RECAP + HIGHLIGHTS: Atlético Ottawa vs. Pacific FC (May 3, 2025)

Atlético Ottawa remain the top dogs in the Canadian Premier League, after a 3-1 comeback victory at TD Place on Saturday afternoon against Pacific FC. Atleti recovered from a sloppy first half as Kevin Dos Santos brought them back to life with a screamer, helping reignite the Ottawa attack and keep them in first place.

The trouble for Ottawa began about half an hour into the match. Veteran defender Amer Didić went clumsily into a tackle, earning himself a yellow card -- and, in the process, picking up an injury. Didić had to be helped off the pitch and Diego Mejía thus had to replace the stalwart centre-back with 21-year-old Tyr Duhaney-Walker.

Just a few minutes after the swap, Duhaney-Walker was thrust into an unfortunate spotlight, as he took a little too long on the ball just outside his own box and Pacific's Ronan Kratt slyly picked it out from the Atleti defender's feet. The Ottawa native Kratt bore down on goal alone and slipped it past Nathan Ingham, scoring his second of the year and putting the visitors ahead 1-0.

Atleti had to make some adjustments at halftime after a frustrating opening frame, having been second-best on home turf through 45 minutes.

They only needed 10 minutes in the second half to get back into the game, thanks to a moment of absolute magic by Kevin Dos Santos.

The wingback picked up the ball just inside the Pacific half and took a couple of touches forward, before letting fly a shot from distance. Dos Santos' powerful shot guided the ball perfectly to the top left corner of the net to level the score with a screamer.

Just nine minutes later, the hosts' surge continued and they found themselves in the lead. This time it was Gabriel Antinoro, Ottawa's other wingback, who found the net, getting on the end of a cutback pass by Ballou Tabla who had spun around his marker to dance into the penalty area and find Antinoro.

The deluge continued from there. Before the clock hit 70, Sam Salter chased down a long goal kick from Ingham, turning in the box to find David Rodríguez. The Mexican forward took control from there, taking touches around multiple Pacific defenders en route to goal before patiently depositing the ball in an open net to make it 3-1.

Pacific, stunned by the quick reversal of fortunes, never managed to regain their foothold in the match, as Ottawa created a handful. more chances but ultimately didn't find the net again, instead seeing out a 3-1 triumph for their fourth win of the season -- keeping them unbeaten through five games.

BOX SCORE

Lineups

Atlético Ottawa: Ingham; Didić (Duhaney-Walker 32'), Cloutier, Kozlovskiy; Dos Santos (Coulanges 81'), Aparicio, Castro, Antinoro; Rodríguez, Satler, Tabla (Zapater 73')

Cavalry FC: Melvin; Chung, Quintana, Ndom, Lajeunesse; Keshavarz, Browning Lagerfeldt, Young; Bustos (Mukumbilwa 81'), Heard (Zanatta 81'), Kratt (Daniels 66')

Goals

37' -- Ronan Kratt (Pacific FC)
55' -- Kevin Dos Santos (Atlético Ottawa)
64' -- Gabriel Antinoro (Atlético Ottawa)
69' -- David Rodíguez (Atlético Ottawa)

Discipline

28' -- Yellow: Amer Didić (Atlético Ottawa)
63' -- Yellow: Juan Castro (Atlético Ottawa)
67' -- Yellow: Juan Quintana (Pacific FC)