Valour knocks off newcomers

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This article was published 25/06/2023 (1179 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The search for a harmonious attack continues, but Valour FC will take favourable results while they try to match production with opportunity.

Winnipeg’s side outclassed Vancouver FC, the Canadian Premier League’s newest franchise, 1-0 at a balmy IG Field on Sunday. Valour improved to 3-6-3 on the campaign to tie Calvary FC for fourth place in a table that’s still trying to sift the contenders from the pretenders through the first third of the season.

Vancouver continues to trudge through its inaugural season at 2-5-5.

Valour extended its undefeated streak at home to 13 matches (seven wins, six draws), a run that dates back to August 3, 2022.

“We’ve played similar games maybe 12 months ago and we would come out with a draw, not finding a way,” said head coach Phillip Dos Santos. “One goal seems short but it’s one step forward, right.

“I’ll take another clean sheet, another game without conceding (a goal) and not conceding chances to the opposition. There’s the foundation there, we’ve been really solid but when you don’t score, you’re at the mercy of one ball like the one at the end. We have to find ways to capitalize and be a bit more clinical in those moments.”

Valour wrapped up a busy week that started with a 1-0 loss against Pacific FC in Langford, BC on Wednesday. On this day, Valour’s offensive pressure was suffocating at many points for the Vancouver defence, with no shortage of chances from the outset of the match.

The hosts finished with 17 shots — 10 from within the penalty box and five on target — while dominating the ball with 65.8 per cent of the possession time and eight corners. Keeper Rayanne Yesli, who has started all 12 matches for Valour this season, needed to make one save on Sunday, though it was a critical one as it came from point-blank while the hosts were trying to salt away the last few seconds of the match.

The Canadian backstop continues to be nothing short of spectacular in his first season as the undisputed No. 1 option in net, leading the league with 41 saves and five clean sheets on the year.

Sunday was the second time Valour and Vancouver tangled this season. The two clubs settled on a scoreless draw in their inaugural meeting in Vancouver on May 28. Winnipeg’s side dominated much of that match, too, but couldn’t find a way past Vancouver keeper Callum Irving.

It appeared this one had a similar fate in store until Valour found its best chance of the campaign to this point. In the 55th minute, amid another surge from the Valour attack, Dante Campbell was taken to the ground in the Vancouver penalty box, to the delight of those in attendance. Despite a desperate plea from the visitors, Valour was awarded its first penalty kick of 2023.

It would come off the foot of 24-year-old Diego Gutiérrez, who, after little deliberation, rolled a confident stroke just inside the left post, narrowly missing the outstretched Irving’s fingertips.

“Sometimes you change, but you choose one side and you put it there,” said Gutiérrez. “Sometimes, no, it’s not going in, but I put in the best side.

“It’s very important,” Gutiérrez said of the team’s ball control. “It’s not enough. Of course, we need to put in more balls because, in the first half, we had 70, 75 per cent (possession) so it’s not enough. Seventy per cent, fine. It (should be) 3-0 easy. So we need to push, push, push for the ball.”

Indeed, the opportunities that have flown by the club have left some players in visible disbelief and frustration. Valour’s stout defence (second-best 10 goals allowed this season) can at times be overshadowed by its inopportune offence (11 goals scored).

Even then, Dos Santos said he believes his club is close. And short of one costly error that sent Valour home with a close loss against Pacific on Wednesday, the team has stacked several good matches recently.

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“We have a good team,” said Dos Santos. “We have a team that’s gonna play for the result in every game and the guys believe in each other and there’s a lot of positives going on. It’s fine margins and football is about those margins. For you to be up there with the top teams, you need to be more clinical.

“Good days, yes — great group of guys in the locker room,” he continued. “But now we need a cutting edge. I think that if we get to that point where we’re starting to capitalize and take our chances, now that’s when we become really dangerous, and I think that’s the next step for this team.”

Valour is back in action against Calvary FC at IG Field on Saturday (2 p.m.).

jfreysam@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @jfreysam

Joshua Frey-Sam
Reporter

Josh Frey-Sam reports on sports and business at the Free Press. Josh got his start at the paper in 2022, just weeks after graduating from the Creative Communications program at Red River College. He reports primarily on amateur teams and athletes in sports. Read more about Josh.

Every piece of reporting Josh 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.