Looking for their first win of the season in Ottawa on Sunday, Valour FC put up one of the most dominant performances in CPL history, beating Atlético Ottawa 6-1 at TD Place. Moses Dyer and Alessandro Riggi scored two goals each, with Rocco Romeo and Brett Levis adding the others.
The visitors controlled a lot of the early possession, and as a result created several chances at the beginning of the match. After three shots in the opening ten minutes, their early pressure would be rewarded. After Diego Espejo was judged to have fouled Moses Dyer in the penalty area, referee Scott Bowman pointed to the spot.
After scoring from the spot last weekend against Pacific, and scoring four penalties a year ago, the New Zealand international Dyer stepped up and smashed a shot past Nathan Ingham, who dived the right way but couldn’t keep the ball out of the back of the net.
Valour doubled their lead 13 minutes later, with Alessandro Riggi taking advantage of a dangerous cross from William Akio. Playing a ball to the back post, a slight deflection from Ingham played the ball into the path of Riggi, who had an easy tap in to make it 2-0.
Valour nearly added a third in the 40th minute, as William Akio cut left in the penalty area and fired a shot at goal, but his left-footed effort came back off the post. Riggi was there to meet the rebound, but the ball came at him quickly and his reactionary follow up effort sailed over the bar.
Moments after Riggi’s miss, Ottawa cut the lead in half, with some help from Valour goalkeeper Jonathan Sirois. After running onto a pass down the left side, Maxim Tissot fired the ball across the box, which Sirois redirected into the roof of his own goal. It was what Tissot was aiming for, but it had the desired result, ending up in the back of the net.
After missing a similar opportunity early in the first half, Rocco Romeo restored Valour’s two goal lead with a header in the 45th minute. With the earlier miss, and an early yellow card, it was redemption for the young centre-back, in his first full season with the club after joining from Toronto FC in the offseason.
Riggi extended the lead to three with his second goal of the match. After Catavolo’s strike hit the post, Riggi picked up the ball, dribbled around Miguel Acosta, and poked the ball under Nathan Ingham for Valour’s fourth of the half.
Not even five minutes into the second half, Dyer scored again, making it 5-1 in the 50th minute. Akio was again the provider, slicing through the Ottawa side like they weren’t even there, before playing the ball laterally to his teammate. It took a deflection on the way through, but Dyer took his chance well to fire the bouncing ball past Ingham.
To put the icing on the cake, Brett Levis scored an impressive individual goal, extending the lead to five goals. After breaking through a pair of challenges, Levis took a few touches to set his feet near the edge of the penalty area, before taking a shot himself. His effort sailed toward the top left corner, smacking the post and going into Ingham’s goal.
Valour could have had a few more, but ended up with a dominant 6-1 victory. The five goals scored in the opening half is a CPL record, and it’s only the fourth time in league history that seven or more goals have been scored in a league game. Six goals in a game is also a Valour FC record.
It’s Valour’s first win of the season, and Ottawa’s first loss. Valour are returning home to IG Field to take on Forge FC in their home opener next time out, while Ottawa will look to bounce back away to York United.
BOX SCORE
Goals
14′ — Moses Dyer (Valour FC) — penalty
27′ — Alessandro Riggi (Valour FC)
40′ — Jonathan Sirois (Valour FC) — own goal
45′ — Rocco Romeo (Valour FC)
45+2′ — Alessandro Riggi (Valour FC)
50′ — Moses Dyer (Valour FC)
69′ — Brett Levis (Valour FC)
Discipline
8′ — Yellow: Rocco Romeo (Valour FC)
72′ — Yellow: Ben McKendry (Atlético Ottawa)
74′ — Yellow: Matthew Catavolo (Valour FC)
