You know it went well when it was almost impossible to pick a Man of the Match.
Forge FC had four or five candidates as they stunned Toronto FC 2-1 last night, a result marred only by a goal from a crazy scramble at the Forge goal line in the 88th minute which allowed substitute Prince Owusu to put the ball in after a great save from Chris Kalongo.
While, among others, Kwasi Poku, David Choinière, Tristan Borges, Kalongo, Malik Owolabi-Belewu and Kyle Bekker were outstanding, in the end, the nod has to go to Béni Badibanga, who set the tone with a brilliant opening goal that lifted the crowd of 11,341 to its feet in jubilation, just 11 minutes into the rain-soaked game.
Take a bow Beni BadiBANGA 🚀
— Forge FC (@ForgeFCHamilton) July 10, 2024
Poku extended the local lunacy just three minutes later with a striker’s touch to make it 2-0 and send Hamilton to Toronto on Aug. 27 up a goal for the second match of the two-leg series which determines which Ontario team heads to the Canadian Championship final, with a berth to Concacaf Champions Cup on the line.
POKU’S ON FIRE 🔥
YOUR DEFENCE IS TERRIFIED
— Forge FC (@ForgeFCHamilton) July 10, 2024
Here’s the math: if Toronto wins by 1-0 or more in August they advance. If Forge can tie the game, or win, or lose while scoring two or more goals, they’re through to the final.
‘We’re not happy with the last goal, but that’s part of the game,” said Forge head coach Bobby Smyrniotis, whose coaching group devised an excellent game plan against struggling TFC, which hasn’t won since mid-May.
“We’ve given ourselves an advantage going into the second leg. Nothing is done. We have to go over there and do our business. It’s a little bit better than the 1-1 result we had against Montreal.”
As TFC head coach John Herdman suggested in an interview earlier this week TFC is taking this QEW match-up seriously—both as a quicker path to the Concacaf Champions Cup and to get his stalled team some competitive traction—and the starting lineup reflected that. Italian stars Federico Bernardeschi and Lorenzo Insigne were both in it, as were Aimé Mabika, Deybi Flores, Kobe Franklin and goalkeeper Luka Gavran. Herdman also made changes at the half, just as Forge forced
CF Montréal to do after Forge went up on them 1-0 in the first leg of the quarterfinals.
Toronto had some chances early but Insigne missed some shots high and a glorious opening wide and they had what they thought was a goal called back as offside, and even after the game hadn’t accepted that.
“The away goal was super important for us,” Herdman said afterward. “I was really happy with the second half and how we started the game. The second half was how you’d expect TFC to play in that kind of match. At the same time, Forge is on a 2-0 lead.
“We scored a goal on-side for sure. Getting that goal back was important for us. When you’re on a (winless) run like this, confidence is ebb-and-flowing; you’re more susceptible in the moment: you get caught on a goal like that.
“There was a commitment in the second half when there’s desperation and there’s absolute clarity that it’s all on the line now, there is a different level of fight in the zone. The subs made a difference. Prince coming on made a difference.
“We’ll take confidence in that. We know the second leg at home is going to look different it’s going to feel different. There’s an opportunity to strengthen our squad during that time.”
TFC was without Canadian stars Richie Laryea and Johnathan Osorio, both with
Team Canada in New Jersey, and are still missing a couple of midfielders, and they will likely add another international player before August. But Forge FC was without the suspended Daniel Parra, arguably their most all-round skilled player, and all-time CPL leading scorer Terran Campbell who will be out a few more weeks with injury. Veteran back Elimane Cissé arrived only this week and was not ready to play last night. And Hamilton is also likely to add an international before late August.
Badibanga was simply outstanding. He stripped Bernardeschi of the ball on the Forge’s left side, moved to the middle and noticed that goalkeeper Gavran had over-committed up the field. From his own side of the centre, Badibanga alertly delivered a perfect lob that bounced close to the net, up and in. He celebrated with a double flip as has become his trademark.
“I’ve known Béni for a year now and nothing surprises me,” Smyrniotis said. “Those are the special things you wait for from a player like that in every game and he’s been able to bring that on every level. His flair is what it is. It brings some very good things to his game and sometimes you have to settle on some other things in his game to get those points.”
Smyrniotis, like others, have often said that the game has been losing creativity and needs players like Badibanga – whose arsenal includes a plethora of back-heel passes and dekes–for the entertainment value.
