HIGHLIGHTS: Valour FC vs. Atlético Ottawa (September 9, 2024) | Presented by tonybet

Valour FC and Atlético Ottawa shared the spoils on Monday night at Princess Auto Stadium, as neither side could solve the other more than once en route to a 1-1 draw in Winnipeg.

Both managers had some selection questions to answer heading into this game. Valour, without the suspended Gianfranco Facchineri, got Dante Campbell back from a ban of his own, and coach Phil Dos Santos opted to place the natural midfielder directly into Facchineri’s spot at centre-back. Meanwhile, Atleti were missing Matteo de Brienne — also suspended — so Luke Singh came into the back five, while Rubén del Campo returned up top and Gabriel Antinoro slotted into midfield for three total changes from last time out.

Valour controlled the ball in the early stages and were patient in possession, moving it around the back looking for gaps in the Ottawa block. Eventually in the 10th minute, they chose a moment to strike. Themi Antonoglou sent a long switch out to the right flank for Jordan Faria, who came to the edge of the box and picked a cross to Shaan Hundal. The striker had made an excellent run in front of his marker to get his head on the ball and nod it in, putting the hosts in front.

After the goal, Atleti grew into the match a bit and started to probe more in attack, attempting to play down the wings and cross toward the box, however they also left themselves open to the counter. Twice in the first half Valour found a striker with a long ball on the break, though Hundal and Jordi Swibel both found themselves denied by good last-ditch defending and a well-made save from Nathan Ingham.

The second half saw Ottawa take on more of an active role in possession, but for most of the time they struggled to get meaningful touches in the Valour area, with much of the game instead focused in the middle of the pitch.

Despite not creating much in open play, though, Ottawa did get a lifeline around the 75th minute. As Samuel Salter drove into the box and tried to cut a pass back to the middle, the ball caught the elbow of Dante Campbell while trying to hide his arms behind his back. Still, the referee judged it handball and pointed to the spot.

Del Campo took the penalty and scored it with gusto, not only equalizing the match but also taking sole possession of the Golden Boot lead with his 10th of the year.

The final 10 minutes of the game had a much more frantic energy than the rest, as both teams fought desperately for a winning goal — knowing the value of three points in this year’s tight playoff race — but the ball did not fall kindly for either.

So, with a point apiece to wrap up matchweek 22, both sides remained in the positions they started the day in; Ottawa pulled back just one point on first-place Forge to cut the lead to four, while Valour remain seventh, four points out of the playoffs.

BOX SCORE

Lineups 

Valour FC: Viscosi; Alarcón, Campbell, Mourdoukoutas, Antonoglou; Faria, Mlah (Sánchez 77′), Ohin (Verhoeven 86′), Ressurreição; Hundal, Swibel (Binate 63′)

Atlético Ottawa: Ingham; Morer (Torres 88′), Didic, Walker, Singh (Twardek 90+4′), Iliadis; Sissoko (Dos Santos 88′), Aparicio, Bassett (Tabla 68′), Antinoro (Salter 46′); Del Campo

Goals

10′ — Shaan Hundal (Valour FC)
77′ — Rubén del Campo (Atlético Ottawa) (Penalty)

Discipline

35′ — Yellow: Dani Morer (Atlético Ottawa)
45+2′ — Yellow: Gabriel Antinoro (Atlético Ottawa)
52′ — Yellow: Tass Mourdoukoutas (Valour FC)
72′ — Yellow: Dante Campbell (Valour FC)
76′ — Yellow: Jonathan Viscosi (Valour FC)