Canadians in action: Crépeau sees red in visit from old team
Published
Maxime Crépeau was sent off in his first match against his former club, while Kailen Sheridan stood tall in the Wave goal and Ismaël Koné's goal wasn't enough to get Watford a win.
Here's a look at Canadians in action over the weekend.
Maxime Crépeau and James Pantemis, Portland Timbers - Maxime Crépeau's first game against his former side did not go according to plan on Saturday when he got the start in the Portland Timbers goal against the visiting Los Angeles FC. Crépeau, 29, spent the past two seasons with LAFC, winning a a Supporters' Shield and MLS Cup in 2022. Famously, Crépeau incurred a broken leg in the 2022 MLS Cup Final against the Philadelphia Union that caused him to miss World Cup 2022. The Greenfield Park, Que. native signed with the Timbers in the offseason. The hosts were the ones who got on the board first at Providence Park. Spotting the run of Felipe Mora, Evander slipped a ball over the LAFC backline for Mora to deflect past Hugo Lloris, Crépeau's replacement, to make it 1-0 in the 11th. While LAFC called for an offside, replays showed that Mora was kept onside by right-back Sergi Palencia. The Timbers' advantage lasted for only 10 minutes thanks to some exceptionally leisurely defending by the Timbers. Timmy Tillman spotted the Portland backline napping and sent a ball in for Mateusz Bogusz to split them. In alone, the former Leeds man ripped a left-footed shot just beyond the range of Crépeau's outstretched arms to tie things up in the 2-1. After playing provider on the opener, it was Evander who got the Timbers their lead back in the 34th and he did so in style. Taking a high, chipped pass from Juan David Mosquera, Evander knocked it down with his chest and right into a volley past Lloris to make it 2-1 and the Timbers would carry their lead into the break. Only minutes into the second half, Crépeau's afternoon turned into a nightmare. Crépeau came out to meet a lofted ball in for Denis Bouanga at the edge of the area. Bouanga knocked the ball down, but before he could do anything with it, he was taken down by Crépeau right on the line of the box. After a review, only a free kick was given, but Crépeau was a shown a straight red and left the pitch in disbelief. With Crépeau off, Kirkland, Que.'s James Pantemis came on to replace him with Mora the man making way for the 10-man Timbers. With Pantemis in the net, Bogusz finally took the awarded free kick, freezing the former CF Montreal keeper with a beautiful strike to once again tie matters at 2-2 in the 51st. In the 77th, Tillman played Bouanga in alone on Pantemis, who made an outrageous save from short range, but the flag went up for offside immediately meaning that any goal wouldn't have counted. The one registered save in the match for Pantemis came late into stoppage as the visitors pressed for a winner with Bouanga turned away from a sharp angle. The match finished with both teams splitting the points.
--
Kailen Sheridan, San Diego Wave - Pickering, Ont.'s Kailen Sheridan picked up her second clean sheet of the National Women's Soccer League season on Saturday when her San Diego Wave visited Racing Louisville and played to a scoreless draw. In the first half, it was her counterpart, Katie Lund, who was the busier of the two keepers, called into duty to make a number of early stops, including a pair from close range on Sofia Jakobsson. But Sheridan was up for the challenge when called into action. In the 51st, she did well to cut the angle and scoop up an angled effort from Emma Sears. Minutes later, Savannah Demelo unleashed a shot from the edge of the area with some power behind it, but it was right at Sheridan. Continuing a good spell of possession from the hosts, Carson Pickett's shot from inside the box was also handled by Sheridan in the 57th. In the 71st, Racing thought they got on the board. Taylor Flint's header met Pickett's corner and got over Sheridan and into the San Diego goal, but it was called off after a VAR review when Kayla Fischer was found to be well offside and interfering with Sheridan's ability to make a play. With under five minutes to play, Sheridan made her best save of the night in what ended up securing a point for the visitors. In the 87th with Racing coming down the right, Sears lofted in a picture-perfect cross to the goalmouth for Ary Borges, who header was hauled down by the diving Sheridan. The clean sheet was Sheridan's 33 in seven NWSL seasons with the Wave and Sky Blue/Gotham.
--
Ismaël Koné, Watford - As Montreal's Ismaël Koné and Watford wind down their Championship campaign, it's hard not to consider it a disappointing one. After getting relegated from the Premier League in 2022 following just a one-year return, the hopes of a quick promotion were dashed with an 11th-place finish. Looking to rebound from that and once again mount a promotion campaign, the Hornets fired manager Valerian Ismaël amidst a run of one win in 10 games last March. Well off the playoff places, the goal for the rest of the season under interim manager Tom Cleverley, the former England and Manchester United midfielder, was to avoid being dragged into a relegation scrap and they've mostly done that. But on Saturday, the Hornets didn't help their case much with a loss to promotion-chasing Southampton. Relegated last season after an 11-year stay in the Prem, Saints are looking for an immediate return. Saints got on the board almost instantly at St. Mary's. From the opening kick-off, Adam Armstrong's fine cross to the front of the goal was headed home by a completely unmarked William Smallbone to make it 1-0 in the 20th. The visitors would make it a two-goal lead in the 20th, once again taking advantage of some less-than-stellar defending. Tom Dele-Bashiru thought he dealt with a Saints move forward, but his deflection came to David Brooks near the far post, who quickly found Che Adams to side-foot home and make it 2-0. The visitors would pull one back just after the half-hour mark, thanks to a little bit of luck. After a fine run from Edo Kayembe went for naught, the ball came just outside the area to Ryan Porteous. His shot from distance caught a deflection off of a Saints defender, leaving Gavin Bazunu helpless to watch the ball fly into his goal in the 34th. It was Koné who would silence the crowd in the 85th with a late equalizer. Pouncing on a turnover near midfielder, Koné raced forward and beat Bazunu with a low draw to make it 2-2. The goal was Koné's fourth of the season to go along with a pair of assists. Just as it appeared a draw was on the cards, the hosts pulled out a dramatic winner to keep their promotion push on. In the ninth minute of stoppage, Taylor Harwood-Bellis knocked down a corner to an unmarked Flynn Downes at the far post to poke home and grab all three points in a 3-2 Southampton win. The victory put Saints on 81 points and in fourth place. Southampton is now 16 points clear of Hull City in seventh, making wrapping up a playoff spot appear to be close at hand. Saints trail Leicester by seven points for the final automatic promotion place, but do have a game in hand. After the loss, the Hornets sit 15th in the table, eight points clear of Huddersfield Town in the drop zone. While relegation looks highly unlikely, Cleverley can't be happy with the way his team incurred a late defeat.