CALGARY — Caniggia Elva scored in the 25th minute and Ali Musse in the 60th as Cavalry FC beat FC Supra du Québec 2-0 at ATCO Field on Saturday to win their Canadian Premier League semifinal 3-2 on aggregate and reach a fourth straight CPL final.
Cavalry came in trailing 2-1 from the first leg in Laval. Elva's goal levelled the tie, and Musse settled it across five minutes of the second half — missing a penalty in the 55th minute, then scoring the winner on the hour.
Team news
Sergio Camargo was passed fit and started with the captain's armband after declaring on Friday, "I'm available." Adam Pearlman, Friday's decide-after-training call, missed out — he was not in the matchday squad. Caniggia Elva started up front with Tobias Warschewski and Ali Musse.
First half
Elva opened the scoring in the 25th minute to make it 1-0 on the day and 2-2 on aggregate. Cavalry led the expected-goals count at the break, 1.03 to 0.34, while Supra won 65.9 per cent of the duels and edged corners 2-1. Cavalry were whistled for nine fouls to Supra's five.
Second half
Musse missed a penalty in the 55th minute. Five minutes later he made amends, scoring in the 60th minute to make it 2-0 and put Cavalry 3-2 in front on aggregate. It was the performance Tommy Wheeldon Jr. had promised on Friday, when he said, "We've got to put 90 minutes of hell to them."
Supra pushed from there and finished with 16 shots, but only two were on target. Cavalry blocked eight of them and made 30 clearances, and Nathan Ingham needed just two saves for the clean sheet. Supra's Alessandro Biello was sent off in the ninth minute of stoppage time.
Musse was named player of the match. Elva was replaced by Owen Graham-Roache at halftime, Camargo made way for Henry in the 62nd minute and Musse was withdrawn for Levi Laing in the 85th.
The numbers
Supra had more of the ball, 53 per cent to 47, and more shots, 16 to 11. Cavalry led where it counted — shots on target 5-2 and expected goals 1.99 to 0.63. Corners finished 5-3 for Supra, fouls 15-11 for Cavalry, and the yellow cards two apiece to go with Biello's red.
Cavalry will host Atlético Ottawa in the CPL final on Nov. 21 at ATCO Field, a rematch of last year's final, which Ottawa won in extra time. Cavalry won three of the four meetings between the clubs this season, outscoring Ottawa 11-5.
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