It was nervy, but the Canadian men's national team got the job done.
Canada defeated Haiti 1-0 in the first leg of their second-round matchup in Concacaf World Cup qualifying on Saturday in Port-au-Prince. Cyle Larin scored the decisive goal after 14 minutes, securing an all-important away goal and aggregate lead entering the second leg at Chicago's SeatGeek Stadium on Tuesday night.
Here are three things we learned in Canada's first-leg victory.
Canada's top dogs didn't bite
If the 4-0 win over Suriname in midweek was the night the Jonathan David-Alphonso Davies partnership reconnected, Saturday was the day it lost signal.
The duo only completed seven passes between themselves. Most of those attempts led to Davies being circled by three defenders. The hosts were ready for him, and it showed based on their average positioning below. Their shape leaned towards the left side, where the 20-year-old started as a wingback. Even switching to the right flank to evade the Haitian overload was futile.
In the end, Davies finished with just one pass into the box and no touches registered in the penalty area.
"You can see [Davies] found it difficult to get going on the dribble," said Canada coach John Herdman in his post-match press conference. "Guys were sort of pulling their shots. It wasn't easy. It always looks easier on the TV and that was a tough pitch to play on for these guys."
David was arguably the brightest performer of the two, and he had a fantastic chance to double Canada's advantage, only to be foiled by Haiti goalkeeper Johny Placide in the 52nd minute. The Lille striker logged 0.46 expected goals, most of which was generated from that opportunity, so he wasn't entirely invisible.
The hope from a Canadian point of view is that this is only a blip en route to a historic qualification for the octagonal phase of World Cup qualifying.
Kaye, Eustaquio shine in midfield
With a heavy reliance on the left flank against Suriname, the Canadian midfield needed an injection of creativity. It received that dose in the form of Mark-Anthony Kaye.
Withdrawn midway through the second half, likely as a precaution to maximize his fitness for the second leg, Kaye exited having delivered exactly what Canada needed from the central areas. He was progressing the ball, evading pressure from Haiti's press and was a monster defensively. The cherry on top was a secondary assist for Cyle Larin's goal.
GOAL
Cyle Larin gives #CanMNT an early 1-0 lead over Haiti, feeding off a low driven cross by Jonathan Osorio and tucking home cooly
https://t.co/hishXepRT3 pic.twitter.com/QzAziefGCK— OneSoccer (@onesoccer) June 12, 2021
"With Mark, what you know is that he is going to open teams up with those incisive passes," Herdman said. "He's got that real incision in his game and I think guys know that if you go on a run, nine times out of 10, he's going to find them, and you see he gets a lot of second assists.
"You can see the real quality when we're able to find the bottom of the box, to be able to then combine through the lines, you see the real quality."
In total, Kaye completed 41 of 48 passes along with eight recoveries, which was vital in containing Haiti's lethal counter-attack.
But take nothing away from Stephen Eustaquio's performance, either. Logging the full 90 minutes in the victory, Eustaquio was an orchestrator and defensive stalwart on either side of halftime. He finished with a 90 per cent passing success rate, five tackles and seven recoveries in a dominant display.
"I thought that they controlled the area of the pitch that they needed to control," Herdman stated. "Which was ball into the No. 9 and the wide forwards that would come underneath or the attacking midfielders that would join quickly. I think Stephen and Mark did a terrific job doing that today.
"When you score early like that, there is a mindset shift. You're now playing those games within games of making sure you got the balance of not overcommitting those two players and just trying to protect the key spaces that they were looking to capitalize in."
Given their all-around attributes, Eustaquio and Kaye should be indispensable for Canada going forward.
Defensive frailties remain
For the most part, Canada's defenders were solid. They conceded just 0.29 expected goals (xG) off six shots, a near-identical number from the 4-0 win over Suriname on Tuesday.
However, there were some concerning trends to monitor ahead of the second leg.
During the infamous loss in the 2019 Gold Cup quarterfinals, Haiti found a route to goal via long, diagonal passes on the break. That's exactly how the Haitians built momentum in the second half on Saturday. Frantzdy Pierrot latched onto a ball from Derrick Etienne before forcing a save out of goalkeeper Milan Borjan in the 53rd minute, which was the beginning of a flurry.
My oh my, Milan Borjan! #CanMNT | https://t.co/hishXepRT3 pic.twitter.com/Ku53uoQqom
— OneSoccer (@onesoccer) June 12, 2021
There was a subsequent threat shortly thereafter via a set piece, which has been equally shaky for Canada in the past.
This brief wave occurred when the defenders were isolated, as opposed to earlier in the match when Kaye and Eustaquio were tracking back. Vitoria is not a quick defender, either, so he's susceptible when an opponent either wins the initial aerial duel or the second ball.
"I think you can see very quickly that the fatigue levels started to hit around that 30-minute mark," said Herdman. "Then early into the second half, the two midfielders started to get a little bit leggy."
The mental resolve to grind out away wins in Concacaf is always advantageous. But considering the persistent issues on set pieces and crosses, that's an area to watch for Leg 2 on Tuesday, along with ensuring either the midfield or wingbacks are offer additional cover in transition.
