It was an excellent opportunity for Valour FC to send a message to the rest of the league and its fans, that they are no pushover side, when spring season champions Cavalry came to town off the back of a historic victory over Vancouver Whitecaps in the Canadian Championship. The match was certainly more even than many might have expected, although Cavalry resting many of their stars who featured in the midweek match against Whitecaps may have had something to do with it:

Valour started in their favoured 4-2-3-1 formation, with Dylan Sacramento returning to his favoured 10 role. Diego Gutierrez, normally a right-back, started at right wing, while 17-year-old Tyler Attardo regained his place up front, despite the addition of Michele Paolucci last week.

Cavalry returned to a 4-3-3 in this match, after using a 3-4-3 against Whitecaps on Wednesday. They made 7 changes to the XI, with Mavila, Trafford, Wheeldon, and Camargo being the only 4 players to regain their place.

The First Half:

As always, ‘The Trench’ was brilliant during this match, as was the CBC broadcast, but the first half play couldn’t quite reach that level. It was extremely slow, which may have been expected due to some tired legs on the Cavalry side, but we didn’t quite see any clear-cut chances for either side till very late on in the half. Despite being underdogs, it was Valour who actually looked the more dangerous side throughout the opening 45.

Nathan Mavila was one of the 4 returnees to the Cavalry XI from the midweek match, and Valour seemed to be targeting his tired legs throughout the match, as the backline constantly aimed long-balls toward Diego Gutierrez, who was playing right wing. As the match went on however, the target shifted to Sacramento rather than Gutierrez, and this worked wonders, as the attacking midfielder constantly got the better of Eustaquio throughout the match. In fact, Valour’s passing out from the back was far more impressive than Cavalry’s throughout the match.

Oliver’s goal:

This goal from Oliver Minatel was an absolute sucker-punch for Valour FC, as they defended admirably throughout the first-half, hushing up some of those who have been criticizing their back-line of late (guilty as charged!). However, the timing of this goal, along with the error that occurred in order for it to happen, would have been seriously disappointing for Rob Gale and his coaching staff.

On this play, Sergio Camargo receives the ball in-between the lines, dropping inside with his back to goal. In this situation, Skylar Thomas makes a critical error which allows Oliver to score a relatively easy goal. Below, I break down the play, highlighting what Thomas did wrong, and what he should have done instead:

This image highlights the situation prior to when Camargo receives the ball. He is occupying the Valour backline, but then sees an open space behind him, and drops back into that space to receive between the lines.

Now, Camargo has the ball, and has 2 options ahead of him in Oliver and Malonga. If Skylar Thomas holds his position in the backline as shown in the photo, both passing options for Camargo would require difficult passes, and Thomas likely could have cut out whichever one he chose.

Instead, Thomas makes a critical error in jumping up to press Camargo. While this did completely cut out a potential pass to Malonga from the equation, it made the pass to Oliver relatively simple for a player of Camargo’s quality.

“That is not acceptable” – Rob Gale, when discussing the defensive error for the opening goal

All Skylar Thomas truly had to do was hold his position, and allow Beland-Goyette and Galan to press Camargo from the 2 sides, and Valour would have gone into half-time as the better side in a 0-0 draw. Instead, his error gifted Cavalry a goal, forcing Valour to once again, desperately chase a match.

The 2nd Half:

Things opened up a bit for Valour in the 2nd half, as Dylan Sacramento took control of the match and showed his quality in the 10 position. The same goes for his counterpart on the Cavalry side, Sergio Camargo. It was Sacramento’s creativity down the middle which kept Valour in the game, and fittingly, it was his superb through-ball which led to Valour’s late penalty.

Dominique Malonga continued to show why many consider him to be the best striker in the Canadian Premier League, as his lateral movement caused overloads in wide areas and allowed Camargo to drive forward as an almost second-striker. Malonga didn’t manage to get on the scoresheet, but as a good centre-forward, he finds a way to influence matches in different ways. As I mentioned, Cavalry used him to create wide overloads, as they looked to spring their full-backs into open space throughout the match.

