Valour FC slip-sliding away

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This article was published 07/09/2021 (1493 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Valour FC currently holds the fourth and final playoff spot, but they look less and less like a team that will qualify for the Canadian Premier League postseason.

Winnipeg suffered a backbreaking loss on Tuesday night at IG Field as FC Edmonton (4-5-8) handed Valour a 3-0 defeat in front of an announced attendance of 2,446.

The loss drops Valour to 7-1-9 on the year and keeps Edmonton alive in the playoff race as they now trail the maroon and gold by five points. York United (4-7-5) and HFX Wanderers (4-6-6), who have both played one less game, are breathing down Valour’s neck as the CPL nears the end of its 28-game regular season.

Valour dominated The Kickoff — the CPL bubble in Winnipeg that saw all eight clubs play their first eight matches at IG Field — and got off to a 6-0-2 start to put them atop the table. But since then, Valour has fallen off a cliff, going 1-1-7 in league play.

Valour might want to consider pretending the bubble is still a thing and book some nights at the Radisson Hotel to get back to their winning ways. Although, that won’t bring star defender and co-captain Andrew Jean-Baptiste back from the ACL tear in his left knee incurred toward the end of The Kickoff. His absence has been obvious.

“Honestly, I just think it’s the grind of it. Other than tonight where the performance level dipped, the performances haven’t been bad… It’s the grind of a game every three or four days,” said Valour head coach Rob Gale after the defeat.

“There’s some key leaders injured at the minute or out tonight and I think that’s really where it cost us… In the bubble we had that defensive core. We kept the same back four pretty much continuously and at the moment we don’t have that luxury. We need to get bodies healthy.”

Key veteran defender/midfielder Stefan Cebara has now missed two contests in a row. Valour was also without its leading scorer Tuesday as forward Austin Ricci was out due to yellow-card accumulation. Defender Rocco Romero was suspended for the night after picking up a red card late in Saturday’s 1-0 loss at home to Cavalry FC.

Edmonton potted two goals in the first half, the first coming off of Tobias Warschewski’s foot in the 40th minute. Azriel Gonzalez made a perfect lob pass into the box and Warschewski drilled a shot into the bottom left corner. The Eddies would solve Valour keeper Jonathan Sirois again four minutes later with forward Easton Ongaro tapping the ball in off another brilliant setup from Gonzalez — a Las Vegas native on loan from USL Championship club Tacoma Defiance. Edmonton added salt to Valour’s wound in the 73rd minute with Gonzalez capping off a career-night with a goal of his own.

“It’s definitely a confidence booster. We’ve struggled, even at home, to get results,” said Gonzalez. Heading into Tuesday’s tilt, Edmonton hadn’t picked up three points in their past eight matches.

“We’re not far from playoffs… Guys are getting goals and hopefully we can get more and get into playoffs.”

Valour forward William Akio had a great chance in front of the net in the 84th minute but was stonewalled by goalie Connor James. Valour midfielder Moses Dyer had a shot from outside the box ring off the post in the 89th minute, but overall, the home team struggled to generate offence. Edmonton outshot Valour 8-4 in the match.

The lone positive for Valour was veteran Spanish midfielder José Galán returning from injury and making his season debut when he came off the bench in the 79th minute.

“I don’t know any team in the world that doesn’t have its ups and downs,” said 35-year-old Galán, a third-year Valour player. “… The results haven’t gone our way, but I still have 100 per cent trust in this group. I think we’re going to come back and make the playoffs. That’s our target. Even on this tough night, I feel 100 per cent trust in this group of players and this team.”

Valour’s next match comes Sept. 15 at Tim Hortons Field when they play Hamilton’s Forge FC in quarterfinal action of the Canadian Championship.

The Winnipeg side will return to league play on Sept. 18 when they host first-place Cavalry.

taylor.allen@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @TaylorAllen31