After back-to-back wins at home to open the new season, Vancouver FC had a rough ride on the road, losing their first two away games.
On Tuesday, April 23, playing in the Canadian Championship annual soccer tournament, VFC suffered a 1-0 defeat to Cavalry in Calgary.
The Eagles have still never defeated Cavalry FC In five matches now in all competitions, Calgary is the only Canadian Premier League side they are still winless against.
Friday, York United scored three goals at home for their first victory of 2024, a 3-0 win against Vancouver at York Lions Stadium, in a game where the previously soaring attack of Vancouver FC looked stagnant as it failed to break down York United and managed to test Nine Stripes keeper Thomas Vincensini just twice.
By the time Vancouver allowed the opening goal in the 70th minute, it was always going to be a challenge for them to get back into the match considering the difference in freshness between the sides.
“Once you are down 1-0 you are physically tired you are mentally tired, players tried to come back into the game, so we had to play more open and as we played more open we left a lot of players one-v-one,” said Vancouver FC head coach Afshin Ghotbi. “Both goals after that were really silly individual mistakes that ended the game 3-0.”
Ghotbi did mention that the club didn’t travel much during training camp, beyond a trip out to Vancouver Island. So the lessons of the week need to be implemented in how the club approaches the road part of the remainder of the season.
“We have to as a group learn how to play on the road,” said Ghotbi. “I think this will be a bitter lesson in the last two matches that we’ve played the cup game on Tuesday and tonight.”
At the same time, he said it was important for Vancouver to stay positive about their strong start to the season.
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“I think the key for me is to stay calm, as I always try to stay calm and try to collectively, with my staff and with my players, find ways to win the next game that we play,” said Ghotbi. “It’s one day at a time, one game at a time, and the worst case scenario we are going to be three points out of the top of the table. So there’s always light in darkness.”
Up next for Vancouver is a return to Calgary for a league match against Cavalry FC, on Friday, May 3 at 6 p.m.
Their next home game is Saturday, May 12 at 4 p.m. against Atlético Ottawa in Willoughby Community Park.