HIGHLIGHTS: Vancouver FC vs. Valour FC (May 28, 2023)

In just the third ever match at the Willoughby Community Park in Langley, expansion side Vancouver FC picked up another point in front of their hometown crowd with a 0-0 draw against the visiting Valour FC.

Valour came flying out of the gates, dominating possession and many of the game’s early scoring opportunities, including Kian Williams smashing a shot into the side netting 80 seconds into the match.

Vancouver were inches away from taking the lead themselves in the 19th minute. Although he had no idea about it, as the ball seemed to unexpectedly hit him in the head from close range after a shot from Shaan Hundal was stopped, Mamadou Kane redirected the ball on target. It had Valour goalkeeper Rayane Yesli beat, but came back out off the crossbar. Moments later, Yesli came off his line to close down an opportunity for Gael Sandoval after the Mexican attacker got in behind the Valour defenders.

Williams nearly tested Callum Irving again in the 44th minute with a shot from distance, but it bounced wide of the post in what would be the final scoring opportunity of the opening half. The Englishman also forced a save out of Irving with a rocket of a shot in first half stoppage time, but after the Vancouver goalkeeper made a brilliant reaction save, the referee blew his whistle for offside.

The two sides traded shots at the start of the second half, but both goalkeepers held strong, and both backlines did their jobs to put pressure on the players taking shots, forcing several efforts high and wide at either end of the pitch.

Valour put the ball into the back of the net in the 70th minute, on a brilliant shot from Anthony Novak that kissed the bottom of the crossbar in the top right corner before coming down into the net, but it was waved off by the referee for an alleged handball by Pacifique Niyongabire in the leadup. Valour maintained their pressure in the following minutes, with Diego Gutierrez firing a shot over the crossbar a few minutes later from a free kick.

The visitors came close again in the final stages of the match. Matteo de Brienne curled in a perfect cross from an 89th-minute corner kick, which found the head of Anthony Novak, but the Valour striker’s attempt on goal came back off the crossbar. The last strong chance of the match, it would have been the match-winner for Valour, who like Vancouver will come away from the match feeling as through they could have had two more points than they got.

Despite the best efforts of both sides on a warm night in the Lower Mainland, this match would end the same way it started — scoreless.

BOX SCORE

Goals

N/A

Discipline

6′ — Yellow: Marcello Polisi (Valour FC)
23′ — Yellow: Min-Jae Kwak (Vancouver FC)
78′ — Yellow: Nicky Gyimah (Vancouver FC)