June 4, 2023...Match Analysis: de Brienne rocket earns Valour deserved 1-1 draw with York United (from canpl.ca)
MATCH ANALYSIS: de Brienne rocket earns Valour deserved 1-1 draw with York United
2023-06-04
by BENEDICT RHODES, CANPL.CA CONTRIBUTOR (@BTFR17)
Final Score: Valour FC 1-1 York United
Goalscorers: de Brienne 72'; Babouli 49'
Game of the 2023 season: 33
CPL match: 400
Match in a minute or less
The milestone 400th match in Canadian Premier League history ended in a 1-1 draw at IG Field in Winnipeg on Sunday
afternoon, between Valour FC and the visiting York United.
Valour dominated the first half but didn’t have anything to show for it, and it was actually the Nine Stripes who
would score the game’s opening goal moments after the break. After Clément Bayiha did well to keep the ball in play
at the Valour goal line, he played a low pass back into the box for Mo Babouli, who fired his shot through traffic
and past Rayane Yesli in the 49th minute.
Matteo de Brienne, who had been having a great game at left back already for Valour, tied it up in the 72nd minute,
collecting the ball from a clearance and making himself a lane to shoot from well outside the area, before unleashing
a powerful shot. Niko Giantsopoulos got a touch to it with his left hand, but the York goalkeeper wasn’t able
to keep the tying goal out of the back of the net.
Both teams — especially the home side, pushed on by their supporters — battled for a late winner, but one would
never come.
Three Observations
York conclude fantastic week with hard-earned draw
York United struggled a little bit out of the gate to begin the 2023 Canadian Premier League season, but over their
last four matches, have really turned it around and end the weekend sitting in third place. The past week
in particular has been very impressive from the Nine Stripes, who played three times in eight days, and picked
up an impressive seven points.
The schedule makers weren’t kind to them, facing Cavalry FC at home last Sunday, before taking on Forge FC in Hamilton
on Wednesday before heading to Winnipeg for this Sunday’s match — but York didn’t let that faze them after beating
the Halifax Wanderers comfortably on the road the week prior. York picked up a 1-0 win over Cavalry, followed
by a 2-1 win in the 905 Derby midweek, before a hard-earned draw at IG Field capped off a defining week.
As key players like Jérémy Gagnon-Laparé and Mo Babouli get healthy and return to the squad as well, York are
hoping to continue that momentum into the coming weeks. They return home on Friday to take on Atlético Ottawa
at York Lions Stadium, with the visitors coming off a very important victory this weekend over the Halifax Wanderers.
That match will be important for both clubs as they look to string more positive results together.
York defender Paris Gee, who has played every single minute for the club so far this season, was pleased with
Sunday’s result — even if the Nine Stripes dropped two points.
“Taking seven points out of this week is fantastic,” he said. “If you told us that at the beginning of the week
we’d all be ecstatic, so getting a point on the road is good. It would have been nice to take the three points,
but a seven point week… we’d take that any time of the year.”
As Gee eluded to, York could have come away from this one with a fourth consecutive victory — which would have been
a club record. Conceding a goal from long range after such a resilient performance will be frustrating, but the
important thing is ultimately that they held their ground for most of the match, and didn’t leave Winnipeg
with nothing.
Head coach Martin Nash also had a lot of praise for his side after a busy stretch of games.
“I think our confidence is high,” Nash said. “Getting two wins and a draw in [eight] days is not easy in this league,
so it’s something we’ve got to be proud of. Now we’ve got to go back to work, take tomorrow to look at this one,
and after that we move on and look at the game for Friday.”
After that match on Friday, the Nine Stripes will get a bit of a break, not playing again until the 18th away
to Pacific FC.
Matteo de Brienne stands out on both sides of the ball once again
Playing as a left back as opposed to the more attacking role he played in 2021, out of necessity as Jordan Haynes
struggles for fitness, Matteo de Brienne has been putting in strong performances week in and week out for Valour.
Undoubtedly one of the early frontrunners for the U21 Canadian Player of the Year award, de Brienne showed why
on Sunday, with a complete, all-around performance that included the match-tying goal. It was no tap-in either,
de Brienne collected the ball along the left touchline before running between a couple of York defenders and firing
a rocket from the edge of the area that Niko Giantsopoulos couldn’t get a strong enough hand to.
