April 13, 2025...Match Analysis: Coimbra plays hero off the bench as Halifax come from behind to win at York United (from canpl.ca)

MATCH ANALYSIS: Coimbra plays hero off the bench as Halifax come from behind to win at York United
2025-04-13
by Charlie O’Connor-Clarke, Digital Content Editor (@charliejclarke)

Final Score: York United 1-2 Halifax Wanderers
Goalscorers: Bitar 22'; Probo 53', Coimbra 81'
Game of the 2025 season: 6
CPL match: 602

Match in a minute or less

The Halifax Wanderers picked up an impressive come-from-behind victory at York Lions Stadium on Sunday, beating York United 2-1 thanks to a pair of second-half goals to extend their unbeaten start to 2025.

York opened the scoring in the first half thanks to a good finish by Gabriel Bitar, and they took a lead into halftime. After the break, however, the Wanderers returned to form as Giorgio Probo levelled the score with an excellent free kick.

With 10 minutes to play, Tiago Coimbra came off the bench for Halifax and with his first touch of the 2025 season, he brought down a long ball from Kareem Sow and chipped it past York keeper Ivan Pavela to score a dramatic winner for the away side.

Three Observations

Wanderers rewarded for late-game surge, wearing down York

After the first half of this game, the Wanderers did not look like a side likely to score twice without conceding again and overturn the 1-0 deficit. They’d created their fair share of chances in the late first half, but also looked vulnerable at the back when trying to play out.

However, they came out of the break recharged and remained patient as they worked to find weaknesses in York’s structure. The set-piece that provided the equalizer was well-designed; Giorgio Probo explained postgame that given the position of the free kick, he preferred to send it across goal, knowing it could be deflected into the net and otherwise would be bound for the bottom corner.

The Wanderers’ pace is what ultimately broke York down in the end, though. Through much of the second half, they’d been pushing York’s backline further and further back, with their wide players looking to get behind the wingbacks and surround the opposition’s back three.

Jason Bahamboula was key to that early on, with his pace preventing York from venturing too far up the pitch on their left side. He, along with Ryan Telfer and Wesley Timoteo, did a lot of running to wear out the Nine Stripes’ defenders, so by the time the pacey Tiago Coimbra entered the match it was easier to make runs in behind.

Halifax as a club have not historically found much success on the road; in fact, prior to this game their only other come-from-behind away win was in 2022 against FC Edmonton. However, they were impressive on Sunday at York in their patience, and ability to turn the game around late. The substitutes were effective — not only Coimbra, but also the likes of Vitor Dias, Alessandro Biello and Yohan Baï, who all added different dynamics the the Wanderers’ attack, while captain Andre Rampersad did well to steady the ship with his control of the midfield.

After two games, the Wanderers have four points from a possible six on the road, and they’ve scored two goals in both games. Certainly, there are kinks to work out, but this looks like a more disciplined and dynamic side from early indications.

Effective York press creates opportunities in dangerous areas

York United’s front three, through two games, has demonstrated a willingness to run at defenders when out of possession. The trio of Massimo Ferrin, Adonijah Reid and Gabriel Bitar has been effective defensively, particularly in this match where they routinely forced Halifax into surrendering the ball.

The Wanderers are usually excellent in possession and move the ball well, but they had 16 missed passes within their own half of the pitch in the first 45 minutes alone. York were able to win possession in the final third four times in the first half, including just before the goal thanks to a feisty run by Bitar to recover the ball.

What will frustrate York most, though, was that they couldn’t reward themselves more for their advantage in the early stages. They won almost 70 per cent of the first-half duels, and entered the final third 29 times, but turned it into just four shots (and they only had six in the whole game).

Overall, Mauro Eustáquio will probably not be overly upset with his team’s performance on Sunday, although he did concede that they lost a bit of their energy later in the game just as Halifax’s was increasing.

At this point in the season, though, it’ll be easier to take solace in the effectiveness of the first-half press. That’s an early sign of Eustáquio’s fingerprints on the team in his first year as head coach. If York can continue to win the ball back consistently, and high up the pitch, they’ll be a very difficult team to play against.

Coimbra’s instant impact bodes well for importance to Halifax this year

Heading into this season, several pundits have identified Tiago Coimbra as one to watch in Halifax. The 21-year-old has shown flashes of his abilities the last two seasons with the Wanderers, but he has been limited due to various injuries and hasn’t quite hit his full stride. He made 20 appearances last year, but only 10 starts. Still, he managed to score four goals and demonstrated his ability to trouble defenders with his pace and workrate.

Sunday’s brief cameo off the bench was Coimbra’s first action of the 2025 campaign after he missed the first match, and he will continue to have his minutes managed in the next few weeks, but if he can ramp up to full form and fitness he’ll bring an excellent dynamic to Halifax’s attack.

Patrice Gheisar may not have expected Coimbra’s impact to be quite that instant on Sunday, but when he entered with the score 1-1 it was clear that Coimbra could be a threat to score against the tired York defenders.

He showed with his goal that he has a strong scorer’s instinct; Coimbra had identified a vulnerability in the back three and he timed his run perfectly to get on the end of Kareem Sow’s ball. Then, after bringing it down well, he moved confidently toward goal, and finished with a clever chip after spotting Ivan Pavela trying to close him down.

It’s possible that this role coming off the bench to inject energy late is a good one for Coimbra right now, who might not yet be able to bring the same amount of dynamism over a longer shift, but by mid-season he’ll definitely hope to be starting.

Coimbra has the talent to be one of the most effective strikers in the Canadian Premier League, and at his age he’ll continue to improve the more opportunities he gets for Halifax. It’s too early for prognostications, but an in-form, productive Coimbra would be a game changer for a Wanderers side that sometimes struggled with finishing a year ago.

What They Said

“That position is very weird because you never know if you have to cross or shoot it. I was like, I’m going to cross the ball toward the goal, so if it’s going to bounce, it’s going to go in the goal; if someone’s going to touch it, good, now it’s going to go in the goal. I was just making it difficult for the goalkeeper.” — Halifax midfielder Giorgio Probo on his free kick goal

“We can come up with any idea that we want, but it’s about the execution of the players. I trust that team, I trust those players, and they trust me, so it’s a great relationship we have. We came up with a couple of tweaks we needed, but I think there’s just a feel that’s all about belief with this group. I never thought that anyone panicked, even when they went up 1-0.” — Halifax head coach Patrice Gheisar

“We’ve got to be able to kill teams; it happened in Vancouver as well. … We kind of took our foot off the pedal in the second half, and they won one challenge, two challenges, we were never able to secure the ball up top and they grew with the game. In this league, when it gets physical, things change quickly, and that’s what happened to us.” — York United head coach Mauro Eustáquio

CanPL.ca Player of the Match
Giorgio Probo, Halifax Wanderers
Not only did Probo score the equalizer off a clever set-piece, he was a nuisance to York throughout his 80 minutes of action. He had four shots and made 18 passes in the final third, frustrating the opposition both with and without the ball.

What’s next?

York United head back on the road next weekend, when they’ll head to the capital to play Atlético Ottawa on Saturday, April 19 (1 p.m. ET). Halifax, meanwhile, will be in Nova Scotia the same day for their home opener, against Pacific FC (4:30 p.m. AT/3:30 p.m. ET).

Watch all 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.

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