August 24, 2023...Preview: York United vs. Vancouver FC - 2023 Match #82 (from canpl.ca)
PREVIEW: York United vs. Vancouver FC — 2023 Match #82
2023-08-24
by MITCHELL TIERNEY, DIGITAL CONTENT PRODUCER (@MITCHELLTIERNEY)
2023 CPL Regular Season — Match #82
York United vs. Vancouver FC
August 25, 2023 at 7:30 p.m. ET/4:30 p.m. PT
York Lions Stadium in Toronto, Ontario
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Less than a week after perhaps the biggest victory in club history, a 3-2 Salish Sea derby win over provincial rivals
Pacific, Vancouver FC return to the site of their first-ever club win.
Back on April 22 in just their second CPL match, Vancouver FC also scored their first goal in club history, courtesy
of leading scorer Shaan Hundal, in a 2-1 victory over York United.
They return to York Lions Stadium on Friday looking for another first, back-to-back victories. After that inaugural
win, it took until June 20 to collect their next three points. That was another impressive moment, as they defeated
Forge FC at home, and they would also beat Halifax in early July. But they have been unable to truly build on those
moments this season, as both of those matches were also followed by losses.
The other two meetings between Vancouver and York have gone the way of the Nine Stripes, including a 1-0 result
at York Lions Stadium in the Canadian Championship back in April, and a more recent 2-1 win at the Langley Events Centre
on July 2.
“I think they’ve been a tough side to play all year, they’ve tooled up in the transfer window so they’ve got some more
quality brought into the side so they are a difficult team to play against,” said York United manager Martin Nash.
“They are well organized, they have some people that can hurt you up front so these types of teams always pose a danger
and a threat but we’ve got to stay organized, protect against the counter and be patient when we need to be patient.”
York United are winless in their last four matches, the past three of which came away from home. After a 2-1 loss
to Cavalry FC this past Sunday, they are now three points out of the playoffs, having played one more match than every
other team in the league other than Forge FC.
The Nine Stripes have just three wins in total in their last 13 matches. They have defeated just one side that currently
sits above the playoff line during that stretch, Atlético Ottawa back on June 9. That match was also their last win
at York Lions Stadium.
With that being said, win on Friday and they are back above the playoff line on the first tiebreaker, which is total
wins — at least for the time being. Failing to pick up all three points against Vancouver, who currently sit bottom
of the table, would be a significant blow to their postseason hopes.
Vancouver are still mathematically in the playoff race, but sitting twelve points out with just eight games remaining,
they would need nothing short of a miraculous run to qualify. With that being said, they proved last weekend that there
is no quit in this group, and they are still intent on making some noise before their inaugural season concludes.
“The goal for us is to make the playoffs, even though all the experts and everyone is telling me that it is impossible,”
said Vancouver FC manager Afshin Ghotbi. “But I think nothing is impossible and as long as mathematically we have
a chance, we are going to do everything we can to get ourselves close enough that at least in the last few games we have
a chance to get into the playoffs.”
York United received some good news on the suspensions front this week as Matthew Baldisimo will be available again
after serving his three-match ban. Carson Buschman-Dormond, meanwhile, who was sent off in stoppage time of their
match last weekend against Cavalry has seen his suspension successfully appealed and he will be available for Friday’s
match, which is critical as York still chases the required 2,000 U-21 minutes. Paris Gee is also again available
for selection after missing last week.
All CPL matches are available to stream on OneSoccer, FuboTV, or on TELUS Optik TV Channel 980.
3 THINGS TO WATCH
Hundal looking to find scoring boots again at old stomping grounds: A leader in the Canadian Premier League’s Golden Boot
race through the first portion of the season, Vancouver FC’s Shaan Hundal has gone quiet of late. His last goal came
on July 2 against none other than York United. In fact, Hundal has scored in both meetings between the two sides this
season perhaps making this the perfect fixture to break his goalless drought. Hundal mentioned in the prematch press
conference that with Alejandro Díaz coming into the lineup, he has had to adapt to a new role as a right winger that
has taken some adjustment. If Vancouver are to make a push for anything down the stretch, however, having Hundal firing
again will be critical, regardless of his role. “Personally I’ve had a lot of success at [York Lions Stadium] whether
it be with Miami, playing with TFC or whatever but I usually have pretty good success [there] and hoping I can just build
on that and keep it going Friday night,” said Hundal.
York’s home form down the stretch will determine their season: With Friday being the first of five remaining home matches
for York United in their last seven of the season, how they perform at York Lions Stadium will largely be the difference
between them making the playoffs or not. So far this year they have mostly struggled at home, with a league-low two wins
from nine matches. A big issue for them has been starting on the front foot, as only Valour (three) have scored fewer first
half goals at home this season than York United’s four in nine matches at home. That will be a major focus as they look
to change their home narrative on Friday. “We’ve got to come out on fire,” said Nash. “We’ve got to bring it from minute
one, we can’t sit back and let the game come to us. We have to find a way to play with the passion at home that we do when
we are on the road and so we know this and we are going to push the guys to come out on fire.”
York finding consistency, production from out wide: If there is one aspect of York’s game to celebrate of late, it has been
the consistency and quality of performance they have been getting from their wide attackers. With a rotating cast of wide
players for most of the season, Martin Nash seems to have settled on the duo of Kévin Santos and Clément Bayiha. Over the
past three matches, Bayiha has scored once and added two assists, while Santos has a pair of goals. Look for both to try
to get the better of Vancouver’s young fullbacks this week. “I think they’ve both been doing really well, they’ve both been
contributing to the attack with goals and assists,” said Nash. “They are talented players and they are on form right now
so we’ve got to keep them going.”
PROJECTED STARTING XIs
York United (4-2-3-1): A. De Rosario; Gee, Mourdoukoutas, Thompson, Esprit; Baldisimo, Gagnon-Laparé; Bayiha, Babouli
,
Santos; Wright
Vancouver FC (4-3-3): Irving; Cameron, Romeo, Bakare, Kwak; Simmons, Garcia, Fry; Hundal, Bitar, Díaz
ALL-TIME SERIES
York United wins: 2 || Vancouver FC wins: 1 || Draws: 0
Last meeting:
July 2, 2023 — Vancouver FC 1-2 York United
KEY QUOTES
“Energy. I think that is our key. We have to bring energy. When we play with energy and enthusiasm we are great. When we
sit back and let games come to us we are not so we have to find a way to bring that energy at home. We haven’t done
it consistently this year so, knowing we have five games at home coming up, we have to try and make home a fortress for
the rest of the season.” — York United head coach Martin Nash
“Their inconsistency is something that we have seen and I believe that it is a team that can beat anyone at any given game
and at the same time lose to anyone at any given game. So it depends what time of team shows up against us but at the same
time my main focus is going to be our team and our mentality approaching the game and how tactically we are prepared for
the match.” — Vancouver FC head coach Afshin Ghotbi
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