York United dropped its home opener 2-1 to the Halifax Wanderers in a tightly contested match that was also a chippy affair, with the teams combining for 34 fouls and 10 yellow cards, at York Lions Stadium on Sunday.
The hosts opened the scoring in the 22nd minute through a well-struck shot from outside the box by Gabriel Bitar, beating Wanderers goalkeeper Rayane Yesli low to the left post.
However, some halftime adjustments from the Nova Scotian side proved to be the deciding factor in the match.
Early in the second half, Halifax midfielder Giorgio Probo bent in a free kick to the back post, which York couldn’t deal with as it nestled into the bottom corner.
Then, young Canadian forward Tiago Coimbra came off the bench and scored in the 81st minute with his very first touch of the game.
Probo said after the match that it’s important to find the right level of aggressiveness in matches like these, but wasn’t happy with the way York tried to draw fouls.
“I think you need to find a line with too aggressive and too tricky,” the Italian said. “I think York players just fall on the ground for no reason.
“That’s their plan, they’re very used to doing this since last year, so we know that,” Probo said.
York head coach Mauro Eustaquio said it was disappointing to let the lead slip, but he was happy with his team’s play in the first half and hopes they don’t repeat the same mistakes twice.
“The plan was done well, I think in the first half, they didn’t really create many chances,” he said. “I did think that we didn’t press as well in the second half, we didn’t hold up the ball as well in the second half, and that’s what caused our problems.”
Eustaquio said he’s proud of the work his team has put in during the past nine weeks since preseason began, and it would be naive to panic after one bad result.
“We continue to grow and we continue to hammer on the ideals that we have as a team, and I’m sure we’ll be fine,” the manager said. “Lessons like this, we just can’t let them happen twice.”
Bitar said he thinks York needs to manage the moments better, taking the opportunities they create while not allowing other teams to grow back into the game as Halifax did in this match.
“We’ve just got to do better at managing the game, I feel, and that will come with time,” he said.
A first away victory of the campaign is big for Halifax, who struggled immensely on the road last season, with just one win in 14 matches away from the Wanderers Grounds.
Meanwhile, York had one of the best home records in the Canadian Premier League last season, which was a big factor in why 2024 was their best-ever season.
Halifax head coach Patrice Gheisar said his team is doing things differently both on and off the pitch this season to try and better prepare for road games.
“We didn’t train here, we trained in Halifax and flew in,” he said. “Trying to get them the rest, trying to adjust meals and sleeping.
On the pitch, Gheisar mentioned the Wanderers are starting in a bit of a lower block before ramping up the tempo in the middle of the game and settling it down near the end to try and control the game's flow.
York will travel to Ottawa next weekend, while Halifax heads home to host Pacific FC in their home opener.
