The Wanderers had been leading for a long time and had long believed they had the match under control. On the contrary, FC Supra fell back into their old ways several times, struggling for a long time against a well-organized team for more than an hour.
Yet, at the end of a match full of twists and turns, it was indeed FC Supra who came away with the win (2-3).
A hat-trick from Loïc Kwemi, who became the league's top scorer while waiting for the other matches at the end of the week, gave Supra a victory that was as stunning as it was important. A victory that brought “a lot of emotions” to Supra coach Nick Razzaghi, “happy and proud of [his] players.”
The Wanderers, who led 2-0 after two goals from corners in the first half, will have regrets, because they knew how to manage their match… apart from 15 fateful minutes during which they collapsed from all sides.
“I think for a lot of us, it's an experience,” Halifax midfielder Finn Linder wanted to put into perspective. “We need to manage the match better. At 2-0, we need to know how to keep the ball, put the opposition in difficulty, but it's a good learning opportunity.”
Aside from the first 15 minutes, when Supra tried to put Vanni Sartini's players under pressure, the Maritime players generally controlled the game in the first half. They knew how to put their foot on the ball and quickly created opportunities.
The best of them probably deserved to open the scoring, but Joakim Milli showed his quality in Supra's goal. On a ball won on the left side thanks to strong pressing from Zitman on Auguste, Kachwele found Johnston, whose good effort was stopped by Milli, who came off his line perfectly (20th).
It was ultimately only a matter of time, as the Wanderers, in the midst of their strong spell, found a way through on a corner well taken by Arilla. The ball landed on Kachwele's head, completely forgotten by the defense, to open the scoring (1-0; 26th).
The Wanderers continued their incursions into the opposition's third, while Supra often looked imprecise in their passing.
Supra continued to make the same mistakes as in recent weeks, and the Wanderers, by simply being serious, only had to take advantage of them. “Our team's flaw has always been making avoidable mistakes,” Loïc Kwemi acknowledged after the match. “The key to success is to make as few mistakes as possible and not concede a goal as a result of those mistakes.”
In fact, it could have cost them even more dearly.
Further proof of that feeling of “déjà vu” for Supra, the Wanderers' second goal shortly before halftime was — almost — an exact copy of the first.
On an Arilla corner from the right side, this time it was Linder who got the better of the defense to head the ball into the back of the net (2-0; 45th).
Despite their lead on the scoreboard, the Wanderers continued to lead the charge after the break and, without another intervention from Milli on a fine curling effort from Arilla, the match would have been over in the opening minutes of the second half (51st).
Super Kwemi turns everything around in 15 minutes
Supra then seemed to be on borrowed time, but instead of seeing the Wanderers run away with it, the suspense was reignited thanks to Loïc Kwemi, who converted a penalty won by Biello after a (slight) challenge from Telfer inside the box (2-1; 64th).
The madness of football then took over.
Barely two minutes later, following complete chaos in the Wanderers' defense, Kwemi, with a deflected shot, brought the two teams level (2-2; 67th).
From that moment on, it was written that the end of the match would be epic, and it was!
With 15 minutes remaining, the referee awarded Supra another penalty after a video review, for a challenge by Thomas Meilleur-Giguère on Ibrahima Condé… converted by Kwemi in exactly the same way as the first goal! (2-3; 77th).
Both coaches went all out. Vanni Sartini brought energy to his attacking line, while Nick Razzaghi reinforced his defense by bringing in fresh legs.
The attacks on Joakim Milli's goal multiplied, FC Supra's clearances were often long kicks with no other objective than to send the ball as far away as possible, Andre Rampersad missed the target by a handful of centimeters with a final header, and the referee did not budge when the Wanderers called for a penalty in the very last seconds.
FC Supra left Nova Scotia with 3 points. With this victory, Supra moves to within 2 points of the Wanderers, but having played 3 fewer matches. For the Wanderers, this defeat hurts. Beyond its impact on the standings, it brings an end to a run of two positive results.
Statistics
Starting XI
Halifax Wanderers: Carducci; Alphonse, Linder, Meilleur-Giguère, Telfer; Callegari, Olguin (Rampersad; 88th), Zitman (Reid; 77th); Johnston, Arilla (Bahamboula; 77th), Kachwele (Ciccarelli; 77th)
FC Supra: Milli; Abzi (Sissoko; 65th), Chrétien, Ferdinand, Auguste (Deslandes; 80th); Mlah, Biello, Rea (Boughanmi; 90+4); Bayiha, Choinière (Condé; 65th), Kwemi (Wandje; 80th)
Goals
Kachwele (Halifax Wanderers) - 26th
Linder (Halifax Wanderers) - 45th
Kwemi (FC Supra) - 65th
Kwemi (FC Supra) - 67th
Kwemi (FC Supra) - 77th
Yellow cards
Chrétien - FC Supra - 40th
CPLSoccer.com Player of the Match
Loïc Kwemi - FC Supra
The author of a hat-trick, Loïc Kwemi showed great composure to convert his two penalties. He also scored an opportunistic goal, taking advantage of a Halifax defense in disarray. With this hat-trick, he moves to the top of the scoring charts.
Next Match
Halifax Wanderers host Forge FC on August 3 at 6 p.m. ET.
FC Supra travel to face Pacific FC on August 1 at 10 p.m. ET.
To see the full broadcast schedule: cplsoccer.com/watch.