October 9, 2022...Match Analysis: Atletico Ottawa 2-2 York United - CPL Match #112 (from canpl.ca website)

Match Analysis: Atlético Ottawa 2-2 York United — CPL Match #112
2022-10-09
by CHARLIE O’CONNOR-CLARKE, DIGITAL CONTENT EDITOR (@CHARLIEJCLARKE)
Final Score: Atlético Ottawa 2-2 York United
Goalscorers: Tissot 25', Wright 43'; De Rosario 62', Wilson 79'
Game of the 2022 season: 112
CPL match: 362

Match in a minute or less
York United clawed back from two goals down to seize a 2-2 draw against Atlético Ottawa at TD Place 
on Sunday evening in the final match of the 2022 CPL regular season.

Ottawa, entering the match already clinched as regular season champions, scored 25 minutes in thanks 
to Maxim Tissot picking up a rebound from Ballou Tabla’s initial attempt. They doubled the advantage 
just before halftime, as Brian Wright scored with a great touch out of the air.

York seized control in the second half, though, as first Osaze De Rosario and then Jordan Wilson put 
the ball in the net to tie the game. Both sides came close to taking all three points in the final 
stages, with a goal for each side disallowed in the final five minutes, but ultimately they had 
to split the points in an entertaining 2-2 draw.

Three Observations

Atlético Ottawa turn focus to Pacific semifinal after up-and-down regular season closer

Although nothing tangible was on the line in this final regular season match for Atlético Ottawa, 
the side was nonetheless motivated to see out their regular season campaign in strong fashion 
as they turn their focus to the playoffs.

The capital city side had already clinched the regular season championship prior to kickoff, 
and they knew heading into this game that their playoff schedule is locked in: Ottawa will play 
Pacific FC in Leg 1 of the semifinal next Saturday, before hosting the Tridents in a decisive second 
leg the following Sunday.

Unfortunately for manager Carlos González, Ottawa weren’t quite able to use this last game to test out 
their playoff starting lineup due to yellow card accumulation suspensions for Ollie Bassett 
and Miguel Acosta. Diego Espejo also missed the game for precautionary reasons, as Atleti seek to ensure 
their dominant centre-back is fit for heavy postseason minutes. Still, González fielded a strong XI 
arranged in the 4-5-1 formation that this club is likely to deploy for playoff matches.

Much of Atlético Ottawa’s success this year has been built on a solid defensive foundation and tactical 
solidity. Even in games where they don’t have much of the ball — like the first half of this one — they’re 
rarely overrun.

González was understandably frustrated that his side failed to kill off this game, which they’ve usually 
been able to do consistently in 2022. Prior to this game, Ottawa had allowed one or zero goals in 23 out 
of 27 games, but this will go down as a blip on their defensive record.

His side nonetheless celebrated its regular season championship on Sunday night, and deservedly so: 
Despite a slip-up at the end of this game, Atlético Ottawa have been the top side in the CPL consistently 
this year and are therefore worthy regular season champions.

After a few moments of jubilation and reflection on Sunday, however, González et al. will be right back 
to work almost immediately. Pacific, the defending playoff champions, will not be an easy out — especially 
over two legs — and this Ottawa team would love nothing more than to be the first CPL side to win 
a domestic double.

“The first thing we have to do is recover the bodies so we are all in a good starting point on Tuesday,” 
González said. “From that starting point, I think we’ve shown throughout all the season that we are 
a team that is able to win anywhere. This is going to be the target for next Saturday, get there 
to Victoria and grab a good result so we can go further in the playoffs.”

For the players, the mindset does not change now that they’ve won one title.

“We approach every single game like it’s a final,” Carl Haworth said postmatch. “We’ll have that same 
mindset, same mentality going into it. We approach it the same way, we analyze it the same way; this 
is just a product of all that effort and work that we’ve put in throughout the season. It’s not 
a one-off or anything like that; it’s that mentality and that mindset we have throughout the season.”

York progress ball well, capitalize after second-half changes

Some elements of the way this game played out in early stages were reminiscent of York United’s loss 
at Forge last weekend. They started very strong, dominating possession early and getting into advanced 
territory, but they weren’t able to translate possession and field position onto the scoresheet — until, 
in the second half, they were.