“Everybody wants to be a 10. I want to be a 10! Bustos, Diego, Dylan Carreiro, Dylan Sacramento.” – Rob Gale

Speaking of centre-forwards, IG Field got their first glimpse of striker Michele Paolucci, who came off the bench later on in the match when Valour were chasing a goal. While the Italian wasn’t able to conjure up much, his quality on the pitch was obvious, and he seems almost certain to be an upgrade for Valour up front. Jose Galan, another new addition, also played for the first time at IG Field, and added some solidity to the middle of the park.

As for the scoreline, which finished 1-1, Valour earned a late penalty which was slotted home by Bustos to level the match in 2nd half stoppage time. As mentioned earlier, Dylan Sacramento’s exquisite through-ball for substitute Glenn Muenkat made the difference, as the winger was hauled down in the box by Nathan Mavila.

All in all, it’s easy to tell that Cavalry are the leading lights of the Canadian Premier League. Even their B Team, which was playing in this match, went neck-and-neck with Valour. Meanwhile for Rob Gale’s side, they’ve got some good pieces to build off of if their defence plays that way in every match. With Petrasso returning soon and Paolucci yet to hit the front foot, there could be some positives to come for the team very soon.

Valour Player Ratings:

Tyson Farago – 7 – Only had to make 1 save, which was spectacular, and couldn’t do anything about Oliver’s goal. Jordan Murrell – 7 – Was influential in possession and led the team well. Skylar Thomas – 6 – If not for the mistake, he would’ve had a rating of 7.5 or higher. The one error ruins an otherwise solid performance. Adam Mitter – 7.5 – Once again solid at the back and tidy in possession. Starting to become Valour’s best CB. Martin Arguinarena – 7 – Solid performance as usual, no complaints. Jose Galan – 6.5 – Made no clear mistakes but wasn’t all too noticeable. Louis Beland-Goyette – 7 – Once again playing better football with a more defensive player next to him in the double pivot. Diego Gutierrez – 6.5 – Didn’t do anything of note in the match. Dylan Sacramento – 8 – His best performance of the season by a mile. Was unlucky not to score, but still influenced the result. Marco Bustos – 7 – Decent performance in a relatively unfamiliar position. Tyler Attardo – 6.5 – Hardly touched the ball, but didn’t do anything particularly wrong. SUB – Michele Paolucci – 6.5 – Played 25 minutes but didn’t manage to do anything of note during that time. SUB – Glenn Muenkat – 7.5 – His speed at the end of the match allowed Valour to win the penalty, and subsequently, a point. SUB – Raphael Ohin – N/A – Not enough minutes.

Cavalry Player Ratings:

Niko Giantsopolous – 6.5 – Didn’t have to make any saves of note, but perhaps should have gotten a stronger hand to the late penalty. Malyk Hamilton – 7.5 – Had an excellent performance and dealt with Bustos and Arguinarena well. Mason Trafford – 7 – Solid performance. Was especially impressive on the ball. Jon Wheeldon – 7 – A very difficult player to get past. Good performance. Nathan Mavila – 6.5 – Tough way to concede a penalty at the end, which dented a good performance. Mauro Eustaquio – 6.5 – Very average in distribution, would expect better. Elijah Adekugbe – 7.5 – Was excellent on both sides of the ball. Sergio Camargo – 8 – Assist for Oliver’s goal was excellent, and constantly caused problems for Valour. Oliver Minatel – 7.5 – Took his goal very well, and caused plenty of issues for Arguinarena. Carlos Patino – 7 – Whipped in quite a few dangerous balls, and was unlucky not to get an assist. Dominique Malonga – 7.5 – Another fine performance up front from Malonga, who continues to show his quality in this league. SUBS – Escalante, Ledgerwood, Zator – N/A – Not enough minutes.

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Mahith Gamage Website An avid football fan right from his first experiences with the sport, Mahith Gamage has been dabbling in football journalism for a few years now, creating his own world football blog and podcast, freeflow football, whilst featuring frequently on many other football media outlets, covering European football. With the start of the Canadian Premier League in 2019, Mahith began coverage of his hometown club, Valour FC, through NSXI. He enjoys spreading his knowledge and opinions of the beautiful game to fellow football fanatics in Canada and throughout the world, using articles and tweets, thriving particularly on tactical analysis and player scouting. You can find him tweeting about world football day and night, at @mahithgamage.

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