What Went Right

Pacific played an extremely confident and comfortable first 45 minutes on Saturday. They dominated possession, controlled the game, and were scrappy when they needed to be. With the new system James Merriman put in place – the 3-4-3 in possession – width was a major key to how they attacked the young Edmonton team. Nathan Mavila and Kunle Dada-Luke, the two wing-backs pushed high up the pitch and looked to send in crosses all game long. Dada-Luke especially had a fantastic game and again played a big role in how Pacific pinned back their opponent when maintaining possession and how they stretched the game on the break.

The second half saw a slight dip in pressure from Pacific that allowed Edmonton to get their goal, but overall the Tridents looked like the only team that would come away with all three points yesterday.

What Can Improve

Merriman and the boys would’ve like to have put the game away when they were 2-0 up and not allow Edmonton to get back into the game with a scrappy goal out of nowhere. But there’s not much to fault as the team continued their perfect home record to start the season. Although, while there’s been comfortable victories, the squad is still looking for a dominant win on the scoresheet.

Looking Ahead

Attention now shifts to the first of two home matches against York United FC. First up, a CPL battle on May 20th before a Canadian Championship match on May 24th. It’ll be interesting to see how the CPL match plays out given how quick the turnaround is to the knockout match in the Can Champ. Will either side prioritize advancing in the cup over getting three points in the league? If so, will either team hold their cards a little closer to the vest to not give anything away during the first meeting?

Favourite Moment

The picture-perfect counter-attack for Josh Heard’s goal was the best moment of the match. Maybe it’s cheating to pick the game-winning goal as my favourite moment of the match, but it was awesome! Like I said during the match commentary, that goal was the dictionary definition of a counter-attack. Literally couldn’t have drawn it up any better.

Favourite Photo

 PFC Standout Player: Kunle Dada-Luke

I previously talked about Dada-Luke’s impact on this match, but I wanted to highlight him here specifically as he’s had a fantastic season overall and simply continued it on Saturday. The 22-year-old right-back has grown into the starting role left by Kadin Chung’s departure and made it his own. Dada-Luke’s energy and speed down the right is easy to see, but the tactical intuition and defensive abilities he’s exhibited this season has been key to Pacific’s style of play and ability to control games.

On Saturday, Dada-Luke was used in a new position – wing-back in a back five as opposed to the normal right-back role he plays in Pacific’s 4-3-3 shape – and fitted in seamlessly. The extra width and height on the pitch he found for himself was a major reason Pacific pinned Edmonton back in possession but could also escape the occasional high press the Eddies showed.

Scoring Summary

10’ – Pacific FC – Alejandro Diaz

62′ – Pacific FC – Josh Heard (Manny Aparicio)

73′ – FC Edmonton – Wesley Timoteo

Statistics

Possession: PFC 60 % – EDM 40 %

Shots: PFC 8 – EDM 7

Shots on Goal: PFC 6 – EDM 1

Saves: PFC 0 – EDM 4

Fouls: PFC 15 – EDM 8

Offsides: PFC 4 – EDM 2

Corners: PFC 7 – EDM 2

Cautions

10’ – Terique Mohammed – Yellow

75’ – Kamron Habibullah – Yellow

86’ – Djenairo Daniels – Yellow