RECAP + HIGHLIGHTS: Pacific FC vs. Atlético Ottawa | July 26, 2025

Atlético Ottawa have regained their lead atop the Canadian Premier League table, as they cruised to a crucial 2-0 road victory over Pacific FC at Starlight Stadium on Saturday.

Having temporarily lost possession of that top spot after Forge's victory vs. the Halifax Wanderers on Friday, Ottawa responded with a clinical road win to leapfrog back ahead of Forge by one point, as they continue to lead the way in a tightly-contested title race. Meanwhile, for Pacific, this loss has extended the gap between them and the CPL's final playoff spot to 12 points after York United's victory earlier on Saturday, showing why they'll be frustrated with this result.

Gabriel Antinoro almost put Ottawa ahead after just six minutes, as the ball fell to him in acres of space at the back post on a corner, but he slashed his half-volley attempt just over the crossbar from close range.

Ottawa had another great chance in the 10th minute, as Ballou Tabla clipped a perfect ball towards an unmarked Sam Salter, but his powerful header was just kept out by Sean Melvin, who just managed to get a hand to the shot, making a fantastic save to keep the game level.

After a bit of a lull in the match, Ottawa had a good look from the edge of the box in the 25th minute, as Loïc Cloutier intercepted a loose Pacific pass and fired a shot, sending his shot just over the crossbar. At the other end, Pacific responded with a good chance of their own less than a minute later, as Marco Bustos slalomed into the box and fired a shot, but he shanked his shot wide of the mark.

Ottawa kept attacking, however, and again came close to scoring in the 28th minute, with Kevin Dos Santos finding David Rodríguez on a nice cutback, but Rodríugez also couldn't keep his shot below the crossbar.

Then, Dos Santos decided to have an attempt of his own in the 42nd minute, as he cut in and fired a shot from the edge of the box, curling his low attempt just wide of the mark.

From there, the game reached half time without much further action, but Ottawa quickly found a chance after the break, as Rodríguez found Tabla on a good delivery from a corner, but Tabla's header sailed over the goal. Then, Tabla had another great opportunity from open play in the 52nd minute, as he danced into the box and fired a left-footed shot towards goal, but his attempt flew just past the far post.

Continuing a strong start to the half, Ottawa came close to finding that opening goal in the 57th minute, as Rodríguez cut inside and fired a powerful shot, sailing his attempt just mere inches over the crossbar.

Having survived that wave of pressure, Pacific did well to catch Ottawa on a dangerous transition moment in the 59th minute, one that led to a powerful shot from distance from Kadin Chung, who forced an awkward save out of Ottawa's Nathan Ingham. Then, on the subsequent corner, the ball fell to Lukas Browning Lagerfeldt at the edge of the box, but he sent his shot well over.

Pacific would come to rue those missed opportunities quite quickly, however, as Ottawa then finally responded with their opening goal in the 62nd minute. In that instance, Cloutier would do well to clip a ball over the top for Salter, and the Ottawa striker would do the rest by dribbling into the box and slotting the ball through Melvin's legs into the net, helping him extend his lead atop the CPL's Golden Boot race with his 11th goal of the season.

Eager to quickly respond, Pacific had a nice look at goal in the 66th minute, as Bustos caught all of a shot from distance, just whizzing his attempt over the goal.

Soon after, though, Ottawa found their second of the game, as Rodríguez danced into the box and curled a left-footed shot into the bottom corner, finding the net with his first goal since May, all but securing the result for his team.

Ottawa were still made to work for the win in the end, as Pacific had a few decent chances late on, but they managed to see out the result from there to secure all three points and the clean sheet on the day.

BOX SCORE

Lineups

Pacific FC: Melvin; Chung, Tugwell, Ndom, Lajeunesse, Mukumbilwa (Greco-Taylor 79'); Heard (Browning Lagerfeldt 58'), Young (Daniels 68'), Toualy (Chernyshev 79'); Bustos (Zanatta 79'), Díaz

Atlético Ottawa: Ingham; Cloutier, Abatneh, Kozlovskiy; Antinoro, Castro (Zapater 73'), Aparicio (Ortega 88'), dos Santos (Sissoko 81'); Rodríguez, Tabla (Coulanges 81'); Salter (Khoury 88')

Goals

62' -- Sam Salter (Atlético Ottawa)
72' -- David Rodríguez (Atlético Ottawa)

Discipline

32' — Yellow: Ballou Tabla (Atlético Ottawa)