Valour FC handed Benjamín Mora his first loss as York United manager on Thursday, as they defeated York United 1-0 in Winnipeg.
Diogo Ressurreição scored the game’s lone goal in the first half, and Valour held on despite a number of chances for the visitors.
Two minutes into the match, York United fired their first warning shot, as Markiyan Voytsekhovskyy sent a rocket of a strike off the crossbar.
In the 16th minute, the hosts returned fire with a crossbar hit of their own. Jordan Swibel got onto the end of a deflected long ball, which he lifted over an onrushing Thomas Vincensini. But his chipped effort landed on top of the bar.
Valour nearly gave York a gift just four minutes later, however. A backpass from Raphael Ohin was picked off by Brian Wright, who rounded Jonathan Viscosi but was at too tight an angle to beat the Valour goalkeeper and ended up hitting the outside of the net.
But just before the half-hour mark, it was Valour who found the opener. A lovely attacking sequence down the left flank saw Jordan Faria flick the ball into the path of Themi Antonoglou. The fullback ran forward before squaring at the top of the box for Ressurreição, who calmly placed a low shot past Vincensini to make it 1-0.
York really should have equalized in the 34th minute as Voytsekhovskyy got in behind the Valour line and squared for Wright. The CPL’s leading scorer, however, sent his strike at a wide-open net off the crossbar and over.
The hosts then nearly added another in first-half stoppage time. Swibel collected the rebound, but by that point had been pushed too wide to send another shot goalbound and instead laid the ball off to Faria, who sent his shot high and wide. Nevertheless, Valour held a 1-0 lead heading into halftime.
Early in the second half, the Winnipeg side again looked to get forward, picking off some loose passing out of the back from York United on a few occasions and quickly turning those into scoring opportunities. Their final ball often let them down, though, as they struggled to threaten Vincensini.
It was a mistake at the back from Valour, however, that resulted in the ball being in the back of their net in the 63rd minute — only for a foul on Wright. A cross into the box was headed up in the air by Tass Mourdoukoutas in his own box, which Wright got to first, but was judged to have fouled Viscosi.
The Valour goalkeeper then made a brilliant reaction save to deny Mo Babouli in the 70th minute, as the York captain sent a thunderous volley goalward. The Nine Stripes kept pressing, looking to keep their unbeaten record under their new manager alive.
York were given new life late in the match when the referee added nine minutes of stoppage time. Wright found the back of the net again in the seventh minute of stoppage time, but once again the goal was disallowed for a foul in the build-up.
Valour’s victory ended a three-match losing streak for the Winnipeg club, while subsequently ending a three-match undefeated run for York United.
BOX SCORE
Lineups
Valour FC: Viscosi; Alarcón (Sukunda 82′), Mourdoukoutas, Facchineri, Antonoglou; Campbell (Verhoeven 64′), Ohin (Chantzopoulos 87′), Ressurreição; Binate (Hundal 65′), Faria, Swibel (Hansen 82′)
York United FC: Vincensini; Sturing, Adekugbe, Abatneh; Ferrari, Martínez (Esprit 89′), Soumaoro (Jimoh 74′), Babouli, Botello (Martin-Pereux 65′); Voytsekhovskyy (Zeppieri 89′), Wright
Goals
29′ — Diogo Ressurreição (Valour FC)
Discipline
32′ — Yellow: Orlando Botello (York United)
68′ — Yellow: Diogo Ressurreição (Valour FC)
76′ — Yellow: Raphael Ohin (Valour FC)
81′ — Yellow: Roberto Alarcón (Valour FC)
87′ — Yellow: Joe Hanson (Valour FC)
89′ — Yellow: Elijah Adekugbe (York United)
