August 23, 2024...Match Analysis: York United, Forge can't solve each other in scoreless stalemate (from canpl.ca website)

MATCH ANALYSIS: York United, Forge can’t solve each other in scoreless stalemate
2024-08-23
by Charlie O’Connor-Clarke, Digital Content Editor (@charliejclarke)

Final Score: York United FC 0-0 Forge FC
Goalscorers: None
Game of the 2024 season: 76
CPL match: 560

Match in a minute or less

The latest 905 Derby ended without a winner on Friday night, as York United and Forge FC proved even matches for one another in a game that ended 0-0.

Although the two sides had a handful of ventures into the opponent’s end, and both goalkeepers were called into action a handful of times, nobody was able to break the deadlock.

A point each keeps the CPL’s regular season title race tight, as Forge maintained their place atop the table and York moved briefly into second place, level on points with Atlético Ottawa but ahead thanks to the head-to-head tiebreaker.

Three Observations

Disjointed match sees both sides fail to connect in final third, gaining little ground

Although these teams have seen each other so often this year — or perhaps because of that fact — they both struggled to really solve the other on Friday night.

Unlike each of the previous meetings in 2024, Forge were not able to find a weakness in York and exploit it repeatedly to put the game out of reach. Conversely, even though the Nine Stripes made plenty of aspiring forays into the attacking third, they similarly could not find a reliable route to the net outside of the occasional misplay they could seize on. Even those, though (for both sides) couldn’t be converted into the back of the net, though.

The challenge for both sides seemed to be connecting passes between attacking players. Both York and Forge had a passing accuracy below 70 per cent in the final third (60.2 and 67.5 per cent, respectively), and the teams combined for just five total successful crosses in open play from 20 attempts.

“It was a little disjointed at times,” Forge midfielder Alessandro Hojabrpour said postmatch. “I think a lot of good stuff, and then a lot of stuff that’s just weird, that we’re not used to. It was a battle, both teams knew it was going to be a battle coming into it; when you have two teams fighting for the league title that’s the bare minimum.

“It was a weird game to be a part of — a cagey one. It was a chess match a little bit, and both teams trying to figure each other out, swings of momentum on both sides. But it’s one of those games that’s also a little bit entertaining. It’s got a little bit of edge to it.”

Overall, this is not likely to be a result that accomplishes much for either side. The silver lining for York is that they held Forge off the scoresheet after conceding three goals in each of their three previous derbies this year, but they arguably had the better chances and will be annoyed not to have scored.

The teams that are happiest about Friday’s result are, undoubtedly, Atlético Ottawa and Cavalry FC. Both those sides could leapfrog one of these teams with a win in their own match this weekend, and Ottawa could even reclaim first place thanks to the head-to-head tiebreaker.

York defence remains well organized despite changes to personnel, shape

It was obvious coming into the game that York would have to made some adjustments in their defence, knowing Oswaldo León would be suspended with yellow card accumulation, but it came as more of a surprise when the club revealed Frank Sturing was also injured.

So, Benjamín Mora was forced to abandon the three-man backline he had favoured for most of his tenure at the club so far, and he gave Nyal Higgins his first start since May 4 in a back four that also included 19-year-old Noah Abatneh as his centre-back partner and Max Ferrari and Orlando Botello out wide.

Impressively though, York adapted well not only to slightly less experienced personnel, but a different structure at the back — which affected both their defensive positioning and their buildup play. In possession, it largely functioned still as a back three, with one of the fullbacks dropping back while the other went high up the touchline.

The way they held their shape out of possession, though, especially with Elijah Adekugbe and Josué Martínez patrolling the area just in front of the line. That box between them and the centre-backs proved a difficult area for Forge to get into, and a large part of the reason Jordan Hamilton found just four touches in an entire half of work.

Abatneh and Higgins deserve particular credit for their composure; Abatneh has played a lot but most of his minutes have been alongside a far more experienced partner, while Higgins didn’t have the smoothest start to the season and yet probably delivered his best performance for York in this game.

“We knew how they were going to attack and the movements they do, and the quality of their wingers and their striker,” York head coach Mora said. “We contained when we needed to contain, and we tried to create our possibilities. But that was it, a very good tactical game. We knew how to defend, and of course, one point is valuable for us.”

It’s frustrating for York that they couldn’t capitalize on any chances, especially a couple of golden ones for Jorge Guzmán and Austin Ricci, but the way they kept the clean sheet deserves commendation.

Forge neutralize York’s stars, take away space in the middle

Forge had done their homework well on how York like to attack, and they executed a strong game plan to keep their main contributors at bay.

Brian Wright, who is on track to break a CPL record for goal contributions in a season, struggled to get separation from Forge’s centre-backs, and he was limited to just 31 touches in the match, completing just 10 of 17 passes as he found himself swarmed. Alex Achinioti-Jönsson and Garven Metusala did extremely well throughout the match ensuring Wright remained in between them, which allowed them to cut off his service by intercepting attempted passes.

Similarly, Forge gave special attention to Mo Babouli, who did spend a lot of time on the ball and looked lively in his attempts to run at defenders and try to create chances. More often than not, though, he found himself running into traffic as multiple defenders closed him down and eventually won the ball back or forced an unlikely shot from distance.

The more frustrating part of the evening for Forge was in attack, where none of their combinations or rotations between the front four seemed able to make an impact. Even after halftime, when Bobby Smyrniotis moved Nana Ampomah into a more central role and brought David Choinière onto the wing, none of the attacking players were able to find one another consistently.

There’s not much time to dwell on this though; Forge have to play Toronto FC in the Canadian Championship semifinal on Tuesday night. A silver lining for them on Friday might be that they got a few extra minutes of rest to some players like Hamilton and Tristan Borges, particularly after playing a lot of games in the prior week.

Forge aren’t usually a team that carry major issues from match to match, so there’s little reason to worry that Friday’s sluggishness might appear on Tuesday.

CanPL.ca Player of the Match
Juan Cordóva, York United

The creative midfielder was the game’s most dangerous outlet, creating five chances and taking a shot himself as he did seem the most likely to unlock dangerous areas. Cordóva also won possession seven times — twice in the final third — and won three fouls, willing his side up the pitch.

What’s next?
York’s attention now turns to their Labour Day contest in the Maritimes against Halifax Wanderers FC (4 p.m. AT/3 p.m. ET). Forge, however, have a much more immediate task at hand, as they head to BMO Field for Leg 2 of their Canadian Championship semifinal tie with Toronto FC on Tuesday night (7 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.

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