April 27, 2025 CPL York United FC vs Forge FC game report (by Rocket Robin)

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Result and details of the Sunday April 27, 2025 Canadian Premier League game between York United FC and Forge FC
played at York Lions Stadium in North York at 2:00pm ET.

York United FC (dark green socks and shirts navy shorts, white names and numbers)

..........................1 Diego Urtiaga
.........3 Luke Singh...62 Nuyal Higgins...4 Oswaldo Leon (cpt)
16 Max Ferrari...7 Steffen Yeates...19 Olusola Jimoh...23 Riley Ferrazzo
.................20 Gabriel Bitar...18 Julian Altobelli
..........................20 Gabriel Bitar

Subs:...24 Michael Williams (gk)...2 Alex Bergman (def)...6 Orlando Botello Linares (def)...9 Bryan Rosa (fwd)
...10 Adonijah Reid (fwd)...30 Christian Zeppieri (mid)...32 Luca Accettola (mid)
team officials:...head coach Mauro Eustaquio...assistant coaches Jose Mateus Lima and Jose Petinga...goalkeeper coach Camilo Benzi
...physiotherapist Jonathan Kang...doctor Hrishov Sarker...physical trainer Julian Simone...kitman Eduardo Rodas

Forge FC (all white uniforms, black names and numbers, orange collars)

...........................1 Jassem Koleilat
24 Rezart Rama...5 Dan Nimick...13 Alexander Achinioti-Jonsson...3 Marko Jevremovic
.....19 Tristan Borges...21 Alessandro Hojabrpour...10 Kyle Bekker (cpt)
......7 David Choiniere...9 Brian Wright...18 Molham Babouli

Subs:...36 Dino Bontis (gk)...6 Benjamin Paton (mid)...16 Khadim Kane (mid)...17 Hoce Massunda (fwd)
...22 Noah Jensen (mid)...28 Keito Lipovschek (mid)...41 Amadou Kone
team officials:...head coach Bobby Smyrniotis...assistant coaches Amo Buitenweg and Georgious Kyriazis
...goalkeeper coach Johan Albert..physiotherapist Liam MacPherson...kitman Joe Hanley...athletic trainer Stavros Vasilopoulos

Game officials:...referee Scott Bowman...assistant referees Jason Vaillancourt and Peter Pendli...fourth official Melvin Christopher
...(all black uniforms)...referee assessor Stephen Cahoon

First Half:...game starts 2:09pm...York defends north end on this mild afternoon with a strong breeze from the north east and
a bright sun in the south west.
2 min...Forge Bekker is given ball on cross and his 12 yarad shot from left is flubbed wide left.
6 min...York player is called for offensive run on left side of box. Forge Rama is injured on play.
7 min...York Ferrari cuts to center from right and 12 yard shot has goalie sprawl to save. York Ferrari has rebound blocked.
9 min...York Singh makes key mid-air clearance at 7 yards on cross into box from right.
11 min...Forge Rezart Rama GOAL...Forge Alessandro Hojabrpour and Forge Tristan Borges on a give-and-go play
has Borges receive chip up right at 6 yards then rolls pass from near end line to Rama who has to pull leg back at 4 yards
to receive ball. He rolls ball from left side of goal to right where goalie Diego Urtiaga scrambles over from guarding
near post to stop. Rama slides forward to poke rebound from 1 yard into left side of open goal.
13 min...York Yeates almost gets through for 7 yard shot on back pass by Forge defender.
13 min...York Riley Ferrazzo GOAL...York Julian Altobelli on run up right to 22 yard line and rolls pass over to Ferrazzo
on left. He blasts 20 yarder that hits or at least is screened by defender at 16 yards and ball flies into low right corner
of goal out of reach of flying goalie Jassem Koleilat.
15 min...York Jimoh eludes Forge Rama to chip ball from left just outside. York Altobelli slips and one-touches 12 yard shot from left wide right.
18 min...York player's freekick from 12 yard line left sideline has goalie punch out.
19 min...Forge Jevremovic suffers head injury call on edge of Forge box.
19 min...York Altobelli has shot blocked after short run into right side of box.
20 min...York Altobelli on slight right shoots 25 yard freekick well over net.
22 min...York Ferrazzo has 12 yard shot tipped for cornerkick on left.
23 min...York Yeates cornerkick from left is over players in box and out right for goalkick.
24 min...York YELLOW card...Singh earns it for sliding tackle on Forge Babouli ata Forge 50 yard line.
26 min...York Yeates cornerkick from left is short and played back to York Jimoh who chips cross from 25 yard line
near sideline. York Altobelli pops 7 yard header in crowd of players in box off the bar and ball is partially cleared while
some players shout for handball. Jimoh has charged into box on left side and taps ball to York Bitar who is squeezed on 1 v 2
by Forge Babouli and Borges and wins Penalty kick while dribbling towards center of box when tripped up.
28 min...York Julian Altobelli GOAL...Altobelli blasts Penalty kick to right side halfway up as goalie dives left.
29 min...Forge Bekker chips balal forward from York 50 yard line near left sideline over York defenders and charging
Forge Wright recovers bouncer forward on edge of 18 yard box on breakaway over top. York goalie makes point blank save
at 6 yards.
30 min...Forge Choiniere wins cornerkick on deflection.
30 min...Forge player's cornerkick from right has handball call given as ball hits York Nyal Higgins on arm near end line on near post.
31 min...Forge Brian Wright GOAL...Wright stagger steps Penalty kick then blasts shot to top left over goalie sprawling to right.
32 min...Forge sub...Paton replaces Jevremovic.
34 min...York Altobelli has 22 yard shot on right blocked by defender in box.
36 min...York Ferrazzo and Forge Rama are both injured when Rama bashes into Ferrazzo at York 45 yard line.
38 min...Forge Choiniere cross from right is along 10 yard line that has defender one-touch clearance from middle of box.
40 min...York Jimoh can't win Penalty kick on fall for pass on left side of box.
41 min...York Ferrari cross from 20 yards is over players in box and defender heads away from left edge of 6 yard box.
43 min...York players almost capitalize on a bad defensive pass in the Forge box.
44 min...York Kibato taps pass to York Ferrari whose 15 yard shot from right side of box hits defender at 10 yards and deflects
away and out of box.
45 min...York Bitar chips 20 yard cross that has goalie make easy catch.
46 min...York Borges 25 yard shot from left is over net. York Bitar iss injured earalier in play in almost the same spot.
47 min...A child runs on to the field near the southwest cornerflag. A father can't chase him because he was holding onto a toddler.
Someone must have called the boy back as he then ran back to the sideline.
48 min...York Singh makes key clearance in the York box.
48 min...Forge YELLOW card...Rama earns it for a trip tackle on York Kibato at York 50 yard line breaking out.
49 min...half ends 2:58pm.

