September 23, 2022...Match Analysis: York United 3-1 Valour FC - CPL Match #100 (from canpl.ca website)

Match Analysis: York United 3-1 Valour FC — CPL Match #100
2022-09-23
by ALEXANDRE GANGUÉ-RUZIC, CANPL.CA CONTRIBUTOR (@ALEXGANGUERUZIC)
CANPL  MATCH ANALYSIS  NEWS
Final Score: York United 3-1 Valour FC
Goalscorers: Babouli 34', N’Sa 56', Lawrie-Lattanzio 75' ; Cebara 16' (PK)
Game of the 2022 season: 100
CPL match: 350

Match in a minute or less
York United kept their strong run of form going in CPL action on Friday, picking up their seventh win 
in their last 11 games, as they downed a similarly in-form Valour side 3-1 at York Lions Stadium to cap 
off their last home regular season game of the 2022 campaign. 

After a dream start from the visitors in the league’s 100th game of this 2022 campaign, one that allowed 
Valour to snatch an early lead via a well-taken Stefan Cebara penalty inside 20 minutes, York managed 
to claw things back to 1-1 before half time, thanks to some magic from the right boot of Mo Babouli. 

From there, it’d be all York the rest of the way, as first a superb goal long-distance goal from 
Chrisnovic N’Sa gave the home team the lead in the 56th minute, before a well-taken goal from 
Luis Lawrie-Lattanzio not long after that then sealed the deal for York, who also kept their playoff 
hopes alive for another day with this victory.

Three Observations

Magical Mo Babouli helps York keep playoff hopes alive: 

Just 17 minutes into the game, it felt like York United’s season was all but over. Having just conceded 
a penalty goal, it was hard to imagine York getting back into the game, especially given Valour’s 
ability to close out games once they had the lead, making it hard to imagine a scenario in which York 
managed to grab all three points. 

Considering that York has also struggled all year long offensively, too, sitting second-last in goals 
for, that further compounded that reality, one that they faced at that moment.  

Yet, for those who have been paying attention as of late, they will know that while that was the reality 
for York on paper, it certainly isn’t the same in practice. Instead, this York team is far different from 
the one that struggled to put balls in the back of the net all season. 

In fact, they’ve turned things around completely as of late, scoring nearly twice as many goals (16) 
after August than they did in all of the games in the four months before that (10). 

The biggest factor behind that push? The arrival of Mo Babouli, who continues to be a revelation for 
York United in the attack.

Already known as one of the top attackers in the league from his time with their rivals Forge, he’s found 
a whole new level in his short time with York. 

Given a free role, instead of leading the line as he used to, he’s proven to be the key that York’s attack 
has needed to shine. Not only has he unlocked the potential of his team’s overall offensive game, which has 
looked a lot more fluid since his insertion, but he himself has profited nicely off of that, too. 

“I feel good, I’ve got the freedom to explore different areas on the pitch,” Babouli explained of his role. 
“I think there’s been an adjustment, partially for me and partially for guys on the tea, but I think we’ve 
both done that well to understand that sometimes when I do drift out wide or drop deep, who can jump into 
certain positions to fill, and I think I think we have good moments and really understand each other. “

Plus, he’s seemed to elevate his game in crucial moments, as well, scoring some big goals for his team. 
And none was bigger than the one that he was able to grab for them in this game. 

With his team struggling to keep up to Valour after they’d grabbed the lead, York were looking for 
anything to cling to as they tried to get back into the game. 

There, up would step Babouli, who in a moment of magic, slammed the ball into the top corner despite 
having no space and a defender draped all over him. His 5th goal of the season, already putting him 
in the top 15 for the Golden Boot race, the game would shift significantly following his goal, too, 
as York really started to grab control of proceedings. 

From there, they’d find new life, and through that they’d manage to see the game over the line, 
ensuring that they’d be able to pick up the three points that they needed. Not only that, but they 
played good soccer, as well, getting eight shots on target to Valour’s three, while overall looking 
much sharper in possession, allowing them to win in style. 

“(That goal) really set the tone and got us back into the game going into halftime,” York head coach, 
Martin Nash, said. “We had played well, so that goal was big, as in the second half I thought we were 
really good.”

Now, thanks to that, they’ve now won seven of their last 11 games as noted above, after having won just 
two of their first 15 matches of the season, continuing to be arguably the hottest team in the CPL. 

Might it be too little, too late, in regards to their playoff hopes? Potentially, as their chances 
of making it over the line relies as much on others as it does them now, a consequence of their slow 
start, but they’re certainly making things fun at the moment. 

Which for a team as young as they are, continues to give hope that even if things don’t end as they’d 
like in 2022, they’ve got something brewing in 2023, especially if Babouli can keep up what he’s shown 
over this stretch of games. 

“He was excellent today,” Nash said of Babouli. “He’s been excellent, really, since he’s come to us, 
his attitude has been really good.”

Transition moments leave Valour to continue road struggles:

Heading into this game, it was always going to be tough for Valour to snatch a result, as they’ve 
struggled to pick up points on the road with the same regularity that they’ve shown at home. 

