HIGHLIGHTS: Valour FC vs. Vancouver FC (August 25, 2024) | Presented by tonybet

Highlights

Vancouver FC moved six points clear of Valour FC for the fifth Canadian Premier League playoff spot on Sunday afternoon, beating the Winnipeggers 2-1 at Princess Auto Stadium with a dramatic stoppage time winner.

The two sides traded their first shots on goal early in 12th minute, with Valour goalkeeper Jonathan Viscosi first denying Kadin Chung with a big stop at one end of the pitch. At the other end of the field 58 seconds later, Callum Irving dived to his right to make a stop on a shot from distance by Shaan Hundal that tried to catch the Eagles captain off his line.

Valour came close again in the 18th minute. Roberto Alarcón, playing left back with Themi Antonoglou out through suspension, curled a cross into the box for Shaan Hundal to try and get his head onto, but Allan Enyou was able to get back in time to head the ball away for a corner — sending it just wide of his own net.

It was the visitors who found the first goal of the match, however, when Gabriel Bitar gave Vancouver FC the lead in the 30th minute. After leading his side’s charge up the pitch, Bitar played the ball to Miki Cantave, who gave it right back to his teammate. Bitar took a shot with his first touch, which took a deflection off a Valour defender before beating Viscosi into the top right corner of the net.

Bitar almost doubled the lead ten minutes later, intercepting the ball in Valour’s half of the pitch and rounding Viscosi before firing his shot into the side netting from a tight angle. The Eagles took a 1-0 lead into halftime, which Valour tried to erase with a flying start after play resumed.

Dante Campbell tested Callum Irving with a powerful shot from distance, which dipped on its way toward the Vancouver net. Miki Cantave had a golden opportunity to make it 2-0 thirty seconds later, pulling a shot wide on a breakaway toward the Valour net. Shaan Hundal attempted an incredible overhead kick in the 50th minute as a chaotic start to the second half continued, but wasn’t able to make clean contact and the Eagles were able to clear the ball away from danger.

Hundal had another opportunity to tie things up for the hosts in minute 63, making a run in behind the Vancouver backline to get onto the end of a through ball from Jordan Faria, but his shot from a tight angle was stopped by Irving. Tass Mourdoukoutas headed the ball on target from the ensuing corner, and thought he had the goalkeeper beat, but Irving made an incredible stop, diving to his right to push the ball away from danger.

After Vancouver’s James Cameron was sent off in the 69th minute after picking up his second yellow card of the match, Valour found another gear and started to create even more chances while they chased an equalizer. Hundal was involved again as he got his head on the end of a floated cross into the box in the 71st minute, but again failed to the hit the target, sending his effort wide.

Hundal finally found his goal in the 87th minute, smashing the ball into the roof of the net from close range to tie the game late.

The hosts were given a new boost of energy after the equalizer, finding another gear to keep piling a ton of pressure on ten-man Vancouver FC. The ball fell to Hundal again in stoppage time, two yards away from goal after a header from Gianfranco Facchineri on a corner kick, but it slipped past the somewhat frustrated Valour striker.

They kept pushing for a second, pinning Vancouver in their own half for most of the remainder of the match, but in the end it was Sellouf who won the match with his first goal for the club. He picked out the bottom right corner with an inch-perfect strike through a crowd of bodies, earning all three points for the visitors.

That was one of the final kicks of the match, and sees Vancouver take a six-point lead over the chasing pack, including Valour, for the fifth and final spot in the CPL Playoffs as things currently stand.

BOX SCORE

Lineups

Valour FC: Viscosi; Campbell, Mourdoukoutas, Facchineri, Alarcón; Faria (Kwemi 83′), Mlah (Haynes 67′), Ohin (Verhoeven 67′), Ressureição; Swibel (Binate 67′), Hundal

Vancouver FC: Irving; Chung (Campagna 75′), Romeo, Enyou, Cameron; Fry (Sellouf 46′), Rommens, Garcia; Bitar (McDonnell 75′), Diaz (Tahid 83′), Cantave (Bah 54′)

Goals

30′ — Gabriel Bitar (Vancouver FC)
87′ — Shaan Hundal (Valour FC)
90+7′ — Ayman Sellouf (Vancouver FC)

Discipline

19′ — Yellow: James Cameron (Vancouver FC)
45+2′ — Yellow: Dante Campbell (Valour FC)
64′ — Yellow: Jordan Swibel (Valour FC)
69′ — Red: James Cameron (Vancouver FC) — second yellow card