The eighth week of the Canadian Premier League was a long one, wrapping up on Wednesday night. With four games that spread out throughout the week, seven of the eight teams played off against each other, giving Halifax Wanderers a week off and Valour playing in two games. This week’s formations saw the classic 4-4-2, exampling how strong teams were in the center of the pitch, where they focused on those areas to find goals or hold a steady line.
Goaltender
Marco Carducci (Calvary FC)
Helping his team grab one of the two clean sheets in the week’s fixtures, Marco Carducci saved the only shot he had to deal with on goal from inside the box. Carducci has settled the back line since returning to the lineup after missing the first three games of the season. With him in goal, you can really see the comfort and trust given to one another between him and the Calvary defence.
Defenders
Brett Levis (Valour FC)
Playing in two games this week, Brett Levis played the full 180 minutes for Valour in games against Atletico Ottawa and Pacific FC. Valour, unfortunately, only picked up one out of the possible six points available. In both games, Levis had a successful passing rate of over 80 percent while picking up an assist on Daryl Fordyce’s goal in the 48th minute. With a total of five interceptions and 12 recoveries on the week, Levis was effective at both ends of the pitch.
Drew Beckie (Atletico Ottawa)
Receiving man of the match, Drew Beckie had an excellent defensive game for Ottawa, helping them secure a 1-0 in Winnipeg on Wednesday evening. After taking a hard shot to the head early in the game, Beckie finished the full 90 minutes having four clearances and three interceptions. The Ottawa captain won all of his ground duels, along with completing 92 percent of his passes.
Karifa Yao (Calvary FC)
The second center back on the list to help their team to a clean sheet, Yao was a dominant force in the back line for Calvary in the 1-0 over York United. The 21 year old on loan from CF Montreal finished the game completing 88 percent of his passes, making two clearances, and winning both of his aerial duels. Yao continues to showcase his talent as one of the best center-backs in the league.
Daan Klomp (Calvary FC)
Though not getting the assist on Aribim Pepple’s goal in the 73rd minute, Klomp made a beautiful pass with his back heel to set up the play. The 23 year old was involved all game rather it was in the defensive end of or the offensive end of the field. With 69 touches and completing 89 percent of his passes, Klomp won four of seven tackles and was involved in 17 ground duels, where he came out on top on nine of them.
S. 2 Ep. 21: Canada Doing What Canada Does – FC13 Podcast
Midfielders
Kyle Bekker (Forge FC)
The former 2020 player of the year had a great performance in Edmonton this past week, helping push an aggressive attack from Forge FC. Kyle Bekker got an assist on Tristan Borges’ first goal in the 23rd minute, equalizing the game after going down early in the match. Bekker only played in 71 minutes before being subbed off, but was very noticeable in the game. Helping set up the second goal for Forge as well, Bekker completed 88 percent of his passes on 57 touches, while taking two attempts on goal and one finding the net but being stopped by the Eddies keeper Andreas Viakla.
Elijah Adekugbe (Calvary FC)
The brother of the Canadian international player Sam Adekugbe, Elijah put in a solid performance on his first start of the year. In 89 minutes Adekugbe had 73 touches to help move the ball around the midfield and keep the ball away from their box. With six recoveries and completing 92 percent of his passes with four of them being long balls, Adekugbe proved to be a problem for York United on Sunday afternoon.
Gianni Dos Santos (Pacific FC)
Appearing in this seventh match of the season, Gianni Dos Santos showed how deep Pacific’s offence runs throughout the team. Scoring his first goal of the season with a screamer outside the box on a goal in the 56th minute to tie the game, Dos Santos was an offensive threat all game. Playing the full 90, Dos Santos drew in four fouls and took five of the eight corners rewarded to Pacific.
Ben McKendry (Atletico Ottawa)
Controlling the midfield for Ottawa on Wednesday, McKendry did an excellent job helping keep the pressure on in Valour half and limit the ball in their half. Completing seven of the eight long balls he attempted, McKendry stood out in a pretty relaxed game. McKendry finished the match with 86 percent of his passes completed on 56 touches, pitching in defensively as well as making two interceptions and nine recoveries.
Forwards
Tobias Warschewski (FC Edmonton)
We haven’t seen a lot of Edmonton players make the team of the week this season, but Tobias Warschewski showed he earned it this week. Being involved in all three goals for FC Edmonton, the German native showed real potential in the struggling Eddies in possibly their best game of the season. With one assist off a corner scored by Kairo Coore, Warschewski also put the ball into the box from a free-kick that found the back of the net, thanks to an own goal from Alessandro Hojabrpour.
Tristan Borges (Forge FC)
After last season being labelled as disappointing on this return to the league, Borges is now second amongst goal scorers in the league. After an unbelievable game finished with seven goals on Tuesday night, Borges left Edmonton with three of them. Playing in 87 minutes, Borges took three shots on goal and found the back of the net three times, having to tie the game up twice and eventually found the game winner.
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