RECAP + HIGHLIGHTS: Valour FC vs. Forge FC | Sept. 11, 2025

In a stunning result in Winnipeg on Thursday, Valour FC handed top-of-the-table Forge just their second loss of the season, a 2-1 win at Princess Auto Stadium.

A second-half brace from Kianz Froese made the difference, after Tristan Borges had opened the scoring in the first half.

The result could loom large in the CPL's regular-season title race. As a result of the loss, Atlético Ottawa can now tie Forge on points when they travel to York Lions Stadium on Sunday.

Forge will remain in the top spot regardless, however, on the head-to-head tiebreaker ahead of a meeting between Forge and Atleti in the nation's capital next Sunday.

With Tuesday's Canadian Championship semi-final in mind, Forge made five changes from the side that beat Halifax 1-0 this past weekend. They swapped out full-backs, bringing in Elimane Cissé and Ben Paton, added Noah Jensen to the midfield, and David Choinière out wide.

Valour tested Forge inside the opening five minutes on a corner kick. Gianfranco Facchineri's header across the goal had to be cleared off of the line by David Choinière at the far post.

It was one of three corners that Valour won in the opening 15 minutes as their energetic press created a lot of issues for the Hamilton side in the early stages of the match.

Forge, however, clinical as always, opened the scoring against the run of play in the 22nd minute. A lovely cut-back from Hoce Massunda was dummied by Brian Wright, before being tapped home by Borges.

The moment also served to break Valour's early momentum, as it was Forge that had the better chances in the ten minutes after the goal. That included Choinière forcing a good save from Emil Gazdov in the 34th minute.

Valour had a great chance to equalize in the 37th minute, when a dangerous ball from Jordan Faria across the box found Diego Ressurreição, whose stinging strike was brilliantly denied by Jassem Koleilat.

Just a few minutes later, on a free kick from well outside of the box, Roberto Alarcón struck the crossbar with an outstanding curling effort. That was as close as the Winnipeggers came during the opening half, as Forge held their 1-0 lead into the half-time break.

Froese tested Koleilat again just a minute into the second half, as a deflected Kris Twardek pass went right into his path at the top of the box. His strike, despite changing direction slightly, was dealt with well by the Forge keeper.

In the 57th minute, the hosts equalized. Myles Morgan did brilliantly to hold up the ball in the box, before playing it back out wide to Twardek. The Valour winger's low cross found Froese in the middle, who made no mistake as he smashed the ball into the net from close range to make the score 1-1.

Valour kept pressing, and just seven minutes later, they had another. Again, it was Froese who played hero. After an attempted clearance by Alex Achinioti-Jönsson dropped to the Valour midfielder at the top of the box, he created a yard of space for himself and sent a curling shot into the net.

With the lead and Forge pressing, Valour had some great chances in transition, as they looked to find a third goal that effectively would have put the match to bed.

Forge, meanwhile, searched desperately for what could be an important equalizer in the title race. Achinioti-Jönsson came close on a pair of occasions, one a slaloming run through the middle, before heading just wide on a 90th-minute corner kick.

The hosts, meanwhile, frantically defended, lacking composure at times when they could have relieved the pressure. But they did enough, holding on for what was unquestionably their most impressive result of the season.

Valour are now undefeated in three straight for the first time this season in the league. They move up into sixth place in the table, narrowing the gap to the playoffs to 10 points with five matches remaining.

BOX SCORE

Lineups

Valour FC: Gazdov; Alarcón, Konincks, Facchineri, Antonoglou (Egwu 90+2'); Ohin; Twardek, Ressurreição (Venâncio 70'), Froese (Figueiredo 70'), Faria; Morgan (Pop 82')

Forge FC: Koleilat; Cissé, Nimick, Achinioti-Jönsson, Paton (Jevremović 70'); Bekker (Bruno 77'), Jensen (Babouli 71'), Borges; (Lipovschek 90+3') Choinière (Koné 77'), Wright, Massunda

Goals

22' -- Tristan Borges (Forge FC)
57' -- Kianz Froese (Valour FC)
64' -- Kianz Froese (Valour FC)

Discipline

40' — Yellow: Elimane Cissé (Forge FC)
43' -- Yellow: Themi Antonoglou (Valour FC)
73' -- Yellow: Marko Jevremović (Forge FC)
84' -- Yellow: Raphael Ohin (Valour FC)