In the first half, York had a hair under 70 per cent of the ball, making almost three times as many 
passes in the final third as Ottawa (85 to 34). However, they found themselves outshot 6-5 in that 
period, with not a single one of their five attempts on target.

Mo Babouli, returning to the starting lineup after missing last weekend’s 905 Derby in Hamilton, 
continued to pull the strings for York’s attack from the number 10 position, but it was difficult 
to play through Ottawa’s congested midfield where Abdou Sissoko was holding space between Zakaria Bahous 
and Ballou Tabla, who often ventured further forward.

In the second half as his side chased a goal while down two, Nash made a few changes to his lineup 
to try and stretch the game out a bit, adding a more direct attacking option in Ronan Kratt on the 
right wing to get in behind the Ottawa back four. Shortly after, Nash put Max Ferrari — a natural 
winger — in at left-back in place of Paris Gee as part of a broader tactical switch, where York began 
pushing their fullbacks higher up the pitch to create numerical overloads in the wide areas.

“It was being a bit more direct, playing a bit quicker, putting a bit more pressure on their back four,” 
Nash said of the second-half push. “That was a change for Ronan, just a different style of winger… 
I thought Chrisno got forward better in the second half, I thought Max did a good job of getting 
forward, he put in some good crosses. It was good to get the fullbacks forward, I think we were 
overloading them and causing them problems.”

That change helped produce Osaze De Rosario’s goal around the hour mark, as Chrisnovic N’sa got up 
the right flank and found a pocket of space with Kratt occupying the opposing fullback, and he whipped 
in a good cross for De Rosario to finish.

The second goal again owes some credit to the attacking fullbacks, since N’sa was embedded in the 
penalty area to get the touch that will stand as his second assist of the night on Jordan Wilson’s goal.

Ottawa strike in transition, flex individual quality for goals
Part of the reason Ottawa were able to score the goals they did in this match was how decisive 
and direct they were with attacks when they received the ball. Out wide, they usually sought to play 
vertically either with long forward passes or with individual wide players advancing the ball 
(Keven Alemán in particular made some excellent runs down the touchlines, beating multiple defenders 
to break lines and create attacking space).

Both Ottawa goals came from direct play where York didn’t quite deal with moments well enough. Still, 
it’s the individual quality of the Atleti players involved that made the real difference. Maxim Tissot’s 
goal came from Ballou Tabla being good enough to bring down a long ball well and create a good position 
for himself; Tissot is a clever enough player to drift in from the left side and be ready for 
a potential rebound.

The second goal, again, came from a few well-taken moments by Ottawa: Carl Haworth, having adjusted 
his position to fullback when Tissot went off injured, still found the right spot to take down the ball, 
spot Brian Wright, and send in an excellent cross. Wright himself made it an absolutely perfect touch 
with an outstretched foot to put it in the goal.

“I’m just looking to put it in a good area there, I think all the credit has to go to Brian on that 
one,” said Haworth. “The deft touch he gets on that throws the keeper completely off, wrong foots him. 
What a finish.”

The blueprint for Ottawa is fairly set heading into the postseason: tactical intelligence, defensive 
structure, and individual talent can carry them very far this year.

“I think this was a game with several games inside it,” González said of the draw on Sunday.

“We started not in the best way, then we grabbed the rhythm and the tempo of the game; we exploited 
situations in space, we created big chances to score. We take the advantage, then went to halftime. 
After halftime I think we managed well the first minutes but it’s true that with injuries, with 
several circumstances out of our control we started to drop a little bit.

“We knew that today we played against a good team that wanted to finish their season well. Today, 
what can we say? I think the job of the guys has been brilliant during not only the game today, 
but during 28 rounds. I’m very proud of how they’ve been working, they show commitment every single day.”

CanPL.ca Player of the Match
Chrisnovic N’sa, York United

A major part of the reason York got back into this game was N’sa getting higher up the pitch in the 
second half, and he was rewarded with two assists (although the second perhaps wasn’t intentional). 
The right-back also won seven duels and won four fouls on an all-around solid night.

What’s next?
Atlético Ottawa will next be in action against Pacific FC for Leg 1 of the CPL semifinal, which will 
be played at Starlight Stadium next Saturday, Oct. 15 (4 p.m. PT/7 p.m. ET). For York, the book 
is now closed on the 2022 CPL campaign as they have now completed their regular season and will miss 
out on the playoffs.

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