HIGHLIGHTS: Atlético Ottawa vs. HFX Wanderers FC (April 15, 2023)

CanPL

The 2023 Canadian Premier League season kicked off on Saturday afternoon with a 1-1 draw between Atlético Ottawa and the Halifax Wanderers at TD Place in the nation’s capital.

Trading shots early in the match, both sides came out of the gates looking to get off to a quick start and start the season on the front foot. For the second season in a row a Halifax Wanderers player opened the scoring in the first match of the season, with Zachary Fernandez eventually finding the back of the net for the visitors in the 16th minute.

Lorenzo Callegari, making his Wanderers debut, pressed and stole the ball from former Wanderers striker Samuel Salter in midfield, sparking a quick counter-attack. The ball fell to Aidan Daniels after the tackle from Callegari, who charged forward, leaving a pair of Ottawa defenders in his shadow. He then laid the ball off to Fernandez, who calmly slotted the ball into the bottom left corner with a shot toward the far post, past a diving Nathan Ingham.

The game opened up a bit more following the goal, with Ottawa starting to push for a goal, and Halifax looking for a quick second one. The Wanderers were defending well in the first 45, putting pressure on the home side in all areas of the pitch. Ottawa sometimes looked frustrated at their lack of end product, while it was the Wanderers playing more freely while up a goal.

With seconds left in the opening half, reigning CPL Player of the Year Ollie Bassett tied things up for Atlético Ottawa with a tidy finish for his first goal of the new campaign. Jean-Aniel Assi collected a searching long pass over the top from fellow debutant Luke Singh, before passing it laterally to Bassett.

He took a touch before finding the bottom left corner with a shot that managed to thread the needle between a couple of defenders and past a diving Yann Fillion with one of the last kicks of the first half.

The second half started the same way as the first — cautious as both teams tried to get a feel for one another, but not without its chances. Mo Omar had a couple of efforts blocked in the first few minutes of the half, while Kosi Nwafornso hit the target for the Wanderers. Zakaria Bahous, who replaced Gabriel Antinoro at the break, missed the target with a shot of his own.

With time winding down in the second half, Atlético Ottawa thought they deserved a penalty after an attempted cross into the box struck the arm of Wanderers left back Ryan James, but the referee thought the arm was in a natural position and didn’t point to the spot.

Bassett nearly gave Ottawa their first lead of the match with a low shot from close range after running onto a through ball into the penalty area, but his shot bounced wide of the far post. Bassett, visibly frustrated, knew that he probably should have hit the target with what was one of the final opportunities of the game.

Neither side would have another opportunity as good as that one as time ran out at the end of the 90 minutes. Both sides will feel as though they deserved at least one point from the match, but both also know that they probably played well enough for all three — but failed to take advantage of their chances.

After an entertaining start to their Canadian Premier League seasons, these two teams will meet again on Wednesday at York Lions Stadium in Canadian Championship preliminary round action.

BOX SCORE

Goals

16′ — Zachary Fernandez (Halifax Wanderers)

45+2′ — Ollie Bassett (Atlético Ottawa)

Discipline

32′ — Yellow: Miguel Acosta (Atlético Ottawa)

59′ — Yellow: Mo Omar (Halifax Wanderers)

75′ — Yellow: Callum Watson (Halifax Wanderers)

90+4′ — Yellow: Ollie Bassett (Atlético Ottawa)