Halftime Entertainment: There was another edition of soccer golf where children on the sideline kick a soccer ball as close as they
can to a cornerflag placed in the middle of the center circle. There's also two kiddies' soccer games with mini nets held in the
south west end.

Second Half:...starts 3:14pm.
47 min...York defender blocks Forge Borges shot on edge of 18 yard box.
50 min...York Jimoh run down left holding off Forge Rama and cross is over to York Ferrari who can't turn header.
53 min...Forge Bekker cross from left is well over net wide right.
54 min...Forge Borges shot from 25 yards on right is well high and left of net.
59 min...York Ferrazzo recovers loose ball at Forge 35 yard endline on left and runs to edge of 18 yard box. He backheels to left and York Jimoh
chips high cross from just outside left of box along 3 yard line and ball falls 2 yards wide of right post with Forge Paton heading ball behind end line
and goalie crashing his back into post..ouch!
61 min...York Jimoh cornerkick from right is over players in box on bounce but charging York Leon blasts from 2 yard line about 4 yards left
of post high and wide left.
63 min...There's some good York pressure around the box but a key clearance in the box is made by a defender.
64 min...Forge sub...Kone replaces Babouli.
..........Forge sub...Massunda replaces Choiniere.
..........Forge sub...Jensen replaces Borges.
65 min...York YELLOW card...Ferrazzo earns it for grab at York 45 yard line near sideline on Forge Massunda.
70 min...York Bitar taps pass on slight left from 25 yard line forward to York Jimoh at 15 yards. He dekes around Forge Nimick
but on 1 v 4 rolls pass back to York Altobelli who blasts 20 yarder down middle that goalie bats wide left for cornerkick.
71 min...York Higgins one-touch from corner wide right from 6 yards.
72 min...York sub...Rosa replaces Altobelli.
73 min...York Rosa beats Forge Nimick to ball and hangs on in tugging match. York Bitar doesn't get away shot.
74 min...York Yeates 35 yard freekick from right is cleared out left side of box.
76 min...Forge sub...Kane replaces Rama.
76 min...York Singh suffers leg injury at York 40 yard line and needs trainer.
77 min...York sub...Botello replaces Jimoh.
...........York sub...Befgman replaces Singh.
79 min...York goalie catches cross from left end line.
82 min...Forge Hojabrpour flubs on shot at 20 yards up middle.
85 min...York sub...Reid replaces Bitar.
86 min...Forge Kone runs to end line but can't turn ball inward.
88 min...Forge Wright can't draw Penalty kick on edge of York box on fall running for cross.
89 min...York Botello freekick from left side line bends behind players in box and bounces for Forge throw-in.
90 min...Forge player is past end line then crosses ball back in so play flagged down.
91 min...Ball hits referee in the head and play is immediately whistled down near center line.
95 min...game ends 4:04pm.

Final Score:...York United FC.........2........Forge FC..........2.........

Attendance wasn't announced but a message board posted it was 1679. I'll believe that as there were less people than their
home opener. The nights in the week are very cold but this was mid afternoon and the weather was mild. Forge had brought at least 100 travelling supporters all collected in the 100 Section (north end near the exit gate). Hard to judge who was loudest because I was nearer the York supporters.

