Forward thinking Forge FC had to settle for a draw against a defensive York9 side that sees two teams top the table after the first ever Canadian Premier League match.

York9 start brightly, but fade quickly

Jim Brennan lined up his side in a 3-4-1-2 formation, with captain Manny Aparicio playing behind two athletic forwards. Meanwhile, Bobby Smyrniotis set out his home team in a fluid 4-3-3 formation that controlled most of the match.

However, it was the visitors who got the first goal in the history of the CanPL. In truth, York9 did start the brighter side, causing many problems for Forge FC with their high press. Forge FC clearly want to build from the back, with their goalkeeper Triston Henry distributing the ball to his defenders whenever he had the chance, but it was in possession where York9 struck. Aparicio picked the ball up in midfield from a forward pass from the back, turned his man, and played a dangerous ball in behind. Telfer popped up in a central position and calmly finished to give York9 the lead.

Initially, it looked like Forge FC would not be able to handle the athleticism of Brennan’s side, but as the match wore on and the adrenaline wore off, Smyrniotis’ side gradually took over.

Frano provides extra man in midfield

While the midfield was very fluid for Forge FC, it was right back Giulio Frano who took up the most interesting positions. While his full back partner on the left side, Kwame Awuah, often bombed forward to link up with Chris Nanco, Frano tucked inside to provide an extra man in midfield. This had the knock on effect of allowing Forge’s creative midfielders, namely Kyle Bekker and Tristan Borges, free roles to link up and get into dangerous areas. A clever link up between the two forced Nathan Ingham into a decent save midway through the first half.

Bekker, Forge FC’s captain and one of the league’s marquee players, popped up all over the pitch and created overloads in wide areas. He delivered five crosses despite ostensibly playing centrally, more than anyone on the pitch except Borges. Both he and Nanco constantly troubled York9’s centre backs and it was a combination of Bekker and Nanco’s profligacy, good indivudual defending from York9’s centre backs, and solid goalkeeping that kept the hosts off the score sheet.

York9 pinned back, no plan B

While York9 started brightly, it quickly became apparent that they were second best and as the match wore on they were unable to threaten Forge’s back line. Danger man Aparicio got on the ball early, but his influence on the game waned over time. Like Bekker, he drifted into wide areas, but it was more in an effort to simply get on the ball rather than create overloads in dangerous areas.

York9’s wing backs were unable to join the attack frequently enough, and while their centre backs defended well individually, they failed to move the ball forward effectively. Perhaps the most negative part of York9’s day was their inability to control the middle of the pitch. While Wataru Murofushi covered a decent amount of ground and tried to push the ball forward, Joseph Di Chiara failed to get on the ball, and when he did he was caught in possession a couple of times that directly led to dangerous chances. The commentators may have praised Di Chiara’s defensive work and last ditch tackling, but the truth is that he was a passenger for most of the game and was slow when he did get on the ball. It is telling that he attempted four less passes than Murofushi despite being on the pitch for 20 more minutes.

Both managers make changes, but Smyrniotis makes the correct decision

Brennan made the first change of the second half, subbing out Murofushi on 67 minutes and bringing on Austin Ricci. This pushed back Aparicio, who was on a yellow card, into a deeper role. Perhaps the thinking was to get Aparicio on the ball more as he was getting increasingly isolated, but what it really did was force Aparicio into more defensive duties. Eventually, Aparicio got sent off for a second yellow card after getting beat by Borges.

Ten minutes after Brennan’s change, Smyrniotis made a fairly obvious switch, but still a brave one. He removed holding midfielder Alexander Achinioti-Jonsson and brought on striker Marcel Zajac. This moved Emery Welshman to right wing and allowed Borges to come inside to a more central area. With Frano providing the extra midfielder while in possession, and York9 dropping deeper and deeper as the game wore on, Forge FC didn’t need an extra man in the middle to keep hold of the ball. This also allowed Borges to get closer to goal scoring areas and got the home side a genuine wide threat on the right.

The change worked almost immediately as Welshman got to the byline and delivered a cross that found Kadell Thomas for the equalizer. Two Forge players created havoc in the box, finally allowing them to have a free man to finish one of the many chances they created.

Looking ahead

While Forge FC were the better side, they didn’t look invincible. Hooper was good with his feet, but shaky overall. Their back line looked vulnerable to pressure and athleticism at times, but dealt better with the latter when Bertrand Owundi came on. Still, their performance as a whole was encouraging and they are likely to be one of the more attractive sides in the league. Their interplay in the final third was intricate and led to many dangerous opportunities. The fact that many of their players played together at Sigma FC under Smyrniotis may give them an advantage early on as the rest of the teams figure out their identities.

Meanwhile, York9 have a lot of questions to answer. Their keeper and back three played well individually, but were wasteful in possession. Di Chiara and Murofushi were functional at best, and their most creative player in Aparicio was eventually marked out of the game. Their two strikers attempted a total of 26 passes; that is only five more than Forge FC’s lone striker. There is an idea that Simon Adjei’s height and Cyrus Rollocks’ pace can be used to hit teams on the counter, but the two attackers looked impotent after the first ten minutes had elapsed. Toronto FC loanee Ryan Telfer flashed at times, and Brennan will likely need to figure out a way to get him more involved if York9 want to succeed.