A second-half flurry of goals was the difference, as Atlético Ottawa continued their undefeated road record in the Canadian Premier League this season by downing Vancouver FC 3-0 on Friday, July 12 at Langley’s Willoughby Community Park stadium.
Ballou Tabla, Rubén del Campo and Samuel Salter all found the back of the net to extend Ottawa's lead at the top of the CPL table to eight points.
Vancouver, meanwhile, are third for the time being but now have just a single victory in their last seven matches — and have allowed a league-leading 25 goals against.
Vancouver FC left winger Ben Fisk, an East Vancouver native, was visibly upset when he spoke to media after the match, making it clear this was an unacceptable performance from the team — especially at home.
“It’s embarrassing, I mean my friends and family are out there paying money to see that,” Fisk said. “So I don’t think anything needs to be said. I think we all need to take a look in the mirror and just be better.”
All three Atlético Ottawa goals came off of intercepted passes out of the back or Vancouver players being dispossessed in their own third.
“I’m not happy with the way we tried to build out of the back,” said Vancouver FC head coach Afshin Ghotbi. “We gave too many balls away. Our central defenders were sometimes too casual, or they tried too hard to create the passing sequences that are not necessary. You look at the best central defenders, they win the ball, they give the easy pass, but our central defenders will try to do more than necessary, and they got themselves in trouble.”
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Four of VFC's next five will be played in Langley.
“The last two games at home have been two of the worst days of my career,” said Fisk. “So it’s got to be better. But yeah, if we take advantage of it, we have an unbelievable opportunity, five games at home through the summer, we’ve been waiting for that all season.”
Vancouver FC continue their home stand as they take on York United on Saturday, July 20 at 3 p.m.
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