Final Score: York United FC 0-2 Cavalry FC
Goalscorers: Musse 20′, Camargo 62′
Game of the 2024 season: 93
CPL match: 577

Match in a minute or less

Cavalry FC moved into third place in the Canadian Premier League on Friday night, as they emerged 2-0 victors from a heated contest with York United FC at York Lions Stadium.

The visitors got on the board fairly early after a furious start, as Ali Musse finished a chance following two goal-line blocks stymied Tobias Warschewski.

Roughly midway through the second half, Cavalry put the game to bed with a second goal, as Warschewski won the ball in his own third and drove it forward for Sergio Camargo, who chipped a perfect shot from way outside the box over the head of Thomas Vincensini and in at the far post.

The rest of the game became a testy affair with a flurry of cards given out to both sides, including a red to York’s Jorge Guzmán, but the Cavs ultimately held on for a crucial road win to swap places in the table with the Nine Stripes.

Three Observations

Cavalry get the better of physical, playoff-like battle

Both Cavalry and York United remain contenders for the regular season title with just a few weeks to play, and they entered Friday night separated by only one point.

This game therefore had the billing of a heavyweight title bout, and it certainly had the intensity of one. Tommy Wheeldon Jr. joked afterward that referee Scott Bowman’s match report will look something like War and Peace, with how many incidents and bookings he had to dish out — it was 11 yellow cards in total to players between the two sides, including two in quick succession to York’s Jorge Guzmán in the 100th minute of play.

However, Cavalry were the ones to emerge in better shape, perhaps in part due to their greater wealth of experience in these types of battles.

Cavalry have been hit by a serious injury bug recently, with star fullback Fraser Aird the latest to join a list that also includes the likes of Charlie Trafford, Malcolm Shaw, Maël Henry and more. Adding to the concerns this week, reigning CPL Player of the Year Daan Klomp was forced to miss out for the first time in well over a year, serving a suspension for yellow card accumulation.

However, all the players that stepped into roles performed them excellently. Eighteen-year-old Michael Harms, in particular, had a tough job playing right-back in lieu of Fraser Aird, making his first start of the season. He didn’t look out of place; Wheeldon Jr. mentioned that Harms is one of the fastest players in the squad, which allowed him to link up well on the right side with Ali Musse.

Overall, it was a comprehensive all-around performance from Cavalry.

“The first 10 or 15 minutes was as good as I’ve seen with the way we started,” Wheeldon Jr. said. “With the intensity of our press, with the looking forward, playing forward, running forward. When you’ve got Ali Musse running with Michael Harms, one of the fastest players in our team, we encouraged his young enthusiasm to get on that outside lane, where Musse cut in to Sergio [Camargo], playing off to Tobi [Warschewski], to Nicolas Wähling getting forward. And then [Diego Gutiérrez] and [Shamit Shome], they just give us so much stability to join the attack or build the attack.”

Interestingly enough, both managers accused the other side of being the more physical in this match. Wheeldon Jr. expressed that he thinks York are one of the more physical sides in the league, while Benjamín Mora responded that he sees Cavalry as a physical team and that he preferred his side to play for possession.

Regardless of the impetus however, there’s no doubting that it became a hard-hitting, emotional game, and Cavalry absolutely got the better of it.

York locked out of penalty area, can’t make effective use of the ball

After a disappointing draw with Valour last week where York United spent ample time in the penalty area but couldn’t put the ball in the back of the net, this week was differently frustrating.

The home side may have had 62.5 per cent possession on Friday, but it did not often feel like they were in much danger of scoring. The stats sheet is telling: from a whopping 64 entries into the final third, they managed just 19 touches in the box. They attempted 37 total crosses, and wound up with just one shot on target.

Plenty of excitement surrounded York coming into the game at the prospect of leading scorer Brian Wright returning after three games out with injury. However, in 83 minutes of action, Wright had just 26 touches (four of them in the penalty area) and one shot. It was almost impossible for York to find him, with Cavalry’s centre-backs remaining tight to him and suffocating any passing lanes.

