Cavalry FC were as ruthless as ever on Wednesday night at York Lions Stadium, as they handed Inter Toronto a 5-1 defeat in both sides' final match before the Canadian Premier League enters its World Cup break.
The visitors didn't need long to open the scoring, striking with some direct, aggressive play in the 10th minute. Sergio Camargo collected on the left touchline and fed it to Harry Paton standing at the top of the box. Paton let loose a shot that Toronto keeper Diego Urtiaga parried — straight into the path of an onrushing Tobias Warschewski, who buried it with ease.
Cavalry's aggression carried them to a two-goal lead just before halftime, with a counter-attack that began in their own six-yard box. They lobbed it forward to Warschewski, who shook off a Toronto defender before the halfway line and drove forward with the ball at his feet. He fed a perfect through ball into the box for Goteh Ntignee, who tapped it straight back to Camargo for the finish.
They wrapped up a dominant first half with seven shots on target, outpacing Toronto in expected goals by a margin of 2.83 to 0.15, capitalizing on their chances and threatening repeatedly with just 40.5 per cent possession.
That trend continued into the early second half, where Cavalry found their third by again arriving in the box quickly. This time, on a recycled play, Camargo picked it up on the edge of the box and flicked toward the middle. Urtiaga couldn't get a hand to it, and it landed in the path of Nathaniel Edwards to smash home his first in the CPL.
Inter Toronto did get a goal back with 20 minutes to play; Béni Badibanga took a long throw-in along the end line that floated over traffic, and Cavs defender Levi Laing got his head to it — but the ball sailed behind him and into the net for an own goal.
The fortunate break gave Toronto new life, particularly after bringing Kembo Kibato, Ollie Bassett and Badibanga into the game. They became more decisive with forward passes and committed players to the counter-attack, trying to play past Cavalry as the visitors searched for a fourth goal.
The result was a wide-open final 15 minutes, where both teams attacked with vertical balls up the middle.
Unfortunately for Toronto, though, that style of game suits Cavalry just fine.
The Calgary side finished off their evening with another pair of goals. They saw a piece of brilliance from Caniggia Elva; the St. Lucian forward found the ball in the half-space outside the box and stroked it into the bottom left corner to make it 4-1.
Not long after, it was Niko Myroniuk finding the net, as Ntignee found him with a well-placed through ball to cap off yet another lethal forward move.
"There's different ways to beat your opponent," Cavalry head coach Tommy Wheeldon Jr. told reporters after the game.
"Some days it will be a close game and our defence stands out, hence the five clean sheets we've had. Other days it's our attack. We entered in a position here where they had a good result at our place, but they're in a bit of a bad time, and sometimes those games go against you. They can be aggressive, as I think they were, but in doing so, we've got to recognize there are attacks the other way, and that's why we started Nate Edwards; we wanted speed going the other way."
So, the Cavs returned to the top of the league's goalscoring table, securing their biggest win of the season so far.
By the time all was said and done, Cavalry had generated 5.31 expected goals (to 0.66 for Toronto); the Cavs' total set a new CPL record for xG in a game, surpassing their own mark of 4.99 set in 2019.
The stats sheet painted a clear picture of this match's dynamic; Toronto had more final third entries (77 to 38), far more passes and 58.5 per cent possession, but found themselves out-shot 20 to 12 (13-2 on target). They have now lost heavily in three straight games, conceding 12 goals in that stretch.
Asked what went wrong in this game, Toronto defender Carlos Guzmán was brutally honest: "Almost everything."
He added: "The reality is we have a streak of three games that is really, really bad. The truth is everyone here has to be better, the things that we are doing is not enough. We are embarrassed by the last results. The simple stuff, we have to be better. Every single one, in every single aspect. The results that are happening in the last games can't happen anymore."
Toronto coach Mauro Eustáquio will now urge his team to reflect and reset over the next few weeks during the break, because they'll need to get back on their feet quickly lest their grip on a playoff spot slip away.
Eustáquio echoed Guzmán's sentiment in his own postmatch remarks.
"It's not good enough," he said. "We can't try and grab positive things. As an organization, we have to look at where we're at and be honest with each other; is this what we want to do? At the end of the day, something has to change."
He did point out, though, that Toronto maintain a game in hand, and are still in fourth place.
Cavalry, meanwhile, kept pace with Forge FC, and enter the break two points off in the race for the CPL Shield.
Box Score
Starting XIs
Inter Toronto: Urtiaga; López (Bassett 56'), Sturing, Guzmán, Singh (Córdova 78'), Ferrari; Accettola (Badibanga 66'), Yeates; Almagro (Kibato 56'), Skublak, Altobelli
Cavalry FC: Ingham; Pearlman, Klomp, Didić, Laing (Kamdem 83'); Paton, Baldisimo (Kobza 66'); Edwards (Musse 78'), Camargo (Myroniuk 66'), Ntignee; Warschewski (Elva 78')
Goals
10' — Tobias Warschewski (Cavalry FC)
44' — Sergio Camargo (Cavalry FC)
52' — Nathaniel Edwards (Cavalry FC)
68' — Levi Laing (Cavalry FC) (Own Goal)
87' — Caniggia Elva (Cavalry FC)
90+3' — Niko Myroniuk (Cavalry FC)
Discipline
60' — Yellow: Luke Singh (Inter Toronto)
74' — Yellow: Daan Klomp (Cavalry FC)
90' — Yellow: Max Ferrari (Inter Toronto)
CPLSoccer.com Player of the Match
Tobias Warschewski, Cavalry FC
The German forward was the engine in Cavalry's direct forward play. He scored a goal and helped set up another, finishing with six shots and two chances created, winning 13 duels and also drawing five fouls.
What's Next?
The two teams now head into a brief pause in their seasons, as the CPL takes a break for the start of the FIFA World Cup.
Cavalry's next match is at home against FC Supra du Québec on Sunday, June 28 (7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT). Inter Toronto, meanwhile, head west to play Vancouver FC on Saturday, July 4 (6 p.m. ET/3 p.m. PT).
