Atlético Ottawa are back in the win column, after they came from a goal down to beat the Halifax Wanderers 2-1 at TD Place on Saturday afternoon.
It was a roller-coaster of a match, broken into episodes by a 90-minute lightning delay midway through the second half. However, Atleti proved capable of finding a way after play resumed, and they banked their second win of the Gustavo Leal era.
Ottawa had the lion's share of possession and scoring chances in the first half, but it was Halifax who struck first.
Not long before halftime, midfielder Lorenzo Callegari — playing his 100th game for the Wanderers — wove his way into the centre of the park and fed a clever through ball to Miguel Arilla. The Spanish winger managed to outpace Atleti defender Loïc Cloutier, opening up just enough room for him to score at the near post with a strike that keeper Chris Kalongo might wish he'd done better with.
The visiting Wanderers thus carried a 1-0 lead into halftime at TD Place, relatively happy with their start to the contest.
Not long after the start of the second half, the skies opened in Ottawa, and a heavy downpour slowed the pace of the game — but only for a few minutes, before the sides adjusted to the slick pitch and wet ball.
That said, the conditions did have an impact; just before the hour mark, Isaiah Johnston had a golden chance to double Halifax's lead with a one-on-one look at Kalongo, but he couldn't control the ball and put it well wide of goal.
Moments later, Ottawa took advantage of the reprieve and scored their equalizer with the second phase of a short corner routine. Marco Carducci made an excellent save on a long-distance rocket by Roni Mbomio, but Atleti's Tim Arnaud arrived on scene to flick the rebound back across the net to Emiliano Garcia, who headed it in on the goal line.
That's where the match took a few strange turns. Halifax were denied a penalty kick for what looked like a pull on Johnston in the box, and before Vanni Sartini had much time to protest, lightning struck in the capital.
The match thus entered a weather delay, which lasted about an hour and a half before the two sides returned to the pitch for the final 25 minutes.
Both managers tinkered with their sides during the delay, preparing for a sprint to the finish with the score tied. Ottawa boss Gustavo Leal introduced Jean-Aniel Assi to provide some wide pace, as well as the passing range of Diego Gutiérrez in midfield.
The hosts were undoubtedly the better side after the restart, and within a few minutes they were rewarded for their energy.
It was an efficient goal; Manny Aparicio sprayed it wide to Gabriel Antinoro, who found Ballou Tabla in the box for a thumping top-corner finish with his left foot. Tabla, recently named the CPL's Player of the Month for July, scored his eighth league goal in 2026 to move into a tie for the Golden Boot lead.
Halifax finished the match with minor consolation, as Ottawa won a late penalty kick, but Marco Carducci saved the attempt from Nicolas Fleuriau-Chateau and kept it at 2-1. Still, the brief lifeline didn't help the Wanderers, as they ran out of time.
Atleti coach Leal spoke highly of his team postmatch, explaining that they'd used the 90-minute delay to cram in some additional film study and adjust their approach.
"In this time we saw the game again; we made some videos and showed the players, and we did a new plan," Leal said. "Usually we have one or two days to do it, and today we did it in one and a half hours. But it was good because after the break, our team was another team, we had all the control of the game."
The three points will be massively helpful to Ottawa as they try to keep pace with Vancouver FC in a bid for third place. They remain two points behind, but gave themselves a more comfortable cushion above the sides chasing the fourth and final playoff spot.
Halifax, one of those sides chasing, thus find themselves seven points out of the postseason picture. Sartini didn't hide his frustration after the match; while he did say he had no idea why the penalty wasn't given to Johnston just before the weather delay, he put more of the responsibility on his own team.
It was, largely, a strong performance on the road from Halifax. However, they didn't take advantage of the chances they created, and they were second-best after the delay.
"It's a game that we deserve to win, we have to be completely clear," he said.
"We deserved to win this game because we played better than them. But at the end, they didn't steal anything, they won because they took their chances and we didn't. That's something that makes you really, really, really, really angry, but at the same time, there's only one medicine; on Tuesday, boom, get back at it again and work."
The Wanderers certainly have their work cut out for them if they're to get back into the playoff race.
Box Score
Starting XIs
Atlético Ottawa: Kalongo; Mbomio, Cloutier, Aguilar; Antinoro (Dunn 90+5'), Arnaud (Assi 71'), Castro (Gutiérrez 71'), Aparicio, Garcia (Coulanges 89'); Fleuriau-Chateau, Tabla (Habibullah 89')
Halifax Wanderers: Carducci; Alphonse (Sow 90+1'), Meilleur-Giguère, Linder, Telfer; Callegari, Olguin (Reid 82'), Zitman (Rampersad 65'); Johnston, Bahamboula (Ciccarelli 82'), Arilla (Troisi 64')
Goals
39' - Miguel Arilla (Halifax Wanderers)
62' - Emiliano Garcia (Atlético Ottawa)
80' - Ballou Tabla (Atlético Ottawa)
Discipline
35' - Yellow: Jefferson Alphonse (Halifax Wanderers)
53' - Yellow: Sven Zitman (Halifax Wanderers)
56' - Yellow: Lucas Olguin (Halifax Wanderers)
90+1' - Yellow: Kareem Sow (Halifax Wanderers)
90+6' - Yellow: Loïc Cloutier (Atlético Ottawa)
CPLSoccer.com Player of the Match
Ballou Tabla, Atlético Ottawa
The reigning Player of the Month continued his momentum into August, scoring the late goal Atleti eneded to win this match. He also had six touches in the box, created three chances and had a pass accuracy of 95.8 per cent.
What's Next?
Both these sides will play their next CPL match on the road on Sunday, Aug. 16. Atlético Ottawa will be in Laval to play FC Supra du Québec (12 p.m. ET/9 a.m. PT), while Halifax travel to take on Inter Toronto (4 p.m. ET/1 p.m. PT).
Before then, however, Ottawa have a TELUS Canadian Championship match to worry about. They'll host Supra on Tuesday night at TD Place, looking to overturn a 3-1 deficit in their quarterfinal tie.
