Atlético Ottawa remained perfect against Vancouver FC on Saturday, June 17, at TD Place, with a 1-0 win that put some more space between themselves and VFC.

Samuel Salter opened the scoring for the hosts with a volley on a second ball into the box, which would be all Ottawa needed.

Vancouver FC Head Coach Afshin Ghotbi called the first half-hour of the game a “no-show” from his side.

At halftime, Ghotbi pulled both his wingers, Min-jae Kwak and Nicky Gyimah, and replaced them with Mael Henry and T.J. Tahid.

In the middle of the park, Ghotbi took off Nima Moazeni Zadeh and replaced him with Ibrahim Bakare.

“I felt especially in the side channels we did such a poor job in the first half defending, and the two players I substituted in the side channels didn’t do their job and what we had defined for them to do,” Ghotbi explained.

“Even in the attack, they didn’t give us much energy or the positions that they took, the actions they took were just not good enough. I thought both changes did much better. I also thought the midfield lacked the presence that I wanted it to [have]. I felt Ollie [Bassett] had too much space, and we were very, very open in the middle of the park. By bringing Ibra in there, I felt that because we’re behind we can attack with a little bit more confidence knowing we have coverage behind us.”

Time to bounce back Tuesday.

📸: @freestyleottawa#VancouverFC #CanPL pic.twitter.com/vpDePyiOcl

— Vancouver Football Club (@vanfootballclub) June 17, 2023

Ghotbi also pointed out postmatch how young his side was for this game — not only did they have under-21s at both fullback spots, but 19-year-old Anthony White got his first start at centre-back and 20-year-old Gyimah was on the wing. Plus, all of Henry, Tahid and Bakare came off the bench at the same time, all of them once again being 21 years old or younger.

“I’m really proud of a lot of the young players and the first professional games they’ve played,” Ghotbi said. “The average age of the team was under 23 at the start of the game, and I think that’s what this league is about, is trying to develop young players, as many local and Canadian players as possible to help them become professionals. These experiences are invaluable to their future.”

Vancouver FC have a short turnaround, returning home to Langley, where they’ll take on Forge FC at Willoughby Community Park Stadium on Tuesday, June 20 at 7 p.m.

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