Atlético Ottawa moved to the top of the table on Saturday afternoon, winning 1-0 on a header from forward Malcolm Shaw late in the second half. It’s their second win in a row to start the season, as they continue to impress on both sides of the ball.
Brian Wright, after scoring the winner in last week’s season opener, nearly gave Ottawa the lead again in this match, firing a shot across the goal in the fifth minute. It was dangerous enough to force a dive out of Wanderers goalkeeper Christian Oxner, but the low effort went just wide of the far post.
Wright’s strike partner Malcolm Shaw also tested Oxner in the opening half, heading the ball toward the top right corner of the goal. Oxner was again equal to it, diving to push it out of harm’s way and keep the score at 0-0. Ballou Tabla had a chance similar to Wright’s later in the opening half, from a similar position. Like Wright’s, his shot also missed the far left post, despite beating the Wanderers netminder.
Halifax had a lot of the ball in the opening half, but struggled to turn that into good scoring opportunities. They had three shots in the first 45, but all of them were from outside the box, and only one of them — from Joao Morelli in the 17th minute — went on target.
Both teams started the second half well, and it was Halifax who had two fantastic opportunities to score in quick succession, but Ottawa goalkeeper Nathan Ingham stood strong. First, Sam Salter, tried to beat Ingham at his near post from a few yards out, but after it was stopped he slid the ball to Joao Morelli for a follow up effort. The Brazilian fired a shot at Ingham, but he too had his effort denied.
The two sides continued to trade chances throughout the half, but were unable to find a breakthrough. Morelli tried another shot from distance in the 76th minute, firing one toward the bottom right corner, but again Ingham made a diving stop, keeping the clean sheet intact.
Just like they did a week ago, Ottawa continued to chip away, and took the lead with a late goal. After finding himself in some space on the right flank, Miguel Acosta curled a cross into the penalty area, which was met by the head of Malcolm Shaw. Ottawa’s leading scorer from a year ago, Shaw earned his side all three points, as his header floated into the goal for his first of the season.
Halifax star attacker Joao Morelli was taken off the pitch on a stretcher in the final moments of Saturday’s match, after appearing to injure his knee. The severity of the injury isn’t known yet, but for a team that is already dealing with an injury to Akeem Garcia, they’ll be hoping it isn’t something major.
Atlético hung on for the final 10 minutes, winning 1-0. They move to the top of the table, at least temporarily, becoming the first team thus far to win both of their opening matches — something that Pacific FC can match on Sunday.
BOX SCORE:
Goals
81’ – Malcolm Shaw (Atlético Ottawa)
Discipline
31′ – Yellow: Cory Bent (HFX Wanderers)
45′ — Yellow: Ben McKendry (Atlético Ottawa)
56′ — Yellow: Pierre Lamothe (HFX Wanderers)
87′ — Yellow: Eriks Santos (HFX Wanderers)
Match Recap: Malcolm Shaw's header earns Atlético Ottawa 1-0 victory over HFX Wanderers - Atlético Ottawa
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