Pacific FC continued their strong start to the 2024 CPL season on Friday, as they defeated Valour FC 2-0 at Starlight Stadium for their second win in as many games to start the new year.
With that, Pacific also ensured that they’ll finish matchday #2 of CPL action tied atop the table, having joined fellow BC CPL side Vancouver FC in a tie on six points with this result.
To start this game, Valour had two good early looks at goal inside 15 minutes, as Dante Campbell first sent a dangerous half-volley towards goal in the 10th minute, narrowly sending it over the mark. Then, Shaan Hundal had a good look at goal off a cross in the 12th minute, but his header sailed just past the far post.
At the other end, Pacific wouldn’t be able to fashion a big chance until the 35th minute, but their wait was nearly worth it, as Dario Zanatta flashed a low shot just past the post after a nice dribble into the box, coming inches away from giving his team the lead.
Valour responded with a chance of their own in the 38th minute, however, as Jordi Swibel found Hundal in the box with a headed pass, and Hundal had a good look at goal from in-tight, only finding himself denied by a confident save from Pacific’s goalkeeper, Emil Gazdov.
Continuing a flurry of action to end the half, Pacific fashioned up another great opportunity in the 41st minute, as Steffan Yeates found Sean Young in the box with a dangerous cutback, but Pacific’s newest Centurion’s shot would be easily saved by Jonathan Viscosi in the Valour goal.
Then, right before half time, Valour had their best chance as Hundal found Abdul Binate with a nice through ball, but Binate was unable to keep his shot on target.
Frustrated with how their first half had gone at home, however, Pacific made some big changes at half, making a rare triple substitution to begin the second frame of action.
That move would pay immediate dividends, too – in just the 48th minute, substitute Cédric Toussaint found Moore with a great through ball, which then led Moore to find another of the substitutes, Josh Heard, who slotted home from close range to give his team the lead.
Continuing their strong start, Zanatta had another good look for Pacific, doing well to cut inside and have a look at goal from outside of the box, sending a dangerous shot just over the net.
Eager to double their lead, Pacific kept on pushing and had a great opportunity in the 68th minute, as Moore managed to win the ball in a dangerous area before firing a powerful shot, one that would force a strong kick save out of Viscosi. Then, less than a minute later, Yeates had a shot from distance, forcing another save out of the Valour goalkeeper.
Right after, Toussaint tried his hand at testing Viscosi from distance, and he nearly scored a goal to remember, as his powerful shot flew just over the crossbar after nearly dipping into the goal.
At the other end, Valour started to find their feet again after the 70th minute and came close to finding an equalizer through Hundal, who tested Gazdov with a dangerous shot from a tight angle, forcing a dangerous rebound that was only narrowly cleared by a Pacific defender.
Soon after, however, Pacific would seemingly take this game out of reach, as they finally found their second. After Toussaint had a shot saved in the box, the ball fell to Young, who slotted home from close range to mark his 100th game for Pacific in style.
Despite that goal, however, Valour would keep pushing, and nearly made it an interesting game in the 79th minute, as Diogo Ressurreição fired a dangerous shot from distance after winning the ball in a dangerous area, forcing a big stop out of Gazdov.
Late on, Pacific almost put an exclamation point on their victory in the 90th minute, as Zazkaria Bahous had two great chances to make it 3-0, but his first shot would be saved and his rebound would drift just past the post.
Fortunately for him, though, he wouldn’t come to rue those chances, as his team would do enough to grind out the result the rest of the way to continue their hot start to 2024.
BOX SCORE
Lineups
Pacific FC: Gazdov; Mukumbilwa, Amedume (Dada-Luke 46′), Meilleur-Giguère, Ndom; Zanatta (Bahous 64′), Young, Lamothe (Toussaint 46′), Yeates (Tîrcoveanu 76′), Sellouf (Heard 46′); Moore
Valour FC: Viscosi; Alarcón (Sukunda 46′), Samaké, Chantzopoulos, Facchineri (Haynes 66′), Antonoglou; Verhoeven (Sánchez 82′), Campbell; Swibel (Ressurreição 66′), Binate (Hanson 64′); Hundal
Goals
48′ — Josh Heard (Pacific FC)
78′ — Sean Youn (Pacific FC)
Discipline
15′ — Yellow: Gianfranco Facchineri (Valour FC)
37′ — Yellow: Jordi Swibel (Valour FC)
43′ — Yellow: Noah Verhoeven (Valour FC)
51′ — Yellow: Josh Heard (Pacific FC)
77′ — Yellow: Zakaria Bahous (Pacific FC)
84′ — Yellow: Dante Campbell (Valour FC)
90+1′ — Yellow: Jordan Haynes (Valour FC)
