Vancouver FC won their third straight Salish Sea Derby match on Saturday, May 25, defeating Vancouver Island rivals Pacific FC 2-1 at Willoughby Community Park in Langley to climb to second place in the Canadian Premier League table.
Pacific opened the scoring when Josh Heard won a penalty off the hand of David Norman Jr that Ayman Sellouf stepped up to convert in the sixth minute.
Vancouver then responded with a Moses Dyer goal to make it 1-1 in the 40th minute.
GOAL 🦅
Moses Dyer finds the back of the net after a mess inside the box to tie things up for @vanfootballclub! ⚽️
It wasn't pretty, but he won't care 😎
Watch #CanPL LIVE on OneSoccer 🔴 pic.twitter.com/izza3txU9J
— OneSoccer (@onesoccer) May 25, 2024
It was a tie game until the 86th minute, when Vancouver’s Vasco Fry scored after his side won the ball high up the pitch, securing the victory for his team.
The @VWcanada Moment of the Match in Langley is Vasco Fry's winning goal for @vanfootballclub 🦅#CanPL I 📺 @onesoccer pic.twitter.com/UZ7CRTFGKl
— Canadian Premier League (@CPLsoccer) May 26, 2024
Pacific outshot Vancouver 17-13, but Vancouver made the most of their opportunities, picking up the pace in the second half.
“That’s what good teams do, they find moments to change gears, and we’ve (shown) to have that sixth gear and beyond this year, we can push the tempo of the game to a higher speed,” Vancouver’s head coach, Afshin Ghotbi, said.
“We can immediately increase the pressure that we put on opponents, we can change the speed of the game, and that changed the outcome of the game (today).”
Post derby dub feeling 🤩#VancouverFC #CanPL pic.twitter.com/kPshwG3gBp
— Vancouver Football Club (@vanfootballclub) May 26, 2024
Vancouver midfielder, Gardy McDonnell, who made his home debut off the bench in the match, described it as his “favorite types of games to play … physical games, rough games, it has my name all over it.
Moses Dyer finished with four shots, two chances created, one dribble, five passes into the final third, two tackles, one clearance, three recoveries, five out of 10 duels won and one foul drawn.
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Ghotbi’s cited Dyer’s New Zealand roots.
“It’s the sporting culture of their country and the region they come from,” Ghotbi said of Dyer.” When they’re younger, they train to win, they really live to win, and I love that spirit, I want that spirit here, and he breathes that every game, and that creates a winning culture in our locker room.”
Before signing with Vancouver Dyer scored 19 goals across three CPL seasons for Valour from 2020 to 2022, and recorded a four goal and six assist season in the USL Championship with Tulsa in 2023.
He’s now up to three goals and two assists in seven CPL games this year (putting him on pace for 12 goals and eight assists in 2024).
Next, Vancouver will be on the road next week, in Winnipeg for Valour’s home opener at Princess Auto Stadium on Sunday, June 2.
