HIGHLIGHTS: Cavalry FC vs. FC Edmonton (June 26, 2022)
Cavalry FC remained red-hot in CPL play on Sunday, extending their unbeaten run in league play to a CPL record of eight games, all thanks to a 3-1 Al Classico win over FC Edmonton in this matchday’s ComeOn! Match of the Week.
In a commanding performance in front of a strong Cavalry crowd at ATCO Field, who showed up in numbers for the club’s Pride Night, Cavalry came out strong right from the get-go, continuing their dominance over their neighbours.
As a result, Charlie Trafford found the first good chance of the game right in the fourth minute, as the Cavalry midfielder did well to open up room for a shot at the edge of the box, but his goalbound strike would be nicely stopped by Edmonton’s Andreas Vaikla, who managed to throw his body in front of the effort.
At the other end, Edmonton then nearly caught the hosts by surprise just minutes later, doing well to apply the pressure on Cavalry. After forcing a turnover high up the pitch by Gabriel Bitar, the Edmonton midfielder decided to go for goal, and was nearly rewarded for his ambition, striking the wrong side of the crossbar with a thunderous strike, just narrowly missing out on the opener.
Continuing a lively start to this match, Cavalry had the next chance right in the 14th minute, as Ben Fisk managed to find the run of Aribim Pepple with a nice cross, and Pepple made decent contact on the header, just directing it wide of the mark from in tight.
Then, Tobias Warschewski had a shot from distance for Edmonton, but he’d also send it wide, curling past the wrong side of the post, something that Jose Escalante would do for Cavalry less than a minute later.
Right after, Edmonton would fashion together a great chance in the 20th minute, as Warschewski found some space for himself in the box, where he’d do well to backheel the ball into space for the run of Mamadi Camara, and he’d get a decent shot off, but one that Cavalry’s Marco Carducci would manage to save rather easily from close range.
Refusing to slow the pace of the game down, Cavalry then had the best chance of the game in the 23rd minute, as Pepple found the run of Sergio Camargo in behind, sending his playmaker in for a breakaway, but his seemingly goalbound shot would be stopped by Vaikla, who kept his team in it with a great save.
Through that pressure, that’d allow Cavalry to open the scoring right in the 26th minute. After a nice run into the box by Elijah Adekugbe, he managed to find Pepple with a low cutback, but Pepple’s shot would be blocked.
On the ensuing rebound, however, the ball would bounce off of Pepple’s knee and into the net, giving the hosts the lead, one that they had really started to push for, even if that wasn’t how they drew it up in the end.
Building off that, Cavalry then doubled their lead nearly immediately, too, as Escalante managed to just keep a loose ball into the box from rolling out of bounds, whipping it into the box, where it’d bounce off the leg of Edmonton’s Nyal Higgins and in for an own goal.
They wouldn’t be satisfied with that lead, either. In the 35th minute, Cavalry’s Bradley Vliet managed to sneak in behind the Edmonton defence, finding himself staring down Vaikla, but Vaikla would get the best of that battle, putting out a strong hand to Vliet’s volley.
Just looking to get something back in their favour before the half, Warschewski nearly got a goal back for Edmonton, doing well to unleash a vicious strike from distance, but his shot would fly just over the Cavalry goal.
That pressure would pay off, though, as Edmonton then found their opener in the 45th minute. After a nice bit of possession, the ball fell to Bitar at the edge of the box, where he managed to turn and fire, and fire did he ever, unleashing a missile into the top corner.
With that, it gave Edmonton a bit of hope right before halftime, as they were all of a sudden back into a game it felt like they had started to drift out of, giving them a bit of a lifeline.
Yet, as soon as they got that hope, Cavalry wrestled it back right on the other side of halftime, as they did well to win a penalty, one that Pepple stepped up to take, confidently stroking it home for his fifth of the season and second of the game.
Plus, they’d continue to apply the pressure, too, as second-half sub, Elliot Simmons, unleashed a rocket of a volley on a corner, one that seemingly seemed bound for the goal, just inching past the wrong side of the post on the attempt.
Once again stuck looking at a two-goal deficit, Edmonton continued to push despite that, however, coming close in the 62nd minute through a Camara header, but he would just fail to get the desired contact on his attempt from in close.
Then, Edmonton’s Luke Singh would go for an adventure in the 73rd minute, doing well to fashion space for a shot, but his attempt would be straight at Carducci, who’d easily save the shot.
Continuing that push, second-half sub, CJ Smith, had his team’s best chance of the second half, finding himself wide-open in the box, yet he’d slash at his shot, much to the relief of Carducci, who would be able to make the easy save.
Right after, Edmonton kept knocking on the door, too, as another sub, Kairo Coore, got on the end of a nice cross into the box, making great contact on a header, one that forced a good save out of Carducci.
Hungry to get anything out of the game, yet another sub, T-Boy Fayia, also got into a great area for his team, sneaking in behind the Cavalry defence for a long ball, and he’d unleash a solid shot, one that Carducci would only narrowly deny on a great stop.
From there, however, that’d be all that Edmonton would be able to muster up, leaving Cavalry to cruise to their victory, allowing the hosts to extend their lead atop the CPL standings.
BOX SCORE
Goals
26′ — Aribim Pepple (Cavalry FC)
28′ — Own Goal: Nyal Higgins (Cavalry FC)
45′ — Gabriel Bitar (FC Edmonton)
48′ — PK: Aribim Pepple (Cavalry FC)
Discipline
10′ — Yellow: Mason Trafford (Cavalry FC)
11′ — Yellow: Simon Triantafillou (FC Edmonton)
34′ — Yellow: Elijah Adekugbe (Cavalry FC)
52′ — Yellow: Azriel Gonzalez (FC Edmonton)
58′ — Yellow: Aribim Pepple (Cavalry FC)
67′ — Yellow: Luke Singh (FC Edmonton)
