Valour control play but fail to capitalize on chances

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This article was published 05/05/2019 (2650 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

At the end of the day, the only stat that truly matters is goals.

Valour FC were reminded of that on Saturday in their home opener at Investors Group Field against FC Edmonton.

Winnipeg’s newest professional soccer team did everything they could to leave a good first impression on the 9,699 fans in attendance, as they outshot their opponents and dominated the possession battle. In the end, FC Edmonton spoiled the return of professional soccer to Winnipeg, as they took down Valour FC 2-1.

With the loss, Valour drops to 1-1-0 after winning 2-1 in their season opener in Victoria on Wednesday night against Pacific FC. Saturday was FC Edmonton’s first game of the Canadian Premier League season.

“It’s super frustrating, but that’s football, isn’t it?” Valour forward Stephen Hoyle said after the match in a very quiet locker room.

“We’re a young team. You look at the other results around the league and consistency is going to be the key to what separates the top team in its first year in existence. I think we’ll be OK. We’re going to learn from this and move on.”

Valour, who controlled the ball for 58.8 per cent of the match, had 20 shots in total, with six landing on net. Edmonton shot the ball a total of eight times with four hitting the target. Edmonton almost went the entire first half without a shot, but a minute before the first-half whistle was blown, Mélé Temguia jumped on a loose ball in front of the net and put it past Valour keeper Tyson Farago to give his team the lead heading into the break.

“I didn’t even expect it. It came from nothing,” Valour midfielder Michael Petrasso said of the opening goal. “Just a cross that got in and took a couple deflections and ended up at the guy’s feet. I just think it’s hard, you know. Especially in the first half when you could see the runs we were making and the opportunities that were coming. Just nothing was clicking and going into the net.”

It was a similar story in the second half, with Valour creating the majority of the scoring chances and controlling the ball.

But again, it was FC Edmonton finding the back of the net, as Oumar Diouck scored off a corner kick with a header to give the visitors a 2-0 advantage in the 76th minute. Valour cut the deficit in half 10 minutes later, when midfielder Diego Gutiérrez was taken down in the box to earn his team a penalty shot in the 86th minute. Petrasso stepped up to take the shot and he delivered, in what was the first penalty kick attempt and goal in league history, to make it a 2-1 game. That was as close as Valour would get.

Valour midfielder Louis Béland-Goyette said the biggest difference in the game was the fact they couldn’t finish on their scoring chances.

“We had a lot of chances today and unfortunately, we couldn’t put them away,” Béland-Goyette said.

“I think it’s a very cruel game. They had maybe three shots and they get two goals. It’s very unlucky and we have to work on that because we might face another team like that that sits back and just waits for us. We’ll have to be ready for that if it comes again.”

Valour head coach and general manager Rob Gale said it wasn’t the result his club deserved and he made sure to make his players aware of that.

“I just said, ‘Look, if you play that way, and your attitude is right, and we tidy up the two errors, we’ll win a lot of football matches and we’ll win a lot of fans.’ I enjoyed watching us play today. I thought we were a terrific football side for the majority of the game. We moved the ball well. We can be more clinical in the final third. But I don’t think there’s anyone who is a supporter of soccer that didn’t think we played a good football game today and didn’t enjoy that performance and the way we tried to move the ball and play. Lots to build on. It’s only the second-ever game.”

Three Winnipeggers got the start for Valour FC on Saturday, as Farago was in net and Dylan Sacramento and Dylan Carreiro were two of the team’s starting midfielders. Carreiro, who scored the game-winner against Pacific FC on Wednesday, replaced Nico Galvis in the starting lineup, which was the only change made to the starting 11 from the previous game.

Winnipeggers Ali Musse and 17-year-old River East student Tyler Attardo came off the bench for Valour in the second half.

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Although the fans didn’t get the result they were hoping for, the players on the pitch definitely took notice of their support and appreciated it.

“It was fantastic,” Hoyle said of the atmosphere. “I really hope they come back. We obviously wanted to get a win for them, but I think we showed enough that we’re going to win a lot of games at home this season.”

Valour FC will head to Calgary for their next match on Wednesday. They’ll return to IG Field next Saturday to play HFX Wanderers FC.

taylor.allen@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @TaylorAllen31

Taylor Allen
Reporter

Taylor Allen is a sports reporter for the Winnipeg Free Press. Taylor was the Vince Leah intern in the Free Press newsroom twice while earning his joint communications degree/diploma at the University of Winnipeg and Red River College Polytechnic. He signed on full-time in 2019 and mainly covers the Blue Bombers, curling, and basketball. Read more about Taylor.

Every piece of reporting Taylor produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.