August 3, 2024...Match Analysis: Despite early goals, Pacific and York United settle for stalement at Starlight Stadium (from canpl.ca)

MATCH ANALYSIS: Despite early goals, Pacific and York United settle for stalemate at Starlight Stadium
2024-08-03
by Mitchell Tierney, Digital Content Producer (@mitchelltierney)

Final Score: Pacific FC 1-1 York United
Goalscorers: Meilleur-Giguère 2'; Wright 9'
Game of the 2024 season: 63
CPL match: 547

Match in a minute or less

Pacific FC and York United played to a 1-1 draw on Friday night at Starlight Stadium, one in which neither side were able to build off early goals.

The Tridents opened the scoring just over a minute into the match on a corner kick which Thomas Meilleur-Giguère headed home, before Golden Boot leader Brian Wright responded with his ninth of the season in the ninth minute. Neither side was able to find a crucial moment of quality in front of goal thereafter, however, forcing them to settle for a point each.

Both sides remain in their respective places in the table, with second-place York United moving to just one point behind top-of-the-table Atlético Ottawa and Pacific drawing level on points with rivals Vancouver FC. The Tridents, however, remain in sixth, and outside the playoff places, due to the head-to-head tiebreaker.

Three Observations

Final act lets both teams down during a competitive draw that lacked composure

After two goals inside the opening ten minutes on Friday night, it felt like fans at Starlight Stadium might be in for a barn burner.

Instead, both sides were left a little bit frustrated with a lack of cohesiveness in the final third which led to just two shots on target for each team over the course of 90 minutes.

It will be the first minutes and the final minutes that will haunt the visiting York United coming out of Friday’s match. They conceded just 64 seconds into the game, a moment which they felt had them fighting uphill for the rest of the 90 minutes. After conceding just six minutes into their match last week with Atlético Ottawa, it is a habit they will not want to see creep into their game.

Then, in the match’s dying moments, they had two outstanding chances to win the game but couldn’t convert.

“At the end of the day, we had two opportunities to finish the game, and we couldn’t do it,” said York United head coach Benjamín Mora. “So it’s a game that leaves you with that bitterness in this, in the feeling, because I think we also could have had more points than only one.”

Pacific, meanwhile, showed some promise in the final third but were let down more often than not by their composure and connection in the final third. Too often, their players got into good areas but then could not pick out a teammate, or find the space required to test Thomas Vincensini in the York net.

A look at their missed passes from the match shows just how many did not reach their intended target, especially in the final third. They finished with just a 72.6 per cent pass accuracy overall, dipping to just 55.6 in the final third.

“I think there were chances, opportunities for us to have a little bit more quality with the final pass,” said Pacific FC head coach James Merriman. “And we need to tidy that up, and continue to work on that, continue to improve on that.”

For a Pacific team coming off arguably their worst performance of the season, however, the effort and belief were undoubtedly there for them on Friday — and that was the lasting takeaway for their head coach. The Tridents won 62.5 per cent of the duels in the game, and won 15 tackles showing a fighting spirit until just before the final whistle, when defender Kunle Dada-Luke cleared what would have been the match-winner for York off the goal line.

“I think first, most importantly, we wanted to get the mentality, you know, the mentality, the spirit of the team [right],” said Merriman. “We’ve talked about when we wear the jersey and we play at home, in front of our own fans, and I think 100 percent we gave that. The attitude was correct, the approach was very good. And I know if we come out this way, we’re going to win games.”

Guzmán, York United’s left flank, quickly showing chemistry

Just two matches into his CPL career, York United’s Jorge Guzmán already owns a league record.

On Friday at Starlight Stadium, the 20-year-old attacker, on loan from Liga MX side Atlas, became the quickest player in league history to reach three assists. He set up York United’s opener with a lovely low cross into Brian Wright in the box, which the now-Golden Boot leader did a tremendous job of using to find a yard of space for himself and smash home his ninth of the season.

What Guzmán has quickly seemed to recognize is the fact that the York striker is at his best when the ball is played into his feet — with this being the second such assist he has provided to his number nine since his debut against Atlético Ottawa last week. Despite his stature, Wright has scored just one of his 24 career goals with his head – and none of his nine this season, showing just how much he prefers when lower balls are played into him.

“Guzmán is a tremendous player,” said Wright. “You can see the qualities. I mean in two games he has three assists, so hopefully we can continue to use him and find him in good areas, to either take people one v. one or find crosses, because he’s been more times than not picking out the right pass or cross.”

The striker isn’t the only teammate who York’s newest player has quickly found chemistry with, however, as the club’s left flank was a real threat throughout the match with Guzmán combining incredibly well with Juan Córdova and Orlando Botello. York looked to use this flank often during the match, and Córdova and Botello combined to get Guzmán the ball out wide on York’s goal.

Just before full-time, Guzmán was tremendously unlucky to not have set up the winner, with perhaps his best delivery yet right into the path of Austin Ricci. The substitute striker, however, hit the crossbar. Guzmán finished with four chances created, two shots attempted and won possession seven times.

Devin O’Hea gives Pacific FC another strong option in attack

In his first professional start, 24-year-old Devin O’Hea showed quickly why the Tridents brought him into the fold.

Splitting time between a wide attacker in the first half, and as a central striker after Reon Moore departed the match early in the second half, the former TSS Rover put in a tremendous shift.

He got into good areas on the pitch, with a team-leading five touches in the box and two shot attempts. Most impressive, however, was the work he put in off the ball, winning 10 of 16 duels contested, including five of eight in the air.

“He defends, he does the work without the ball, he’s aggressive, he’s got good physicality, and above everything, his mentality is excellent,” said Merriman. “He comes in every single day to improve. He’s not taking anything for granted. He wants this opportunity, and I think he showed tonight he’s got big potential.”

Like the rest of his team, the final act let O’Hea down on Friday night. But if this is the baseline for the sort of performances he will be giving the Tridents, O’Hea is certainly a player to watch as Pacific look to find more of an attacking spark over the second half of the season.

CanPL.ca Player of the Match
Jorge Guzmán, York United

It has been an incredible start to the 20-year-old Mexican’s CPL career. With his third CPL assist already on Friday, he could have easily had more on the score sheet with four chances created, two shot attempts and seven attempted crosses.

What’s next?

Pacific FC are set to face Vancouver FC in the third Salish Sea Derby of the season, on Sunday, August 11 (2:00 p.m. PT/ 5:00 p.m. ET) in Langley, looking for their first win against their provincial rivals of the season. York United, meanwhile, stay on the road, heading to Winnipeg that same day to take on Valour FC (8:00 p.m. ET).

Watch all CPL and Canadian Championship 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.

back to 2024 York United FC menu

.

.