Atlético Ottawa and Pacific Neutralize Each Other in Scoreless First Leg

May 8, 2024 – Canadian Premier League (CPL)
Atletico Ottawa News Release

This Canadian Championship quarter-final tie will have to be settled in Langford, as Atlético Ottawa and Pacific FC played to a fairly uneventful 0-0 first leg draw in the nation’s capital on Wednesday.

Although the home side had a healthy possession advantage and outshot Pacific nine to four, the Tridents refused to budge as they held on for their fifth clean sheet from six games in all competitions this season so far.

The two clubs will, therefore, know that either of them could advance to the semifinals with a win in any fashion on May 29 at Starlight Stadium.

Three Observations

CPL leaders cancel each other out in cagey ‘chess game’

The narrative heading into this game surrounded Atlético Ottawa’s red-hot attack and Pacific’s rock-solid defence, and what might happen when that seemingly unstoppable force crashed into a hereto immovable object. Ottawa had scored 12 goals in their last three games (all within the space of just over a week), while Pacific had not conceded a single goal in any of their four Canadian Premier League matches – the only blemish being TSS Rovers’ marker in the preliminary round of this competition.

It was no surprise, then, that the first half of this game was one-way traffic. Atlético Ottawa were clear protagonists, with seven shots and 64.3 per cent possession, as Pacific went without a single attempt at goal. However, just two of those first-half attempts from Ottawa were on target; although they largely set the tempo by controlling the ball, they didn’t have much success playing into high-quality shooting areas.

Essentially, this was a case of both teams waiting for the other to blink, and neither did. Pacific never stepped out of their shape enough for Ottawa to send in a good cross to an open man, and Ottawa never coughed up the ball in an area where Pacific could launch the counter-attack that would likely have been their greatest hope of scoring a goal.

“It was a chess game honestly, no one wanted to make the first mistake and give away that first goal easily,” Pacific midfielder Cédric Toussaint said postmatch. “Both teams defended very well, that’s why the score was 0-0.”

Whether there were openings for either side to be more aggressive or not, neither seized upon those opportunities and upped the energy level.

“Neither team was really willing to go at that space and attack that space,” Pacific head coach James Merriman said. “I think you…