Pacific FC dropped out of top spot for the first time this season as they tied 0-0 with York United in Ontario in Canadian Premier League action on Saturday (June 18).
The draw comes at the end of a three-game road trip which has seen PFC drop eight points, and is part of an alarming slide in form. The team has picked up just three points out of a possible 15 in their past five games.
It was a dour affair in North York on Saturday – PFC dominated the ball but struggled to create real chances, with York limiting the champions to speculative long-range efforts from Marco Bustos, who is still yet to score a goal so far this season.
York and PFC have already played each other three times this season, drawing all three times. The hosts also created few shots on goal as the two teams played out their second 0-0 draw of the season against each other.
The biggest chance of the game came after a sloppy giveaway by PFC captain Jamar Dixon. The ball broke to York defender Diyaeddine Abzi, playing his last game for York before his move to France, who played in a low dangerous cross. Everybody missed it and the ball rolled to Max Ferrari, but the youngster couldn’t stretch far enough, sending the ball over the crossbar with the goal wide open and beckoning.
The chance seemed to spur on the home team, who looked the better of the two sides for patches in the second-half. Abzi had another great opening at 67 minutes. After collecting the ball in midfield, the Moroccan rode the challenge of Bustos and skipped past Amer Didic to run clean through on goal, but blazed his shot past the near post, leaving the score at 0-0.
Pacific now sits in second on 19 points, behind Cavalry FC on 20 points – the Calgary-based team has played two games fewer. The pair will face off in Langford on June 30.
Pacific plays next in Langford on June 25 against Halifax Wanderers.
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