It was supposed to be a tight duel between two teams sitting close in the standings, fighting in the same tier. Instead, it was an absolute slaughter.
Vancouver FC completely dismantled an unrecognizable FC Supra by a 5-1 scoreline on Friday.
The first half was a long, painful ordeal for FC Supra, while Vancouver FC looked disciplined and aggressively clinical, leaning on standout individual performances. Damiano Pecile thoroughly dominated the midfield while being a driving force on offence, Emrick Fotsing showcased his power and technique, and Thierno Bah exploited his pace, all while the defence enjoyed a relatively quiet start to the evening.
It was the exact opposite for FC Supra, who looked completely devoid of ideas; their lack of determination and focus was glaringly obvious from the opening minutes.
Proof of the Quebec squad's total collapse, head coach Nick Razzaghi didn't even wait for half-time to bench an invisible Abou Sissoko and a nervous, erratic Alessandro Biello (40'). Had the referee not been feeling generous, Biello could have easily been sent off during the buildup to Vancouver FC's opening goal.
Under the circumstances, seeing Martin Nash’s men head into the locker room with a two-goal cushion made perfect sense.
The opening goal perfectly illustrated the team's lack of aggression and the central defence's inability to handle balls over the top. On a deep ball, Lys Mousset won his aerial duel against Sasha Deslandes, nodding it down to Damiano Pecile, who blew past Matisse Chrétien before beating Joakim Milli with a clinical cross-body strike (0-1; 21').
The second goal, coming from a corner cleared right into the centre by Chrétien less than 10 minutes later, confirmed Vancouver FC's absolute stranglehold on the match. A strike from the midfield found Campagna in the box, whose header doubled the lead (0-2; 32').
If not for a solid performance by Milli in goal, who made several key stops during the first 45 minutes, the damage could have been much worse for Supra by half-time.
Supra desperately needed to respond and show some life in the second half to salvage anything from this match. To their credit, the Quebec side didn't take long to step up, but the spark was short-lived.
Great individual effort down the left flank allowed Diyaeddine Abzi to deliver a cross to Clement Bayiha inside the six-yard box, who headed it home to cut the deficit (1-2; 46'). For a brief moment, it looked like the game was back on, but the illusion lasted only a handful of minutes.
Brought down by Abzi in the box after yet another defensive lapse, Bah earned a penalty that Lys Mousset confidently blasted home (1-3; 53').
By quickly restoring their two-goal cushion, Vancouver FC killed several birds with one stone: they reaffirmed their tactical superiority, instantly crushed the Quebec side’s hopes of a comeback, and forced Supra’s coaching staff to react once again.
Nick Razzaghi quickly burnt his final three substitutions as Supra pushed forward. The problem was, mirroring the rest of their performance, Supra never really looked in control, and their attack remained incredibly sloppy.
Sean Rea tried to make things happen at times, but the few Quebec incursions near the box repeatedly ran into a well-structured defence or fell apart due to poor execution and a lack of chemistry.
On the flip side, a clinical Vancouver FC padded their goal differential. Substitute Terran Campbell added a fourth after an excellent feed from Fotsing (1-4; 83'), followed by a fifth courtesy of a sensational strike from fellow sub Aboubacar Traoré (1-5; 86').
As if things couldn’t get worse, Riad Bey was sent off late in the match for a completely useless studs-up challenge on Kian Proctor (90').
Vancouver FC was a complete class above their opponent, leaving Quebec with a massive three points and opening up a six-point gap over them in the standings.
Meanwhile, Supra’s slide continues.
To turn things around, "we'll need the memory of a goldfish, to forget this match, but learn from our mistakes," said Charles Auguste after the game.
"We need more discipline and we need to fight. But we didn't fight today, and that's unacceptable," lamented Razzaghi.
They haven't won a CPL match since May 29, suffering their second consecutive home loss while claiming just a single victory in their last eight outings. Most concerning of all, though, was just how alarming they looked on Friday.
More to come.
Box Score
Starting XIs
FC Supra : Milli; Auguste, Chrétien, Deslandes (Ferdinand; 63e), Abzi; Biello (Elkalkouli, 40e), Sissoko (Mlah; 40e) Choinière (Bey; 63e), Rea, Bayiah (Condé; 63e); Kwemi
Vancouver FC : Irving; Gee (Traoré; 63e), Field, Campagna, Doner; Pecile (Ssewankambo, 63e), Fotsing (Mezquida; 75e); Proctor, Polisi, Bah (Toomey; 88e); Mousset (Campbell; 75e)
Goals
21' - Damiano Pecile (Vancouver FC)
32' - Matteo Campagna (Vancouver FC)
46' - Clement Bayiha (FC Supra)
53' - Lys Mousset (Vancouver FC) (pen.)
83' - Terran Campbell (Vancouver FC)
86' - Aboubacar Traoré (Vancouver FC)
Discipline
11' - Yellow: Damiano Pecile (Vancouver FC)
12' - Yellow: Alessandro Biello (FC Supra)
90' - Red: Riad Bey (FC Supra)
CPLSoccer.com Player of the Match
Lys Mousset, Vancouver FC
All the Vancouver FC players had an excellent match. Lys Mousset, however, boosted his statistics with a goal and an assist.
What's Next?
FC Supra travels to Halifax's Wanderers Grounds on July 25 at 7 p.m. ET.
Vancouver FC hosts Cavalry on July 25 at 10 p.m. ET in Vancouver.
For the complete broadcast schedule, visit cplsoccer.com/watch.