August 20, 2022...Match Analysis: Forge FC 1-3 York United - CPL Match #80 (from canpl.ca site)
Match Analysis: Forge FC 1-3 York United — CPL Match #80 2022-08-20 by CHARLIE O’CONNOR-CLARKE, DIGITAL CONTENT EDITOR (@CHARLIEJCLARKE) MATCH ANALYSIS NEWS Final Score: Forge FC 1-3 York United Goalscorers: Borges 52'; De Rosario 7', N’sa 58', Babouli 68' Game of the 2022 season: 80 CPL match: 330 Match in a minute or less York United took all three points in the latest edition of the 905 Derby on Saturday night, as they defeated Forge FC 3-1 at Tim Hortons Field for their second straight win and third away from home in 2022. Osaze De Rosario put the Nine Stripes on the board before 10 minutes, getting his toe on an excellent Paris Gee cross. York would hold onto the lead until halftime, although coach Martin Nash was forced to make two subs, as Gee picked up an early injury and, not long after, his left-back replacement Mateo Hernández also had to go off. Controlling much of the ball, Forge found an equalizer not long after the break thanks to a curling Tristan Borges strike, but York pulled back in front five minutes after when Chrisnovic N’sa smashed home a left-footed shot from outside the box. Mo Babouli — playing his first game in Hamilton since leaving Forge, and making his first start for York — sealed the win for the visitors with a clinical finish in the 68th minute to make it 3-1. Three Observations York respond excellently to early injuries, equalizer in resilient win Losing a starter to injury in the first half is always a nightmare for a coach to deal with. Losing two players in the same position? Catastrophic. York’s Paris Gee went down in the 25th minute after a very bright start to the match — most notably his gorgeous assist to De Rosario for York’s early goal. So, Martin Nash chose to put natural central midfielder Mateo Hernández in Gee’s place at left-back. Hernández did well on the ball, although he had a few difficult defensive moments, including one where David Choinière flicked over him and ran in behind for a scoring chance. Five minutes before halftime, though, Hernández also went down injured after an awkward fall during a tackle. He left the pitch on a stretcher, and Nash had to go to his bench again, this time calling on Luis Lawrie-Lattanzio. The Australian is naturally a left-sided player, but far more attack-minded than a traditional fullback (much like Hernández). He’s played a few games for York as a left wingback, but this role required a lot more defensive work than his previous appearances. Things could have collapsed very quickly for York in this game after they conceded the equalizer early in the second half. With only one window remaining for them to make substitutions thanks to the first-half changes, Nash knew he would need as much from his remaining starters as possible, even with Forge continuously pressing forward in search of more goals. Thankfully for York, the starters delivered. Just as they did the previous week against FC Edmonton, York responded quickly with a pair of goals and clearly found their extra gear when faced with adversity. “It’s that mentality,” Nash said postmatch. “We’ve been talking about our mentality and the work ethic it takes to stay in games. We knew we were gonna have to come here and grind it out, there’s going to be periods of the game where we don’t have the ball and they can dictate tempo, but we’ve got to keep our lines tight and not let them into pockets, because when they get into pockets they’re so dangerous.” Forge make uncharacteristic errors in ‘worst performance’ It’s not unheard of for Forge FC to lose games, nor even for them to lose at home. However, the way they lost this particular game was not something often seen in their CPL history. Head coach Bobby Smyrniotis was appropriately candid with his assessment postmatch, opening his press conference remarks with a laconic quip: “Maybe one of the worst matches Forge has played in three and a half years,” Smyrniotis said. “Simplest way to put it.” Of course, Forge were not dominated on the whole in this game. In the first half, they were the better side despite conceding, with 63% possession and 13 touches in the box to York’s three. Two of their attempts hit the woodwork, and had either found its way into the net the match may have unfolded quite differently. Football is not a sport of hypotheticals, though; Forge didn’t score in the first half, and they paid dearly for that. Smyrniotis identified a handful of concerning factors from this game, including the lack of attacking aggression and energy in his side’s pressing. They also seemed to allow York to get forward down the wide areas too easily, as they lost their shape and got pulled out of position. “We lacked energy today,” Smyrniotis said. “You can’t lack energy in any game. You can look at some of the games, some of the opponents, York’s played low tempo games in their past few ones, but they’re not going to come here and play at a low tempo. Whether we’re here or at their pitch, it’s always a