Atlético de Ottawa annihilates Valor FC in the opening match of the Canadian Championship

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ATHLETICO 7, FC VALUE 0

By football standards, it was a massacre, an annihilation that ended in the first half hour.

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Goal after goal, after goal, after goal, after goal, after goal, gave Atlético fans a lot to cheer about.

Against a team that has given them plenty of trouble in their Canadian Premier League battles, Atlético Ottawa put an exclamation point on their excellent start to the 2024 soccer season, with a dominant 7-0 win over the Winnipeg Courage. FC on Wednesday night at TD Place.

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The teams will meet again, in a CPL regular season match (2 p.m.), on Sunday at TD Place.

Wednesday’s game wasn’t about the league; It was the preliminary round of the Telus Canadian Championship. There is a long way to go to get the opportunity to lift the Voyageurs Cup. But The way the draw is set up (a home game in the preliminary round and then a quarterfinal against Pacific or TSS Rovers of L1BC) means the Ottawa team can see a path to a semifinal clash with, potentially, the Vancouver Whitecaps.

“It was a great game. We played with good intensity, with a lot of intention,” said Atlético coach Carlos González. “I’m proud of how we’re growing, little by little. But it’s just one game.”

How bad was it for Valor FC, who, in a difficult start to the season with all their away games, are winless? It was already 4-0 for Atlético Ottawa at halftime.

The statistics were heavily tilted in Atlético’s favor, with Ottawa outscoring the visitors 22-8, 17-3 on shots inside the box.

“It’s not every day you’re up 4-0 at halftime,” said Ollie Bassett, who scored two goals. “It was about trying to keep playing the right way and not take our foot off the gas. The result speaks for itself, but it was a performance that was long overdue.

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“If we expect Sunday to be as easy as tonight, we could be in for a rude awakening. I don’t think any of us expect it to be an easy game. It’s something you can’t take for granted. “We will just focus on our performance and what we can do and hopefully the result will take care of itself.”

It was not a good game for the Valor FC team, which a year ago was defeated in the preliminary round by TSS Rovers of League1 BC, the first CPL team to lose to a semi-professional team in the cup. Last year, Atlético Ottawa advanced to the quarterfinals before losing in a penalty shootout to Forge FC.

It was also a record-breaking effort on Wednesday, with Atlético setting a new club record for most goals in a match, as well as the most goals and largest margin of victory in a Canadian championship match.

Atlético had a great opportunity in the 11th minute of Wednesday’s game, with a header that hit the crossbar and rebounded.

Shortly after, Bassett converted a penalty kick with his shot that found the bottom right corner of Valor goalkeeper Darlington Murasiranwa, who guessed wrong and went the other direction.

It was 2-0 around the 30th minute, with a header from Alberto Zapater that found the back of the net.

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And, just over a minute later, Rubén del Campo broke free on the left wing and with a left foot shot made it 3-0.

Around the 37th minute, a shot rebounded off Zapater and made it 4-0.

Valor hit the crossbar as the club attempted to gain momentum near the end of the first half.

Ottawa scored a fifth goal, from Ballou Tabla, approaching the 63rd minute.

The attack continued just over a minute later; This time, it was Bassett who hit a shot from close range.

And, around the 69th minute, it was 7-0 with a goal from Campo, with great help from Samuel Salter, who made a spectacular play to keep the ball alive.

“I never doubt or question the integrity of my players, when they came on the field their desire was to win the game,” Valor coach Phil Dos Santos said. “It is not the first time (this has happened) in football, it will not be the last. The most important thing is how the team will react to this. In a knockout match, (if you lose) by one, by two, by three, it doesn’t really matter.”

“We’ll have a new start on Sunday, we can’t think about what happened today,” Valor’s Dante Campbell said.

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