July 7, 2023...Preview: York United vs. Forge FC - 2023 Match #55 (tonybet Match of the Week) (from canpl.ca)
PREVIEW: York United vs. Forge FC — 2023 Match #55 (tonybet Match of the Week)
2023-07-07
by MITCHELL TIERNEY, DIGITAL CONTENT PRODUCER (@MITCHELLTIERNEY)
2023 CPL Regular Season — Match #55
York United vs. Forge FC
July 9, 2023 at 7:30 p.m. ET
York Lions Stadium in Toronto, Ontario
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Tied in the season series with one win each, and with just a single point separating them in the table,
York United and Forge FC step onto the pitch on Sunday night at York Lions Stadium for what promises to be
another competitive edition of the 905 derby.
The last meeting between the two sides, which came back on May 31 was decided in stoppage time by a stunning
strike from York’s Brem Soumaoro — a goal unquestionably in the conversation for the best the Canadian Premier
League has seen this season.
Forge were again undone in stoppage time this past weekend, as a late penalty from Halifax’s Daniel Nimick saw
them suffer their fifth loss in the last seven matches — a run that began with that aforementioned loss to York.
Late goals have been a theme this season for the Hamilton side, as the results of seven of their 14 matches
have been decided by goals in the last ten minutes.
“Everyone kind of goes through a [tough] spell in the season, it’s a bit longer than normal for them, but you
don’t want to be the ones that kind of awaken the giants in this league,” said York United manager Martin Nash.
“At the same time, you know if they’re not in a good moment we want to try to take advantage of it. It’s not
going to be easy, these derbies never are.”
The Nine Stripes, on the other hand, were on the right end of a late winner last weekend as Osaze De Rosario’s
deflected strike secured them three points on the road in a 2-1 victory against Vancouver FC. The win saw
York leap Forge in the table into second place.
Despite playing some good football over the past month, it was just the second win in the last six for York,
who also come into this match looking to pick up some momentum. Like Forge, late goals have been a significant
theme for them of late, with the results in six of their last seven games decided by goals in the
last 10 minutes. There is a good possibility of late drama on Sunday as a result.
At home, the Nine Stripes have been solid of late with their last loss at York Lions Stadium coming over
two months ago on May 5, 1-0 against Forge.
Terran Campbell scored the lone goal in that match and has now scored both goals that Forge have managed
against York this season. He currently leads the Hamilton side in scoring with four goals on the season.
York United’s leading goalscorer in 2023, Mo Babouli, will be available again for this match after serving
a suspension due to yellow card accumulation against Vancouver FC. The Nine Stripes, however, will be without
Markiyan Voytsekhovskyy, who is out long-term and Noah Abatneh who is likely to miss at least the next two weeks.
On the Forge side of things, Ashtone Morgan remains unlikely to play, while David Choinière did not travel
with the team to Halifax last weekend.
OneSoccer is also available as a linear channel on Optik TV (Ch. 980), the pay-TV service operated by Telus,
one of Canada’s ‘big three’ telecoms companies, as well as on streaming service fuboTV Canada.
3 THINGS TO WATCH
Can Forge change their luck in the second half of the season? It has been an odd first fourteen matches
of the 2023 regular season for the league’s most dominant team. After the best start to a season in club
history — going undefeated through their first seven matches, Forge managed just a single win, and four points,
through their next seven. The numbers suggest they have been pretty unlucky over that stretch, they have
underperformed their expected goals by 3.01 and allowed 3.03 more goals than expected. Forge has also hit
the woodwork a league-leading seven times and despite firing a league-leading 62 shots on target, only Vancouver
and Valour have scored fewer goals per game. As a result, they have yet to win a match by more than a single
goal this season, and a failure to create separation with opponents, not to mention scoring first in just three
of 14 matches, has left them little margin for error in matches. That means moments of ‘bad luck’, like the
penalty goal they conceded against Halifax in the tenth minute of stoppage time last weekend, are more likely
to cost them.
York begins an important stretch of matches in Ontario: It has been quite the hectic past few weeks for
the Nine Stripes, who played seven matches between May 31 and July 2. That included trips to Winnipeg, Langford,
Calgary and most recently Langley. Thankfully for York, the next six matches won’t see them boarding many flights,
as three of them come at home, while their first two matches of August are against inter-provincial rivals
Atlético Ottawa and Forge. Staying close to home will allow the team to develop a much better rhythm over
the next few weeks, with the hope that the results will follow. “We didn’t get a lot of training done,
so you’re just trying to patch things up with video and other things,” said Nash of the past month for the club.
“It will be good for us to get training again, to get working again on the training pitch and be able to prepare
for each opponent.”
Forge’s Khadim Kane showing early signs of growth at pro level: The Forge midfield has seen a new face over
the past three games, as 18-year-old (as of May 17) midfielder Khadim Kane has started and played the full 90 minutes
each time. While his first professional start will perhaps, unfortunately, be remembered for a poor giveaway,
he has recovered from that to deliver back-to-back solid performances against Ottawa and then Halifax.
Against the Wanderers this past weekend he completed 18 of 19 passes and contested 13 duels. There is a lot
to like about the glimpses of talent he has demonstrated in his budding professional career. “He’s an excellent
player,” said Forge manager Bobby Smyrniotis. “This guy is going to be a bright star as long as he keeps
on doing his things. We were very high on him from the beginning of the year and it takes time sometimes
for a young guy to get into the lineup. I think he has done an excellent job for us and like with every young
player he just turned 18 years old, he will have his good moments and he will have moments where he has to get
better at. He’s got a great mentality, great work rate and he’s excellent on the ball. He’s exactly what
we need and exactly what we need in a prototype of player in this country when we see where football is going.”
PROJECTED STARTING XIs
York United:
Giantsopoulos;
Ferrari, Mourdoukoutas, Thompson, Gee;
Gagnon-Laparé, Soumaoro;
Bayiha, Babouli, Alou;
De Rosario
Forge FC:
Henry;
Rama, James, Achinioti-Jönsson, Samuel;
Hojabrpour, Bekker, Sissoko;
Borges, Pacius, Campbell
ALL-TIME SERIES
York United wins: 7 || Forge FC wins: 11 || Draws: 1
Last meeting:
May 31, 2023 – Forge FC 1-2 York United
KEY QUOTES
“We want to try to make home a fortress going through the rest of the season, and put us in a good stead
and hopefully into the playoffs.” — York United head coach Martin Nash
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