Valour dominate but fall to Pacific FC

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This article was published 30/07/2022 (1223 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

It had all the makings of a hard-fought Saturday afternoon victory at IG Field, but an unpopular second-half call left the home side looking for answers.

A span of 11 minutes that saw a player get sent off and the team concede two goals while down a man, wiped the possibility of earning three points and a win off the board. Instead, Valour FC dropped a 2-1 decision against the defending Canadian Premier League (CPL) champions, Pacific FC.

“I think that we were until that time not by little, by far, the best team on the field,” said Valour head coach Phillip Dos Santos. “And even after going down to one, we managed to still, with a man down, be the best team on the field.”

Valour was served a slice of adversity when Colombian midfielder Daniel Ascanio was shown his second yellow card of the day after being booked for embellishment in the 62nd minute. Ascanio charged the net and appeared to be taken down close to the goal line, but the referee decided he was looking for contact and dove inside the box.

Things went from bad to worse for Valour when Pacific forward Alejandro Diaz converted on a pretty header in the 71st minute. Diaz scored again two minutes later, tallying his league-leading 13th goal of the season.

Dos Santos didn’t mince his words while discussing his feelings about the call to send off Ascanio, following the match.

“Everyone showed up like they were supposed to, but we weren’t allowed to win this game,” said Dos Santos. “There’s teams that are sexy and the teams that are sexy — because the lack of maturity of the league — seem to always be getting a little bit of an advantage when there’s a doubt or benefit of the doubt to be given.”

“I have to say these things so that the league grows and even maybe, maybe I’m gonna suffer consequences,” added Dos Santos. “I’m a guy that is gonna come out and take the bullet for what many people think, but don’t have the courage to say.”

Valour dominated the first 30 minutes of the match, putting up eight shots, four of which were on target. The home side didn’t appear fazed by the defending champs, outplaying the visitors and taking a 1-0 lead into the break.

Forward Matteo de Brienne potted home Winnipeg’s lone goal Saturday afternoon in the 23rd minute, grabbing a rebound and making good on a second chance header.

“I’ve been rooting for him since he’s been here,” said Valour defender Andrew Jean-Baptiste. “He works hard, does all the gritty work… coach said he sticks his head where some people want to stick their foot.”

Winnipeg outshot Pacific 17-7 in the match, with eight of their attempts being on target. The home side also won the possession battle on the day 50.1 per cent to 49.9 per cent.

The physical contest was marked by a handful of cards awarded and 23 fouls conceded between the two clubs.

Valour’s three-game homestand continues with a match against Cavalry FC Wednesday night at 7 p.m.

“We were the best team on the field and today someone did not let us win the game, that’s as simple as that,” said Dos Santos. “Individual performance, all of them were good, I liked everyone.”

Gavin.Axelrod@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: Gavin77axe