August 30, 2024 – Canadian Premier League (CPL)
Atletico Ottawa News Release
After three straight road matches, Atlético Ottawa are back home, as they get set to host Vancouver FC at TD Place on Saturday.
The first meeting between these two sides at TD Place in 2024, after both of their previous matches were held out in British Columbia, it’s a big clash for both teams, who will be hungry to win, for different reasons.
For Ottawa, it’s simple – they’ll need to win to help keep pace in a tight CPL title race, as just three points separated the top four teams heading into this matchday.
Currently sitting in second place, they want to hold onto that spot, and potentially even climb, but they can only do the latter with a victory.If not, a loss could push them down to as low as fourth place, which would be a big blow given how much of this season they’ve spent in the top two.
Because of that, look for them to make the most of this return home. Having failed to win in their last three home games, they’ll want to get back to winning ways in front of their supporters, which would provide a big boost for them in this title race.
To do that, they’ll have to be airtight defensively, as they’ve allowed 12 goals in their last six games, but if they can do that, it’ll go a long way for them, as they remain second in the CPL in goals for on the year, showing that they’ll be able to score enough to win provided they keep things tidy at the back.
“Yeah, we have big motivation in this game,” Ottawa head coach, Carlos González, said. “I think we have a lot of reasons to want to do a good game. I think that the team has performed well over the last two weeks, (even) though we dropped two points in the last action of last game, so I think this is a good moment to show the growth of the team to our our fans and the people that support us through thick and thin, as I think that the team needs a good win at home.”
As for Vancouver, they remain locked into the fifth and final playoff spot after a dramatic road win over Valour, who they defeated thanks to a 97th minute winner from new arrival Ayman Sellouf. Thanks to that victory, they sit six points ahead of sixth place, a lead they’ll want to build on as they chase their first-ever playoff berth in just their second season as a club.
Plus, they remain within touching distance of the title race, sitting six points behind fourth-place York United and seven points behind Ottawa, meaning they could close that Ottawa gap to four points…
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