Some ties feel like wins and 颅others not so much.
Pacific FC head coach Pa-Modou Kah left little doubt as to which category he classified the 2-2 draw against FC Edmonton on Saturday at Starlight Stadium as the Eddies (3-5-3) rallied from two behind with a pair of second-half goals before 2,259 fans.
鈥淲e gave away two soft goals and that鈥檚 not like us,鈥� said Kah, of his Canadian Premier League-leading PFC side (6-2-3).
鈥淭he [Eddies] had no business being in this game. It鈥檚 a game we should have won. We gave them the goals. This is a tie that felt like a loss.鈥�
Goals by emerging rookie striker Matteo Polisi at 42 minutes to the top corner and Terran Campbell at 54 minutes, to punish a glaring Eddies 颅turnover, gave PFC a 2-0 lead. But FC Edmonton levelled on goals by dangerous six-foot-six striker Easton Ongaro at 58 minutes and 颅former Germany U-19 player and Dortmund-prospect Tobias Warschewski at 76 minutes as the visitors took advantage of two PFC defensive 颅breakdowns.
鈥淚t was a little bit of chaos on goals that should be easily preventable, especially at home, and with the pride we take in our defence,鈥� said PFC defender Abdou Samake.
鈥淢aybe we felt being up 2-0 in the second half that the game was over,鈥� added the former NCAA Big Ten all-tournament player with the University of Michigan Wolverines.
鈥淏ut they have two centre forwards with direct style and they are a handful.鈥�
All the stats were in PFC鈥檚 favour, however. The Islanders had an 11-4 advantage in shots, 6-3 in ones on target, and a 63 percent to 37 percent advantage in possession and 8-1 lead in corners.
鈥淚t was a game of two halves,鈥� said FC Edmonton head coach Alan Koch.
鈥淭his is not an easy place to play, obviously, with PFC quite confident right now. And the wind made matters difficult. But we didn鈥檛 collapse.鈥�
Eddies captain and 颅hometown Edmonton-product Shamit Shome, with two caps for sa国际传媒 and who played in the MLS with Montreal Impact from 2017 to 2020, concurred: 鈥淚t鈥檚 not easy to come into here but we didn鈥檛 give up and showed our 颅character.
鈥淭hey [PFC] have 颅fluidity but we had grit and 颅determination.鈥�
Koch was head coach with FC Cincinnati in MLS with Kah as his assistant coach.
鈥淵ou can see the growth in this PFC club and I鈥檓 proud of him,鈥� Koch said of his former understudy.
鈥淏ut when we play each other, it鈥檚 a battle and we both want to win.鈥�
PFC now hits the road for 颅fixtures in Calgary against 颅Cavalry FC on Wednesday and in Winnipeg versus Valour FC on Aug. 16.
