FC Edmonton's return to Clarke Stadium was a joyous affair, as Alan Koch's side recorded their third win of the 2021 CPL season in resounding fashion, 3-1 over first-place Valour FC. The home side continued with the 4-4-2 formation they'd begun using toward the end of the bubble, with towering strikers Easton Ongaro and Tobias Warschewski leading the line together. Valour coach Rob Gale, meanwhile, handed starts to some highly-touted players who haven't seen too many minutes this year, with Rafael Galhardo making his second start and Rodrigo Reyes slotting in at centre-back alongside club debutant Rocco Romeo. Perhaps buoyed by the home crowd, FC Edmonton got off the mark quickest. In just the 13th minute, after several phases of direct attacking play, Ongaro found himself surrounded by Valour defenders in the box. Somehow, he broke out of the tight space, dribbling around Galhardo and finishing smartly across goal and through Romeo's legs to make it 1-0 in the early going for the Eddies. Just a few minutes later, FCE thought they'd added another to their tally, with Sharly Mabussi lobbing a pass up to Warschewski, who put the ball in the net -- but not before he'd made contact with his hand, in the judgement of referee Dave Gantar. So, the Eddies managed to hang on to a 1-0 lead through the first half, although Valour certainly looked dangerous at times with 53.6% possession and six shots -- one of which required a spectacular fingertip save from Connor James to get over the crossbar. Warschewski would eventually find his goal, though. In the 55th minute, Ramon Soria ran onto a long ball in space to the left of the box, and he cut it back well to the unmarked German striker, who needed just one good touch on the ball to put it in the net and make it 2-0. The hometown Eddies weren't done yet, though. Just after the hour mark, FCE won a corner kick, which Fraser Aird placed perfect into the box for the 6'4" Amer Didic to head powerfully into the net. Rob Gale brought a slate of fresh legs into the game to try and at least get his side on the board -- Masta Kacher, Jared Ulloa, Andy Baquero, and Brett Levis (at last returning from injury) all came in with around 30 to go -- and the visiting side did seem to pick up a little energy despite the scoreline. They did have a shout for a penalty kick around the 83rd minute, with what looked like a handball from Shamit Shome in the box, but it wasn't given. Eventually, they did manage to break through, as Andy Baquero's shot from distance took a fortunate deflection at the top of the box to beat Connor James and trickle into the net to break Edmonton's clean sheet. The late goal didn't have much impact, though, as the Eddies still saw out a fairly comfortable 3-1 victory. There was, at least, a modicum of good news for the Winnipeg club: on top of Levis' return from injury, they also saw experienced Congolese defender Arnold Bouka Moutou play just under 20 minutes after missing out on The Kickoff due to travel restrictions. BOX SCORE Goals 13' -- Easton Ongaro (FC Edmonton) 55' -- Tobias Warschewski (FC Edmonton) 63' -- Amer Didic (FC Edmonton) 82' -- Andy Baquero (Valour FC) Discipline 2' -- Yellow: Keven Alemán (Valour FC) 25' -- Yellow: Sharly Mabussi (FC Edmonton)

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