "That's what you want. It was nice to freshen up the team a bit with some young guys, and some guys that really deserve to play a bit more than they have been. They came out with a point to prove, and I thought it was a good performance."
Nash is right to be impressed by his group, which showed serious character in getting a draw in Hamilton. Forge have only failed to win four times at home this year, and they haven't lost a CPL match there all season. They'd been on a five-game clean sheet streak at home until Fotsing scored.
The fact that this heavily-rotated and youth-heavy Vancouver side, on short rest and missing most of their top names, refused to fold when trailing in Hamilton at halftime speaks to the foundations being built within the club.
Forge attack kept quiet as Shield ambitions take a blow
The CPL team happiest about this result is probably Atlético Ottawa. They've been desperate for Forge to drop points at some point over the last few weeks, and this draw gives them a lifeline in the CPL Shield race.
Forge will end Saturday night three points ahead of Atleti, who could put themselves in a tie for first place if they can beat Valour FC on Sunday. Of course, Forge do still hold the head-to-head tiebreaker, but their margin for error is basically zero now.
In the first half, Forge looked on their way to a trademark controlled win; they had over 75 per cent possession and eight shots, and they finally found their breakthrough just before halftime to take the lead. They'd kept Vancouver to just the one shot in the first 45 minutes, and just one touch in their penalty area.
Things turned around entirely in the second half, though. Vancouver sorted out their defensive organization and got themselves a foothold, while Forge seemed to let off the gas somewhat. Bobby Smyrniotis said after the game that he felt his side had, uncharacteristically, lost some of its aggression after halftime and stopped pressing as high, which let Vancouver back into it.
"We stopped being aggressive in the second half. That's something we talked with the guys about after the game, it wasn't by design. [Vancouver] switch things up, but that's fine. We have to stick to what we were doing. And if that doesn't work, then we'll adjust. And we just didn't do that, and that gave them a little bit of the ball, gave them a little bit more confidence, and that's the last thing you want in these games."
In a way, this was a textbook case of the dangers of not capitalizing on opportunities to put a game to bed. Forge didn't make good enough use of their advantage in the first half, which allowed the opponents to adjust.
Vancouver had more of the ball in the second half and five shots, creating a few more opportunities on the counter-attack which made Forge have to leave some defenders further back to mitigate.
"You see games like this happen quite often, all around the world," said Forge midfielder Tristan Borges. "You're in control, you have a lot of chances, you don't capitalize on it. They just need one chance, right? It's frustrating."
Now, with two matches left on the schedule and both of them against fierce rivals — at Cavalry next weekend, then home against York United to end the regular season — Forge will essentially have to treat both fixtures as must-wins.
The race for the CPL Shield could well be neck-and-neck by the end of this weekend.
VFC leaning on 'trust' for improved late-season form
Vancouver FC may not be headed for the playoffs, but they continue to show some excellent fight at this point in the season. Perhaps galvanized by the Canadian Championship run, they've proven very difficult to beat lately, now undefeated in their last four league matches.
They've become more organized at the back and give up fewer chances, which is part of the reason they're conceding fewer goals.
Interim coach Nash has expressed frustration that the goals his side does give up seem to come at the worst moments — like right before halftime, as it did today. He has pointed to the last-minute Aly Ndom equalizer in their match against Pacific a few weeks ago, which is the only reason VFC sit behind their B.C. rivals in the standings right now.
Still, there's been considerable buy-in from the Vancouver players for what Nash is preaching. They've rotated several times over the past few weeks but continue to play well and get results.
One of the beneficiaries of that rotation in this game, Fotsing, said there's a lot of trust building in the group right now.
"It's all about the trust," Fotsing told reporters postmatch. "We did it against York, when we changed the lineup it worked out; we won. Then we went back with another against Halifax, it worked again. And in the final, obviously we went all in. Today was just about trusting the guys that play less. We know everybody's got the quality, it's all about taking the chances."
It can be a difficult job to motivate players late in the season after a team has already been eliminated from playoff contention. However, there are small goals that the club can aim for, one of which is getting themselves off the bottom of the table.
That's much easier said than done, with a brutal final two games (away to Atlético Ottawa then at home against Cavalry), but there's a lot of spirit in the Vancouver team recently.
What They Said
"You need the second goal in this type of game, because it doesn't matter what you're doin gon the ball, the other team I'll say is good for two or three good chances a game, and if they can capitalize on that, that fundamentally changes things up, and then you're going about the game in a different style. We had our opportunities to put the game away, and don't." — Forge FC head coach Bobby Smyrniotis
"[First half] we were organized defensively, but were sloppy with the ball, so at halftime, I just said, 'Guys, the defensive shape is fine.' Gave a few little pointers dealing with some of the rotations that they keep hurting us with, and then was just talking about keeping the ball, positions so we can keep it better. Their pressure dropped as well, which helped. ... We were able to at least take the sting out of the game." — Vancouver FC head coach Martin Nash
CanPL.ca Player of the Match
Emrick Fotsing, Vancouver FC
The teenage midfielder got back into the starting XI and made the most of his opportunity in a good midfield performance. His finish for the equalizer was excellent, plus he was very tidy on the ball, with 91.7 per cent pass accuracy.
What’s next?
These sides return next weekend for their penultimate matches of the regular season. Forge will head to Alberta to play Cavalry FC on Friday, Oct. 10 (9:30 p.m. ET/6:30 p.m. PT), before Vancouver take on Atlético Ottawa in the capital on Sunday, Oct. 12 (3 p.m. ET/12 p.m. PT).
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