Mora certainly didn’t blame Wright for his quiet evening, though acknowledging that he’s a little out of sync after missing some time with his injury. The York boss also absolved his goalkeeper Vincensini of blame for the second goal against, explaining that it’s the coach who instructed him to play that high, shouldering the culpability himself.

However, Mora did have harsh words for his side’s performance as a whole. In a nutshell, he said that York simply didn’t want to win as badly as Cavalry did, and eventually let emotions get the best of them.

“We weren’t effective enough,” he said. “We weren’t efficient in the decision-making sometimes with the ball. They entered the game more determined than us at the beginning; they had 10 to 15 minutes that were very dangerous in the beginning, they couldn’t score but were getting into our box. The first 15 to 20 minutes, we lost 70 per cent of the challenges and duels. We weren’t jumping into pressing as we were supposed to, we didn’t do a good start, and of course that bounces back in the emotional side and the mental side.

“We started to get confused in some situations, we started to get uncomfortable. We started upset and angry after the first goal, and the players were starting to get frustarted and we weren’t composed, we weren’t balanced.”

York remain in very good position to get into the playoffs and finish anywhere in the top four — especially with a visit to league leaders Forge FC coming up next weekend. However, they’ll need to produce a far better performance than this in Hamilton if they’re to have any hope of toppling their 905 Derby rivals.

Warschewski a force to be reckoned with up front for Cavalry

A number of Cavalry players deserve credit for their individual performance on Friday night, but arguably the best player on the pitch was Tobias Warschewski. The German forward demonstrated why he was sorely missed recently when he spent three straight games sidelined with injury; he was a complete nightmare for York’s backline to handle.

Warschewski had a major hand in both of his team’s goals; he played an outstanding one-two with Sergio Camargo, continuing his run into the box to find an excellent shooting position, and although both his attempts were blocked, the third rebound made for an easy finish for Ali Musse.

For the second goal, it was again Warschewski who sprung the play. He plucked the ball from a battle with Nyal Higgins deep in his own half and used his pace to get out to the touchline, drawing the attention of several York players to open space for Sergio Camargo, whom he found with a well-weighted forward pass.

For a six-foot-two centre-forward, Warschewski is remarkably soft with his feet, combining an formidable physical frame with pace and technical ability.

On the stats sheet, he finished with one assist, four shots, two chances created and 11 passes in the final third, contesting a staggering 29 duels. He won four fouls as well, which set up a few key set-piece chances — and his coach Tommy Wheeldon Jr. pointed out that they’d expected Warschewski to be challenged like that.

“He’s a great foil,” Wheeldon Jr. said of his striker. “We know they’re physical, York; one of the more physical teams in the league with the ball and without it. We knew that he would actually come in for a bit of abuse, and he did, but he absorbs it very well, and I think he won his lion’s share of it. But what he does, he gets a little turn or a touch, and doesn’t always have to score the goals, but provided great moments for both Sergio and Musse. It’s terrific to have him back fit, because as I’ve said before, you’ve got to have those knives in the cupboard.”

CanPL.ca Player of the Match

Tobias Warschewski, Cavalry FC

Warschewski was outstanding leading the line for the visitors on Friday, helping create both goals (officially getting an assist on one) and using his skill well to both win and retain the ball.

What’s next?

These teams will each play next Saturday, Sept. 28, beginning with York United heading down the QEW to take on local rivals Forge FC (4 p.m. ET). The day rounds out with Cavalry FC hosting Vancouver FC at ATCO Field (5 p.m. MT/4 p.m. PT).

Watch all CPL and Canadian Championship matches live on OneSoccer. In addition to its website and app, OneSoccer is now available on TELUS channel 980 and on Fubo TV. Call your local cable provider to ask for OneSoccer today.