Match report and photographs by Djuradj Vujcic
In the last match of the 2022 Canadian Soccer League regular season, played on August 6 at Esther Shiner Stadium with a start time of 6:00 PM, the Serbian White Eagles defeated the Toronto Falcons by a score of 2-0 with both goals being scored by Vladimir Strizovic. The goals by Strizovic moved the striker into the top scorer position with eight goals for the season while the second and third top scorers are fellow Serbian White Eagles players Dusan Kovacevic with seven goals and Nikola Djurkovic with six goals. The 2-0 result moved our Serbian White Eagles into first place in the CSL table.
Vladimir Strizovic opened the scoring in the 38th minute heading the ball into the net from a wonderful left wing cross by Srdjan Simovic for a 1-0 Serbian White Eagles lead at half-time. Strizovic added a second goal at the 77 minute mark: this time he was assisted by Marko Stajic and Strizovic – with a left-footed chip – placed the ball inside the bottom left post and out of reach of Toronto Falcons goalkeeper Alessandro Ciampaglia.
The Serbian White Eagles were the dominant side with many chances including Marko Stajic hitting the post, Nikola Djurkovic scoring a goal which was ruled an offside and midfielder Marko Krasic almost scoring. Marko Pavicevic (a recent signing from OFK Beograd) also looked very good on the ball and had many near-goal chances (one of which included a diving header finding the back of the net which was also ruled an offside).
The Falcons were reduced to ten men in the 40th minute when defensive midfielder Stanislav Katana was shown the red card for a severe challenge and the team was reduced to nine men when captain Maksym Rohovskyi was ejected three minutes before the end of the match following a similar challenge.
The match marked the debut of Serbian White Eagles goalkeeper Marko Kostic who recorded a clean sheet on the night. Kostic transferred to the club in early August from Sloga Kraljevo in Serbia.
Serbian White Eagles FC completes its regular season with five wins, four ties and one loss for 19 points and gains a bye in the quarter-final opening match of the playoffs for the CSL Championship. This places our team directly in the semi-final which is scheduled for August 20 at Esther Shiner Stadium. The start time and opponent will be announced on August 14.
Lineups
Serbian White Eagles: Marko Kostic, Dejan Jakovic (captain), Adrian Cann, Srdjan Simovic, Nikola Timotijevic, Ivan Cendic, Yasin Shahwan, Marko Krasic, Nikola Djurkovic, Marko Stajic and Vladimir Strizovic.
On the bench were Nikola Postic, Bojan Zoranovic, Stefan Pejic, Marko Orosic, Adam Waithe, Marko Pavicevic, Petar Planic, Nikola Milinkovic, Nikola Pojic and Miroslav Jovanovic while the head coach is Uros Stamatovic.
Toronto Falcons: Alessandro Ciampaglia, Andriy Voloshyn, Stanislav Katana, Angelo Tanner, Maksym Rohovskyi (captain), Vadym Kucherevskyi, Bogdan Tureak, Iaroslav Solonynko, Vadym Gostiev, Oleh Kivalo and Rinat Kasymgereev.
On the bench were Vasyl Shpuk, Volodymyr Sydorenko, Zhane Gendunov, Kyrylo Antonenko, Liubomyr Holovinskyi, John Tunstill, Antonio Giummarra, Alexey Yakimavets and Andriy Zborovskyi while the head coach is Willy Giummarra.
Referee
The head referee on the night was Carlos Rodriguez.
Player of the Match
With 36 touches, 74% pass accuracy and two goals in ninety minutes, the Player of the Match was Vladimir Strizovic.