RECAP + HIGHLIGHTS: Vancouver FC vs. Atlético Ottawa | August 13, 2025

It's advantage Vancouver heading into leg two of the 2025 Canadian Championship semi-finals, as they defeated Atlético Ottawa 3-1 at Willoughby Community Park on Wednesday.

After both teams traded blows in the first 60 minutes, Vancouver pulled away late, as they picked up their first-ever regulation-time victory in this competition, and their first home win in just over a calendar year - handing Ottawa just their second defeat of 2025 across all competitions in the process.

For a Vancouver side that reached this stage off the back of three gritty draws, as they beat Pacific on penalties after a 1-1 draw in their single-elimination preliminary round matchup, before also getting past Cavalry on penalties after trading 1-1 draws in their two-legged quarter-final tie, they'll feel this win is a sign that them getting this far wasn't a fluke, either.

At the same time, it's worth remembering that this tie is far from over, for both teams. Now, they'll both have to wait a bit until that second leg, which will be held in Ottawa, but there's still all to play for there, even if Vancouver has a 2-0 lead.

Given that Ottawa has mostly scored for fun in 2025, they're one team that many wouldn't be surprised to see overturn such a deficit, especially when remembering how good they've been at home this year. As the saying goes, a two-goal lead can sometimes be the worst lead to carry in this sport, and Ottawa will be happy to try and prove that.

"We knew that it wasn't going to be easy," Ottawa head coach, Diego Mejía, said afterwards. "We conceded three easy goals, so we deserved to lose tonight."

"We also created a lot of chances, we had the chances to score, but we made easy mistakes and conceded some goals from them."

"But now I think the second leg is going to be an exciting match, because the first thing I heard when I entered the locker room after the game was that the players are confident that we will come back, even if they know this match will teach us a lot of things."

At the same time, this win will only boost Vancouver's confidence, which is quite valuable for a young group. Having struggled significantly in league play, sitting last in the Canadian Premier League table, they've used this competition to prove that they're better than what their record indicates, and finding a way to reach the final would certainly cement that notion.

"It's not going to be an easy task going there," Vancouver FC's interim head coach, Martin Nash, said after the match. "We know that they're very good side, they put us under pressure at the end of today, and we're gonna have to go under a lot of pressure when we go there, but if we can pick and choose our moments to counter, we have some great players who can go forward, (as we showed) today."

Returning to the match, Vancouver came out strongly and had a good look at goal in the 8th minute. On that play, Vasco Fry found Matteo Campagna with a nice delivery from a wide free kick, but Campagna's header lacked the power required to beat Nathan Ingham in the Ottawa goal.

Meanwhile, at the other end, Sam Salter did well to latch onto the end of a hopeful long pass from Ballou Tabla before finding David Rodríguez with a nice ball, but Rodríguez's shot sailed well over the goal.

Soon after, however, Vancouver would do well to nab the lead on one of their forays forward. After some good combination play out wide, Michel Cavalcante picked up a pass from Thierno Bah at the edge of the box, and he found a way to cut inside and fire a powerful shot into the bottom right corner to make it 1-0.

Ottawa had a glorious opportunity to equalize in the 32nd minute, as Kevin dos Santos stepped up to take a free kick won in a very dangerous position by Rodríguez, but dos Santos's clipped shot failed to make it over Vancouver's defensive wall.

Then, Ottawa had an even better chance just minutes later, as Gabriel Antinoro found Aboubacar Sissoko with a nice cutback, but Sissoko's shot was blocked by a fantastic defensive effort from Vancouver's Matteo Campagna.

Having survived that wave of Ottawa pressure, Vancouver nearly doubled their lead in the 44th minute. After some nice play between Terran Campbell and Bah, Bah teed up Nicolás Mezquida for a dangerous shot inside the box, one that Mezquida sent just wide of the goal.

Meanwhile, at the other end, dos Santos had one last chance to score before half time, cutting inside before firing a shot, but he wasn't able to keep his powerful shot below the crossbar.

On the other side of the break, Ottawa continued to push for an equalizer and had a decent look at goal in the 51st minute, as Salter found Tabla at the back post, but Tabla's shot was pushed just wide by the fingertips of goalkeeper Callum Irving. Then, on the ensuing corner, Rodríguez had a dangerous half volley, but Irving would also stand tall to that effort, before Sissoko flicked a shot just over the goal on another corner minutes later.

That Ottawa pressure would ultimately pay off in the 58th minute, as they finally found their equalizer. There, Rodríguez would pick up the ball out wide and float in a perfect ball into the box, finding a wide-open Sam Salter with his service, and Salter did the rest by looping the ball into the top corner with a well-cushioned header to tie the game at 1-1.

To Vancouver's credit, they did well to nearly respond with a goal of their own in the 63rd minute. After a dangerous delivery into the box from a Mezquida corner, Aidan O'Connor rose highest to meet it with a powerful header, but his attempt would hit the post and narrowly stay out.

Despite that near-miss, they kept up the pressure and were rewarded for it in the 69th minute. On that play, Hugo Mbongue did well to dispossess Noah Abatneh of the ball at the back, which then set him up for a breakaway opportunity that he made the most of, carefully slotting his shot into the bottom right corner to make it 2-1.

Vancouver then nearly went up 3-1 in the 80th minute, as Fry whipped in a dangerous corner, nearly finding the back of the net with an Olimpico goal if not for a strong clearance from Ottawa's Loïc Cloutier. Minutes later, Pathé Ndiaye managed to get on the end of a nice Mezquida through ball in the 88th minute, but he poked his shot just wide on the half-breakaway attempt.

In the end, however, Mezquida would find a way to get that third Vancouver goal in the first minute of second-half stoppage time, as he turned from creator to scorer. After a probing ball by Bah, Mezquida did well to find the space to fire a left-footed shot, and he found the bottom corner with a precise effort to make it 3-1.

