The reigning Canadian Premier League champions Pacific FC snapped a lengthy winless streak on Saturday, beating FC Edmonton 3-2 at Clarke Stadium. After going up 3-0, a pair of late goals gave The Eddies some hope, but Pacific held on for all three points.
The Eddies came flying out of the gate in front of their home fans, and were first to put the ball into the back of the net, although it would be disallowed. The Marcus Simmons and Mamadi Camara partnership was again a promising one, as a perfect cross into the box from the Edmonton left back Simmons
Just after the half-hour mark, Pacific had their best chance of the match to that point, as Djenairo Daniels played Golden Boot leader Alejandro Diaz in on goal with a perfectly weighted pass between a pair of defenders. Diaz ran onto it and fired a shot, but it went wide of the far post.
The Eddies responded immediately, thanks to another fantastic pass from Simmons. He lobbed a pass up the pitch to a rushing Wesley Timoteo, sending him in on a breakaway, but his shot from the edge of the penalty area rolled into the hands of Callum Irving.
As the pace picked up from both teams, Pacific finally took the lead in the 39th minute. Josh Heard got onto the end of a cross into the box, playing it back into the danger area in front of the net. It fell to Sean Young, who volleyed it past Andreas Vaikla to give his team the lead.
Edmonton were able to hang on for most of the first half, but they weren’t able to limit the damage to one goal, as Heard doubled the lead four minutes later. Running onto a lob over the Edmonton backline, Heard jumped to meet the ball in the air and lift it over Vaikla. Pacific’s strong end to the half saw them take a deserved 2-0 lead into the break.
As the clock was ticking toward the hour mark, Daniels made it three for Pacific with an easy tap in from a couple of yards out. Diaz was running at Vaikla and tricked him with a little gesture that indicated he was going to shoot, but when Vaikla flinched Diaz went around him and centred the ball for Daniels, who made no mistake.
Gabriel Bitar pulled one back for The Eddies in the 80th minute, taking advantage of a sloppy giveaway at the back. Bitar picked up the ball deep in Pacific’s half and took a touch to set his feet, before firing a shot past Irving from the edge of the box.
Bitar’s strike gave Edmonton some hope, and they kept pushing for more. Just three minutes later they got another, as Mamadi Camara redeemed himself for an earlier miss. Eddies defender Cale Loughrey played a ball down the pitch and over the Pacific defenders, and Camara caught up to it to go in alone on goal.
After closing in on Irving, Camara chipped it over the Pacific goalkeeper, cutting the lead down to one.
Despite a final ten minutes in which the Eddies were on the front foot and really tested Pacific, a third goal would never materialise. It’s the first win for Pacific FC since a May 14th victory against this same opponent, and sees them jump back into third place in the standings, ahead of Forge FC.