massive match to play against Forge. Today we didn’t have the energy, and if you don’t have the energy you give opponents an opportunity in the game.” He added: “Our pressing wasn’t good in different areas of the field, and that’s something that characteristically is very good. When we’re good at that, we’re good in the attack, and I think that’s very important. When you’re not good in those situations, you give opportunity to the opponents and we just weren’t adjusting to different parts of the game.” Forge move on now to a very difficult away match next weekend against Atlético Ottawa. Of course, they’re a side that usually get up for big games, and after losing two in a row they’re almost certain to find the energy they lacked on Saturday. Still, York and the rest of the CPL will look at this match and know that Forge can, indeed, be beaten in games like this. York add quality, space to attack with Babouli in 10 role, wide switches Mo Babouli’s return to Hamilton was perhaps the most intriguing storyline heading into this match, as the former Forge striker made his first start for York United since signing for the club just two weeks ago. Playing on the Tim Hortons Field turf that he knows very well, Babouli slotted into York’s starting XI playing as a number 10, flanked by Ronan Kratt and Kevin Dos Santos with Osaze De Rosario in front of him. York didn’t have much of the ball in this game, so Babouli wasn’t necessarily pulling the strings of build-up play as much as he could have been, but he did show plenty of flashes of his quality. He had two successful dribbles in the first half alone — a period in which York had less than a third of possession — and a few of his passes provided glimpses of his vision and how intriguing a partnership he could quickly develop with De Rosario. He actually finished the match with five successful dribbles from seven attempts, getting on the ball far more in the second half. “He’s so good on the ball,” Nash said of Babouli. “Good in possession, he has that vision and he can play short and long, he can play balls through. He’s exactly what we needed, and he’s proven himself to be a fantastic signing for us after two performances.” The other major impact Babouli had on this game was the attention he demanded from Forge. Bobby Smyrniotis and his players will, of course, be very well aware of how good a player Babouli is (and was when he played for them), so he often found himself quite tightly marked when York did have the ball, either by a centre-back or by Alessandro Hojabrpour. This seemed to naturally narrow Forge’s defensive shape a little bit, which is why York found more space on the wings, and scored an early goal from there. Ronan Kratt had more space on the right side again in the second half, which helped contribute to the second York goal — particularly the pocket above the box where Chrisnovic N’sa was able to drift across the top of the box before shooting. The visitors seemed quite deliberate in their long switches of play from side to side, which really stretched Forge especially when the Hammers were pressing forward in search of the equalizer or go-ahead goal, as York managed to pull them out of position somewhat and make space for themselves. The below graphic isn’t indicative of too much tactically due to changes throughout the game, but it does give a crude demonstration of how wide Kratt (number 27 in pink) and Dos Santos (number 11) played, and how much space they were able to find. At last, Babouli’s on-ball quality took centre-stage for York’s third goal — as did his early chemistry with De Rosario — as he made a perfect run to receive De Rosario’s flick-on into the box, and his finishing ability proved to be as clinical as ever. N’sa spoke glowingly of Babouli after the game as well: “Mo is a magician,” he said. “Everybody knows that in the league. To have a player like that in the middle it really helped everybody. Sometimes when you’re struggling, you just give him the pass and say ‘Come on Mo, do something magical,’ because he can always do it.” Babouli’s addition alone makes York a far more dangerous side going forward, and he may well be able to lend De Rosario a hand in his chase for the Golden Boot: He’s on nine now, just four back of Alejandro Diaz’s 13. CanPL.ca Player of the Match Chrisnovic N’sa, York United The right-back deserves no end of credit for his outstanding strike that stood as the winning goal, but he was also heavily involved in York’s third marker with his driving run down the touchline. He led his side with 76 touches and did plenty of defensive work, recording four clearances and three interceptions. What’s next? These two Ontario clubs both hit the road next Saturday, August 27. First up, York United will head to Spruce Meadows for a matchup with Cavalry FC (1:30 p.m. MT/3:30 p.m. ET). Following that, Forge will be in the nation’s capital to take on Atlético Ottawa (6:30 p.m. ET). Watch all 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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