The more casual fans among the 4,069 in attendance Sunday afternoon at Westhills Stadium might have been surprised to learn FC Edmonton had not scored in its previous six soccer games and 587 minutes in total.
That鈥檚 because the Eddies (2-4-2) scored more than enough in a 3-1 Canadian Premier League victory over Pacific FC (2-5-2) to dramatically end their goal drought.
It was an odd game with Pacific FC controlling much of the possession with frustratingly little to show for it except Victor Blasco鈥檚 spectacularly-struck late goal at 83 minutes that was hardly enough.
Against-the-flow goals by Tomi Ameobi at 32 minutes, Oumar Diouck at 37 minutes and Bruno Zebie at 79 minutes had already put it away by then for FC Edmonton.
Blasco hit the post twice in the first half in a game of inches that might have swung the other way.
鈥淲e were unlucky,鈥� said Blasco, the native of Mallorca, Spain, and former MLS Vancouver Whitecaps prospect.
鈥淲e need to be careful with the long through balls [for goals] that Edmonton punished us with. Football is a game where sometimes you go home thinking you did nothing, but won, and other times thinking you did well but got nothing.鈥�
The PFC players just need to keep doing what they are doing, said Blasco.
鈥淚 think it鈥檚 going to work.鈥�
Pockmarked with injuries to key veteran players such as 27-time sa国际传媒 capped Marcus Haber and German-import Hendrik Starostzik, among several others, PFC was again forced to field a young lineup.
Texas native and former Montreal Impact MLS pro defender Blake Smith was among the few veterans on the field for Pacific FC.
鈥淟uck was on their side,鈥� said Smith, who is on loan from FC Cincinnati of MLS.
Two of FC Edmonton鈥檚 goals were off fine high lead passes launched by Spanish import Ramon Soria.
鈥淭hey had three opportunities to score and they finished their chances. We had a few mental lapses and they cost us.鈥�
Pacific FC was methodical but most of its ball control was in the midfield area with few threatening forays into the Eddies鈥� box.
鈥淲e are a possession-based team that builds up its attack from the back,鈥� said Smith.
But that build-up could only unlock the door once of the staunch defence of a bigger, heavier FC Edmonton team.
鈥淚 thought 95 per cent of what we did was good. This is the way we want to play. This is the way forward for our players,鈥� said PFC head coach Michael Silberbauer. 鈥淸But] we have to learn from the few mistakes we made.鈥�
There may have only been three defensive breakdowns but they proved costly for PFC.
Maybe it was just that FC Edmonton was due.
鈥淥ur difficulty in scoring [over the previous six games] was our own doing,鈥� said Eddies head coach Jeff Paulus.
鈥淲e were getting the ball in better [Sunday] to areas where we wanted to get it to.鈥�
Pacific FC鈥檚 next game is July 1 at Westhills Stadium against league-leading Cavalry FC of Calgary. Cavalry needs two points from its next two games, including the sa国际传媒 Day fixture on the Island, to clinch the 10-game CPL spring season title and guarantee a berth in the two-game, aggregate CPL championship final.
