York United defeat Vancouver FC to advance to next round of the Canadian Championship

York United FC are moving on to the next round of the 2023 Canadian Championship. 

York United began their quest for a Canadian Championship with a 1-0 win over CPL expansion side Vancouver FC in the opening round. They were looking to build off of last year's performance, which saw them advance to the semi-finals, where they lost 2-1 to the Vancouver Whitecaps.

York got on the scoresheet early as Alou was brought down in the box in the 5th minute, which resulted in a penalty being awarded. Mo Babouli stepped up and struck a perfectly placed penalty past Cabrera to give his club the 1-0 lead. He was been outstanding for York as the goal marked in sixth in 10 appearances. 

Alou was a contstant threat off the left-wing for York as he was able to maneuver around Vancouver's defenders and test the goalkeeper. He got a great look in the 28th minutes as he cut into the box and got a shot on goal, but was stopped by Cabrera. 

Bayiha  linked up with De Rosario on a few occasions in the first-half as he was able to spot him with great crosses, but De Rosario wasn't able to get enough power on the touches to put it in the back of the net. 

York United were the better side in the first half as the CPL expansion side were having trouble containing Babouli when he'd create plays and make runs through the midfield. 

Vancouver FC had a great scoring opportunity in the 50th minute as midfielder Gabriel Bitar struck the ball past Niko Giantsopoulos but fortuately for York, the ball bounced off the crossbar and Giantsopoulos was able to recover it. Vacouver continued gaining momentum as they were taking more shots on goal, but were unable to level the scoring.

Giantsopoulos was came up big in the 64th minute as he made a crucial stop on Emmanuel Robe's redirect to ensure the score remained 1-0. He made another crucial stop on Nathaniel St Louis in the 85th minute, which was when Vancouver played with a sense of urgency as they they wanted to keep their Canadian Championship hopes alive. 

York United will now host the Vancouver Whitecaps in the next round, which will be a rematch of last year's semi-final clash.

Both teams will play each other again very soon as York hosts Vancouver this Saturday afternoon at York Lions Stadium in week 2 of CPL action.