Yet, as Phil Dos Santos noted pre-game, that wasn’t always necessarily down to their performances, 
but often their execution in key moments, instead, especially at both ends of the field, with key 
defensive breakdowns or an inability to snatch the moment offensively proving to be fatal in those 
results. 

In this game, however, that wouldn’t be the case, as while there were moments at both ends of the 
field that Valour would want back, their biggest disappointment would be in how they overall handled 
the flow of the game. 

Typically a team that has done well to stamp out their ‘Valour identity’ in games, especially as of late, 
they struggled to do so in this game, as York ended up being more of the aggressor on the night.  

As a result, it ended up being more of a north-south game, one that can be best described as a track 
meet, which for Valour, who likes to be compact and organized in their play, left them chasing, 
the death knell for any side constructed as they are. 

Therefore, although the possession was relatively even, as well as the non-penalty xG, it felt like 
the game was tilted significantly in York’s favour, especially in transition moments. 

There, Valour really got punished, as York seemed to capitalize on all of the space left behind 
by Valour’s wing backs, with all three of their goals coming from moments where they played a long 
direct ball into that channel of space, with Paris Gee and Chrisnovic N’Sa shining in those spaces, 
in particular. 

Because of that, it meant that Valour, who had gone five games without conceding a goal from open play, 
conceded all three of their goals via that avenue, showing how uncharacteristic of a performance 
it was from them. 

“We didn’t play to our strong characteristics,” Valour head coach, Phil Dos Santos, explained. 
“We had alerted the squad that York is a team that likes to play in open spaces, when it becomes 
a transition game against them, they have pieces that like to attack you fast, so for us, when we open 
up space in possession and then lose the ball, it becomes a north-south game, and we didn’t want 
to get into that because that’s not who we are as a team.” 

Credit has to be given to York, of course, both for executing their game plan as well as capitalizing 
on several key moments, but for Valour that has to be extra frustrating, as they lost a battle that 
they’d been warned to watch out for heading into this one. 

Now, with their season on the line, re-finding that identity has to be the priority, especially if 
they’re to reverse their road struggles, as a two-game road swing to Alberta looms to close out their 
season, in which they’ll probably need at least four points, if not all six, to try and make the playoffs. 

“When you start chasing as a team that likes to play in open spaces like that, a team that has pieces 
in the counter-attack that could hurt you, it makes it more difficult,” Dos Santos said. “I felt 
we weren’t good enough (tonight). And we have to say it.”

Chrisnovic N’Sa controls right flank for York United:

Seeing how York was able to control the flanks, however, it meant that they were going to need strong 
performances from their wide players, and there was none better than Chrisnovic N’sa, who covered 
a lot of ground for York down the right side. 

Deployed in his usual right back position, N’Sa was quite active defensively, in particular, doing well 
to deal with his primary defensive assignment, handling the constantly swapping Valour wide duo 
of Sean Rea and Matteo de Brienne, as well as the overlapping threat of Brett Levis.

Despite going up against some pretty in-form attackers, he was more than up for the task, however, 
making some solid challenges on the evening, finishing with four tackles, three clearances, one block 
and three interceptions, summing up a good night at the office defensively. 

From there, he then had a pretty good night offensively, too, finding himself quite involved on all 
three of his team’s goals.

On the first goal, it was his deep progressing ball that unlocked Osaze De Rosario to set up Babouli, 
while on the second goal it was a magical moment from his left foot that got things done. Then, to cap 
things off, he made a bursting run forward to help create the action that ended up with Lawrie-Lattanzio’s 
goal, capping off a solid night of work from N’Sa. 

Plus, he was a consistent overlapping threat for York, as well, ensuring that Valour would have 
to constantly be worrying about getting numbers back to cover him, something that didn’t always go 
smoothly given their struggles in transition. 

As a result, he finished with one shot, four dribbles and 10 passes into the final third, showing his 
ability to push the ball forward both through passes and dribbles.

Therefore, while the big thing that will stand out with his performance is his very well-taken goal, 
his second such highlight-reel goal in the last two months, it was his overall output that really 
helped his team in this game, giving them superiority in an area of the pitch that ended up being 
crucial towards the battle for three points. 

“He was really good, he took his goal well and defended well,” Nash said of N’Sa. “I thought our whole 
back four was good, really, we didn’t give them a lot of opportunities to score.”

CanPL.ca Player of the Match
Mo Babouli, York United 
Any time a forward finishes with three goal involvements, that’s usually a pretty good day of work 
from them, and that was no exception for Babouli in this game, whose one goal and two assists were 
crucial in York’s comeback quest. Coming as part of a performance in which he also generated three 
chances, had two shots, completed six dribbles and had 12 passes into the final third, he really ran 
the show for York offensively, helping them pick up a monumental victory in their unlikely quest 
to make the playoffs.

What’s next?
York will head out on the road, but won’t have to go far, as a 905 Derby with Forge FC awaits them 
at Tim Hortons Field in Hamilton on Saturday, October 1st (5:00 p.m. ET). Meanwhile, Valour will 
continue their road trip, as they must head over to Calgary to take on Cavalry FC at ATCO Field 
on Sunday, October 2nd (1:30 p.m. MT/2:30 p.m. CT).

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