Wow this game got off to a fast start with all four goals scored by the 31 minute mark. A Penalty shot call and conversion for both teams. This was the kind of game where I thought we might see a 5-5 result but play settled down. Those were only the second and third goals scored against Forge this season.

Last season Forge dominated with wins of 3-0, 3-1, 3-0, 0-0, 2-0. OK one draw in there with the 0-0 played at York Lions Stadium. The 3-1 score was a one-game-and-you're-out Canadian Championship played in Hamilton. Today, hey two goals scored and one result already!

There were early parts of the game and even before the game started I was thinking that either York former forwards Brian Wright or Molham Babouli would score a 94th minute goal against their former team like Noah Abatneh did last week in Ottawa.

York midfielder Elijah Adekugbe was in street clothes during the prematch warm ups. He wasn't listed today and we later found out he had picked up an injury in training earlier this week.

Riley Ferrazzo who plays in the back line for York scored his second goal in back to back games with a second highlight reel blast. An unexpected surprise.

Forward Bryan Rosa was just signed earlier in the week by York and was subbed in at 72 minutes. He is from Portugal and was discovered when York were over there early this year in their training period.

York's backup goalie today was Michael Williams. He is the first choice for the York United Academy that were playing this evening in League1 Ontario Championship (second tier) action against Waterloo United. He ended up being the backup for the Academy team too as they used Daniel Sanei for the full 90. The Academy team won 4-3 tonight with two goals from Markiyan Voytsekhovskyy in his first action of the season for either York team. He is only age 21 and there's no rule in L1O forcing the Academy to be an all teenage team. This was one reason for the owners setting up the team...not just bringing young phenoms up to thr main team but to give players from the CPL team a space to recover from injuries and get playing time. Regular York (CPL) backup goalie Ivan Pavela was not listed on either team's roster tonight. He was the starter in the home opener against HFX Wanderers when Diego Urtiaga had just arrived from Mexico.

Referee Scott Bowman gave out three Yellow cards (two to York players) and awarded one Penalty kick each--both converted in a very wide open game.

The result improves York's record to 1 win, 2 losses, 1 tie for 4 points. That's enough to be in a tie for fourth place with Pacific FC who have an identical record but York ranks the fourth spot because of scoring one more goal, 7 vs 6 for Pacific.

Forge FC improves to 2 wins, 0 losses, 2 ties for 8 points. That puts them alone in third. They lose ground on Atletico Ottawa and HFX Wanderers who also remain undefeated but have 3 wins and 1 tie for 10 points. The one tie for both was from the opening week of the season when they played each other 2-2 in Ottawa. At the other end of the table, Cavalry FC and Valour FC have identical 0 wins, 1 tie, 2 losses records for one point but they've only played three games so far.

Cavalry is known for getting off to slow starts every season and they are the current playoff champions after finishing second in the regular season in 2024. Their next game is this Friday against...oh oh, York United! One Soccer says that Cavalry have never won in the month of April. Last season they came to York Lions Stadium May 18th and the teams played to a 2-2 tie. That was the last game in charge as head coach by Martin Nash as he was replaced by Benjamin Mora for the rest of the season.

In a scheduling quirk, one night before York plays Cavalry on Friday night at 8:00pm, Calgary Wild of the Northern Super League (the new women's pro league) are at this stadium to play AFC Toronto in AFC's first home game at their official home stadium. AFC played at BMO Field in their first game to maximize the publicity of the new league. That should be an interesting attendance duel!


York United FC starters


Forge FC starters


Forge Brian Wright (9) takes opening kickoff.


Forge Molham Babouli (18) looks to get out of own end.


York players mob Riley Ferrazzo (23) after his goal.


York Olusola Jimoh (19) keeps ball in play on end line.


York Julian Altobelli (18) puts freekick well over net.


A York cornerkick is coming in from left.


York Julian Altobelli (18) scores on Penalty kick.


Forge Brian Wright (9) scores on Penalty kick.


York Gabriel Bitar (20) takes second half kickoff.


York Olusola Jimoh (19) readies cornerkick.


York Gabriel Bitar (20) and York Max Ferrari (16) squeeze Forge player on sideline.


York Orlando Botello (6) lines up to take freekick. 

Game stats from canpl.ca

                              York United   Forge FC
goals-scored                          2          2
Assist                                1          0
possession- perc                     49         51
shots                                16          8
shots- on- goal                       4          4
blocked-Shots                         5          3
total-passes                        435        473
passing-accuracy-percentage          84         83
corners                               4          1
crosses                              18         10
offsides                              2          2
duels-won                            29         44
saves                                 2          2
clearences                           12          9
fouls                                11         13
yellow-cards                          2          1
Red Cards                             0          0
penalty-goals                         1          1
own-goals                             0          0
throw- ins                           29         19
pass-attempts                       435        473
free-kicks                            1          0
crosses-successful                    6          0
Shots At Goal Inside Box             10          5
Shots At Goal Outside Box             6          3
missed-passes                        71         83
tackles- total                        5         18
passes-completed                    364        390
key-passes                            9          4
tackles- successful                   3          7

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