Eager to bring a smaller deficit back home for the second leg, Ottawa did almost cut Vancouver's lead to 3-2 in the fifth minute of stoppage time, as Antonio Álvarez fired a dangerous shot from inside the box, but Irving did well to parry that shot over the bar with a commanding save.

Shortly after that, though, the final whistle blew, leaving Vancouver to savour this result, one they've long been waiting for, while leaving Ottawa frustrated with how things ended.

In particular, one thing that will stand out from an Ottawa perspective is how the last 30 minutes went, as they gave up two uncharacteristically sloppy goals at the worst time. Having done well to claw back from going down 1-0 in the first half, it felt like the momentum was turning in their favour when they made it 1-1 through Salter, especially given that Vancouver has tended to let games snowball when adversity hits.

"We just got caught chasing a little bit while trying to tie the game," Ingham said. "Hindsight being 20/20, we get out of here down 2-1, that's no problem, but that's the type of team we are, we're aggressors, we tried to get an equalizer and go back home even."

Instead, to Vancouver's credit, they did well to hold strong when needed. Most importantly, they responded quite strongly to a big moment of adversity, as they kept their heads up after the 1-1 goal and responded with a marker of their own less than 10 minutes later.

"They didn't take the foot off the gas," Nash said of his players. "We tried to pick our moments, and we put good pressure on them, and we were able to capitalize. The third one was a massive one for us, in particular, because the 2-1 was great, but when we made it 3-1, it gave us a little bit of breathing room."

Yet, that was the story of this game for Vancouver - they did well to fight for everything that they got on the day. Ottawa made them run, keeping 72.2% of possession, and put their box under pressure, taking 16 shots (including 10 inside the box) and making 30 touches in Vancouver's penalty area, but Vancouver stood strong to that threat.

To that last point, Vancouver conceded just 1.49 xG from those 16 shots, as they limited Ottawa to many quality opportunities. That they had just one shot worth more than 0.17 xG reflects that, as well as that they had just one big chance on the day, which fittingly was snuffed out by a strong Vancouver defensive intervention, summing up the fight that the hosts put in to win this game.

Going forward, that'll be something they'll want to bottle and channel both in league play and especially in the second leg of this tie, where they know that Ottawa will put them under siege in search of a remarkable comeback.

"We've come back from two-goal deficits a few times this year in 90-minute games, so we're more than capable," Ingham promised.

At the same time, for a Vancouver team less than a month into working with an interim manager, they'll feel confident that they can build on this win from their perspective. Ultimately, they'll hope this is a small step in their overall journey, even if it feels like a big one right now, as they gave a glimpse of what they can be about when they follow their new managers' principles.

On a day when a young group stepped up the way that they did, they feel that they're on the right track with their short and long-term goals after a result like this, especially when considering how long they've had to work to get it.

"This is so important, because that's a big part of the plan of this club, that we want young players to develop," Mezquida, who is one of Vancouver's veteran players, said afterwards of his younger teammates. "Unfortunately, you can't always see the results of that development in a one-season process, but they're already showing what they can do, and they want to get better."

"It's a great experience for these players," Nash added. "As a coach, I'm trying to help them learn and grow, but we need the senior players to help them learn and grow, as well, so we need the right players around them on the pitch, helping them out."

"We're trying to help them learn as quickly as we can, to make them play at the level they did tonight, so that we can show them they can. Now, can they do it consistently? That's part of the growth of this club, to make these young players be able to play consistently like they did tonight."

BOX SCORE

Lineups

Vancouver FC: Irving; Dada-Luke, Campagna, O'Connor, Enyou; Fry (Fotsing 87'), Cavalcante (Norman Jr. 66'); Campbell (Gee 87'), Mezquida, Bah; Mbongue (Ndiaye 78')

Atlético Ottawa: Ingham; Cloutier, Abatneh, Kozlovskiy; Antinoro (Ortega 86'), Sissoko (Aparicio 68'), Zapater (Castro 68'), dos Santos (Álvarez 73'); Rodríguez, Tabla; Salter (Patterson 86')

Goals

21' — Michel Cavalcante (Vancouver FC)

58' — Sam Salter (Atlético Ottawa)

69' — Hugo Mbongue (Vancouver FC)

90+1' — Nicolás Mezquida (Vancouver FC)

Discipline

N/A

CanPL.ca Player of the Match

Thierno Bah, Vancouver FC

As he's often done for Vancouver this season, Vancouver stepped up big when his team needed him, delivering two important assists on their first and third goals to help clinch this victory.

It might not have been his most consistent performance, as he completed just 10 of 19 passes (53%), but he got himself and the ball to the right areas of the field, completing two out of three dribbles (winning three fouls in the process), while also making six passes into the final third, taking six touches in the box, generating three chances and taking one shot. Then, off the ball, he made sure to help out defensively, winning six out of nine duels while making six recoveries and making one clearance to complete a strong showing from the left side.

What’s next?

Both teams will meet again for the second leg of this semi-final on Thursday, September 18th at TD Place in Ottawa (4:00 p.m. ET/7:00 p.m. PT).

Before then, in league play, Vancouver will travel to Calgary this weekend to take on Cavalry at ATCO Field on Sunday, August 17th (4:00 p.m. PT/5:00 p.m. MT), while Ottawa faces a trip to Hamilton to take on Forge FC in a top-of-the-table clash at Hamilton Stadium earlier that same Sunday (4:00 p.m. ET).

Watch all 2025 TELUS Canadian Championship, Concacaf Champions Cup and CPL matches live on OneSoccer. In addition to its website and app, OneSoccer is now available on TELUS channel 980 and on Fubo TV. Call your local cable provider to ask for OneSoccer today.