The game was played at the foot of the table with PFC moving to two wins, eight losses and three draws and VFC to 1-7-4
It has more plot twists than a John Grisham novel. Friday night’s Salish Sea Derby in the Canadian Premier League also had more goals than your typical hockey game as Pacific FC and Vancouver FC played to a 4-4 draw at Starlight Stadium.
VFC head coach Afshin Ghotbi has coached in eight countries, and been on the coaching staff at three World Cups with the U.S. in 1998 and South Korea in 2002 and 2006, and was also head coach of the Iranian national team from 2009 to 2011. But this was something even for him.
“I’ve been in some crazy matches and this ranks right up there. If we had played five more minutes, there would have been two more goals,” said Ghotbi. “It was a wonderful show for the league on TSN. We all want to grow this game and make it popular in Canada. It was a wonderful showing for the league and showed the fighting spirit of both teams. I’m a little disappointed, however, deep inside because I think we had the victory in our hands and let it slip away. But I’m proud of the performance.”
PFC could say the same after giving up second-half leads of 2-0 and 3-2, the latter at 76 minutes through a cracker of a shot by rookie Yann Toualy for his first pro goal, only to have Pathé Ndiaye tie the game at 89 minutes and VFC take the lead in injury time through Nicolás Mezquida, the Uruguayan veteran who played in the MLS for the Vancouver Whitecaps from 2014 to 2018. PFC responded in the hectic injury time with former Canada U-20 player and Toronto FC MLS-pro Kadin Chung blasting the ball into the short side to salvage a draw for the Tridents.
“There are a lot of emotions. I could have been the hero of the night at 3-2. But we did not get the three points,” said Toualy, the native of Côte d’Ivoire, whose family moved to Quebec when he was nine. “We just have to keep going. The positive is that we showed we can score goals [after scoring only one over the previous six games].”
Defender Aly Ndom, the 28-year-old from France who in 2017-18 helped Stade Reims win Ligue 2 to be promoted to the heady level of Ligue 1, showed his veteran class in giving PFC the 2-0 lead.
“It was entertaining for fans and neutrals,” said PFC head coach James Merriman.
“But we can’t allow them back into the game. It was really poor by us from a game-management perspective.”
The game was played at the foot of the table with PFC moving to two wins, eight losses and three draws and VFC to 1-7-4.
“We are used to fighting near the top of the table,” said Merriman, whose PFC side does not play now until July 12 against Halifax at Starlight Stadium. “The break comes at a good time for us. We will reflect and reset and the focus needs to shift. We are in a fight right now for fifth place [the final playoff spot].”
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