The 22-year-old was unlucky not to have contributed to a couple of other goals in this match as well. It was
a free kick in the first half from de Brienne that met Klaidi Cela at the back post — then headed back across
goal by the defender to Pacifique Niyongabire, who was unable to get his header on target from inside
the six yard box. Then, just after the hour mark, de Brienne curled a corner into the six yard box for Walter Ponce,
who was also unable to put his header on goal from close range. Those two headers had a combined expected goals (xG)
of over 1.5, meaning both were expected to be put into the back of the net.
Defensively, de Brienne made several big tackles, including one on York right back Jonny Grant at the end
of the first half to break up a quick counter attack in stoppage time. On the afternoon, de Brienne made two
tackles, two clearances and one interception, and won possession back a team-high nine times. He completed
86.7 per cent of his 60 attempted passes, and attempted nine crosses on what was a standout performance
on both sides of the ball.
His head coach Phil Dos Santos, as is often the case, wanted to speak about the collective effort of his team
rather than individual performances in his postgame press conference, but did offer this about his left back:
“It’s good for him, it’s good for the team. That’s how you’re going to grow, and how your career is going
to advance. It’s past, and now he has to repeat it.”
Valour settle for another draw, need to start turning one point into three
The story of the season thus far for Valour has been that the club has performed well in every single Canadian
Premier League match, but the results just haven’t been going their way. They end the weekend in the fifth
and final playoff spot, and have only lost one time across eight league matches — a 3-2 defeat in Hamilton that
they felt they deserved more from. They also, however, only have one win, drawing their six other matches.
Draws have been commonplace thus far this season around the league, Valour are one of three teams along with
Cavalry FC and the Halifax Wanderers to have drawn six of eight matches, but given how well Valour have played
and their aspirations for this season (the same can be said of the other two club) they need to start picking
up the results to match it.
Valour dominated both halves — outshooting York (who didn’t have a shot until the second half) 18-5,
getting 25 touches in the York box throughout the match, and holding 60.3% possession of the ball. They were
doing everything right, but were just lacking the end product to actually put the ball into the back of the net.
Valour’s expected goals (xG) on the day was 2.19, with their forwards missing several very good opportunities.
In the first half it was Pacifique Niyongabire who missed a wide open header from a few yards out after
Matteo de Brienne’s cross was played back across goal to Niyongabire off the head of Klaidi Cela. In the second
half, Walter Ponce missed a header from a similar position following a de Brienne corner kick, that almost
looked easier to score than the eventual outcome of it — going wide of the left post.
Anthony Novak also came off the bench and had a shot on goal from inside the six yard box in the 65th minute,
forcing a big save from Niko Giantsopoulos.
Valour boss Phil Dos Santos said after the match that he can’t fault the effort of his players, or most of their
performance — but reiterated that the missing piece of the puzzle is just that final clinical moment. He admitted that
he’s beginning to sound like a broken record after saying that after several matches. Dos Santos added that the team
is “a joy to coach” and that he’s been impressed by them thus far in 2023.
“Again, it’s one of those that you need to score,” he said after the match. “You need to get to the end of the 90 minutes.
For the chances we create, we need to score. It’s a pretty simple story of today’s game.
“It’s like that perfect dish, but we’re missing the salt and pepper,” he added. “We just need a little bit of salt
and pepper right now.”
Ultimately they were saved by a wondergoal from de Brienne, which had an xG of just 0.02, or in other words, it was
expected to have a 2 per cent chance of finding the back of the net.
Their next chance to pick up a win comes against a team that is desperately looking to get into the win column,
the Halifax Wanderers. With a record of 0-6-2 to start the season, Patrice Gheisar’s team will throw everything into
next Saturday’s match against Valour in front of their home fans at Wanderers Grounds, as they look to pick up that
first win and start moving up the table before the pressure really starts mounting on them.
CanPL.ca Player of the Match
Matteo de Brienne, Valour FC
The Valour FC left back scored a brilliant goal to earn his team a point, played in a few dangerous set pieces, and put
in a strong shift defensively as well.
What’s next?
York United return home next, to host Atlético Ottawa at York Lions Stadium on Friday (7:30 pm ET). Valour will head even
further east to Halifax, where they will take on the Wanderers on Saturday (2 pm AT/ 12 pm CT).
Watch all matches live on OneSoccer. In addition to its website and app, OneSoccer is now available on TELUS channel 980
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