“A lot of people will leave here with that image.”
Even Herdman was impressed: “It was a pretty special moment for that fellow. Badi did really well with that.
“Forge did very well. I thought we weren’t as physical as we needed in that game. They were way more physical. They won that battle. We knew they would be dangerous in transition, but we didn’t predict the goal (Badibanga’s) they scored.”
Or the second one. It was a play Forge often uses, and practices a lot, off a triangle ball movement. Bekker dealt the ball toward the end line on the right side, where Choinière made a great play to turn it back in and feed it to the near post where the 21-year-old Poku had cut inside, as the coaching staff has been tutoring him to do. He backheel flicked it past Gavran and the orange smoke bombs immediately blinded the field.
“It was a moment of improvisation,” Poku said. “It was a little bit behind me and I couldn’t get it on my best foot so I thought I’d just flick it and it went in. It was a great moment.
“It’s something we try in training and it worked. As you play more of a role here you’re going to get more comfortable. I’m more comfortable in the role than when I first started.”
What’s even more impressive is that he out-muscled Toronto’s 6-foot-6 defender Aimé Mabika who, along with Derrick Etienne, were the most consistent Reds on the night.
“There were moments in the game where I could have got the better of him and he got the better of me,” Poku said modestly.
Smyrtniotis gave him more praise than he gave himself: “We scored an excellent second goal that comes off the process, another great moment from Kwasi Poku, another important goal by him. We see him growing week by week, six goals in nine games, I think it is, as a striker.”
Meanwhile, Forge left back Malik Owolabi-Belewu did a masterful job of marking Bernardeschi, whom TFC eventually had to move away from him, a little more inside, to escape the physical mucilage-like outside coverage on Toronto’s leading scorer.
“Eighty percent of what they do goes through one player,” Smyrniotis explained “If you can neutralize that you’re playing the percentages. All the tactics we work on are based on numbers.
“You get into the opponent’s area enough you’re going to score goals. You do the right things enough in certain zones, it’s going to create opportunities; you limit a player who is very dangerous for them and creates a lot, you’re going to give yourself a better chance of winning. Malik had that role today. Against a very, very good opponent, he had another excellent game.”
Owolabi-Belewu was at left because of accumulated yellow cards to Parra, who is one of only two Hammers (Jönsson, who was an unsung hero last night, is the other) to have played all 910 CPL minutes so far this year. He’ll be available for the return match, an unthinkable six weeks away in Toronto.
A torrential downpour struck the stadium just before the end of the first half and continued mostly throughout the second half, which – along with substitutions, and the urgency factor—may have helped TFC, which had the wind in the second half. Kalongo had to make a couple of key saves, and made several in this game as he continues his upward development arc. TFC also hit some woodwork, but so did Forge and Gavran had to make great stops on Borges and Bekker.
TFC did get that crucial away goal, but that won’t faze Forge in the return match, which should see a large number of Hamilton fans make the trip down the QEW. They’re confident and as Smyrniotis said this week, they like to think big.
“I thought we did a good job of limiting TFC’s opportunities,” he said after last night’s game. “It’s a little bit disappointing it’s not 3-0 at some point. We created some opportunities from knowing that things were going to arise.
“We’ve played in a lot of tough places across this continent. (In Toronto) it’s gotta be maximum effort, they’re a very good club.”
The Forge faces another stern test on Sunday (7 pm) when Pacific
FC visits Tim Hortons Field. Hamilton needs to start gaining ground in the CPL standings, as they currently sit fifth—there are five playoff spots—in the table, one point back of Pacific and one point up on Cavalry, with a game in hand on both teams.
Pacific is coming off last night’s 1-0 loss at home in the other Canadian semi-final opening leg, so both teams will be tired.
The Vancouver Island side set a league record by opening the season without allowing a goal through the first six matches—including a 0-0 home draw with Forge FC in
Victoria in mid-May—but dropped off, and had lost two in a row before going into Ottawa to defeat Atlético 1-0 last Sunday.
It’ll be strength against strength on Sunday as the Forge is second in the CPL in goals per game, a sliver behind Ottawa, while Pacific has allowed the fewest goals per game.
Cédric Toussaint is fourth in CPL tackles, a couple back of Owolabi-Belewu, and the Hammers will have to be careful with passes with Eric Lajeunesse near the top of the league in interceptions, as is Forge’s Hojabrpour. Alex Achinioti-Jönsson leads the league in most passes per game.