The 2021 Canadian Premier League final was a soccer match which determined the winner of the 2021 Canadian Premier League season. It was played on December 5, 2021, in Hamilton, Ontario, between Forge FC and Pacific FC. Those teams qualified as the winners of their first round playoff matches. Forge FC were the defending champions.
Pacific FC defeated Forge FC 1–0 to claim their first CPL title. Alessandro Hojabrpour scored the game's only goal in the 59th minute and was named man of the match. Winning the championship earned the club the right to compete in the 2022 CONCACAF League where they ultimately reached the round of 16.
Path to the Final
Playoff semi-final results
Forge FC
Forge FC entered the Final as the two-time defending league champions, having defeated Cavalry FC in the 2019 Finals and HFX Wanderers FC in the 2020 Final. On October 26, Forge clinched a playoff berth while inactive and then secured 1st place in the regular season following a win on November 9. Forge advanced to the finals by defeating 4th ranked York United FC at home in the semi-finals.
Pacific FC
This was Pacific FC's first Final, improving from a fourth-place finish in 2020. On October 24, they became the 2nd team to qualify for the playoffs by virtue of a York United draw against Atlético Ottawa. Pacific finished 3rd in the regular season and advanced to the finals by defeating 2nd ranked Cavalry FC on the road in the semi-finals.
Head-to-head This was the fourth meeting of the year between the two clubs with Forge having won all of the previous three games. Forge had the advantage in the all-time series with 8 wins, 1 draw, and 0 losses.
Forge earned the right to host the Final by having the better overall record in the regular season. Pacific entered the match on two weeks of rest since their previous match in the CPL semi-final. Forge had played two CONCACAF League matches following the semi-final, including an away match in Honduras four days before the CPL Final.
Match details Summary
Details
Forge FC: GK 1 Triston Henry RB 8 Elimane Cissé CB 23 Garven-Michée Metusala CB 4 Dominic Samuel LB 6 Kwame Awuah CM 13 Alexander Achinioti-Jönsson CM 10 Kyle Bekker (c) RW 99 Omar Browne AM 19 Tristan Borges LW 18 Molham Babouli CF 14 Emery Welshman Substitutes: GK 31 Baj Maan MF 7 David Choinière FW 11 Chris Nanco DF 15 Maxim Tissot FW 17 Woobens Pacius MF 24 Paolo Sabak FW 25 Joshua Navarro Manager: Bobby Smyrniotis Pacific FC: GK 13 Callum Irving RB 2 Kadin Chung CB 6 Lukas MacNaughton CB 26 Thomas Meilleur-Giguère LB 3 Jordan Haynes DM 21 Alessandro Hojabrpour RW 11 Josh Heard CM 22 Jamar Dixon (c) CM 34 Manny Aparicio LW 14 Terran Campbell CF 24 Gianni dos Santos Substitutes: GK 31 Isaac Boehmer MF 8 Matthew Baldisimo MF 10 Marco Bustos DF 12 Kunle Dada-Luke MF 19 Matteo Polisi MF 20 Sean Young MF 23 Ollie BassettManager: Pa-Modou Kah
Man of the Match: Alessandro Hojabrpour (Pacific FC)Assistant referees: Gabrielle Lemieux Stefan Tanaka-Freundt Fourth official: Pierre-Luc LauzièreMatch rules 90 minutes 30 minutes of extra time if necessary Penalty shoot-out if scores still level Maximum of five substitutions, with a sixth allowed in extra time
See also Canadian Premier League Finals 2021 Canadian Championship Final
References