Shortly before Vancouver FC played the Halifax Wanderers on Monday, Aug. 5, head coach Afshin Ghotbi said the team needed to “mend relationships” between members of the squad.
After VFC lost 3-2, Ghotbi doubled down postgame, saying that the poor run of form has left them frustrated.
Eagles wasted no time scoring, but the goal came in an unorthodox way. After a long ball down the pitch, Miki Cantave tried to volley the ball past Wanderers goalkeeper Yann Fillion, but his shot struck the goalkeeper and came back toward him. The ricochet off Cantave’s body ended up in the back of the net, giving the visitors the lead in just the fourth minute.
Miki Cantave gives @vanfootballclub the early lead! 🦅
— Canadian Premier League (@CPLsoccer) August 5, 2024
They all count just the same ⚽#CanPL I 📺 @onesoccer pic.twitter.com/kN6ezoOoYZ
Wanderers tied things up in the 20th minute.
Then, in the second half, Halifax found two goals just eight minutes apart.
Alejandro Diaz pulled one back in the seventh minute of stoppage time for the visitors, but it was too little, too late. Diaz’s chip over the head of Fillion was the last kick of the game.
Alejandro Diaz picks up a late goal for @vanfootballclub with a great chip, but it's too little, too late for the Eagles to pick up a result 🦅#CanPL I 📺 @onesoccer pic.twitter.com/JJax8MDDEz
— Canadian Premier League (@CPLsoccer) August 5, 2024
Despite the win, the Wanderers remain at the bottom of the table, but are now within three points of fifth-place Vancouver for the final spot in an incredibly tight playoff race.
Next up, Vancouver return home for a BC Derby against Pacific FC on Sunday at 2 p.m., with both sides looking to find a win for the first time in over a month.
“I think derbies are special regardless of where both teams are on the table, regardless what results have happened in the past and derbies feel like a final,” Ghotbi said.
“We love Pacific as a club, we as a club with Pacific are rivals and we’ve had a great history together, and every time we play, it’s a theatre, it’s very dramatic, and we’ve been fortunate enough to win the last four.
“We hope to get results not only because it’s a derby, but also we need it for our own sanity and our own kind of psyche,” Ghotbi said.
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