Eighty Six Forever, Post Match, Vancouver Whitecaps FC

Ryan Gauld brushes aside LAFC, lifts Whitecaps to first road win

The Caps entered Saturday night’s clash with LAFC at BMO Stadium without a road win and their prospects of doing so with a rotated side against one of the top Western Conference teams seemed slim.

So, naturally, Vancouver walked away with a 3-2 victory on the back of an inspired team performance, led by a goal and two assists from Ryan Gauld in his best showing of the season.

Vanni Sartini trotted out a variation of the three-at-the-back formation he was set to use in the midweek. Luis Martins slotted in at centerback. Pedro Vite, Ryan Gauld and Ryan Raposo were wingbacks of sorts, with Brian White and Sergio Cordova formed the strike pair up top.

It took only minutes for the Caps to engineer a goal, coming off a perfectly designed set piece. Ranko Veselinovic did what the hulking Serb does and expertly flicked on a corner past a helpless keeper. The goal came not even two minutes into the match, continuing the time honored tradition of Vancouver scoring early at LAFC.

Both teams traded big chances, with Carlos Vela hitting a wide open chance in the box right at Yohei Takaoka. Immediately after, Cordova found himself 1v1 with John McCarthy but hit his shot on the wrong side of the side netting. It was a brutal miss for the DP, and Vancouver should have been up 2-0.

The Caps looked fluid and the four-man midfield was generally effective in halting LAFC’s breaks and quickly winning the ball back. The home side had blips where they seemed to regain control of the match but Ryan Gauld quickly wrestled it back off a lovely 3v3 break, playing in a looping cross that met the head of White. A backpedaling Ilie Sanchez could do nothing to seal off White.

The Caps often lived on the knife’s edge. There were moments where LAFC had success breaking through the midfield to find space in between the lines, particularly with the fullbacks caught forward. But Vancouver were frequently able to bait LAFC into throwing too far forward and hit back very quickly on the counter on the heels of some great transition work from Pedro Vite, Ryan Gauld and others.

Right before the half, however, LAFC made the Caps pay. Slow build up outside the box left a simple cross that was paried away from a waiting Stipe Biuk but only as far as Denis Bouanga, who made no mistake with a basically empty net to pull one back for the home side.

It was much more one-way traffic in favor of LAFC early in the second half, pinning the Caps deep and not allowing them to break as effectively as they did in the first half. Without the ball, Vancouver looked like a totally different team and were forced to employ some last-ditch defending to keep Bouanga and Vela at bay.

Right when Sartini was thinking of injecting Simon Becher to try and get the attacking juices flowing, Vancouver rekindled the magic of the first half. Vite surged forward but the moment looked to be lost after a poor first touch. Cordova, however, put in a great individual effort to slalom through the LAFC centerbacks but McCarthy saved. Gauld made no mistake, however, going five hole on the keeper to notch a well-deserved goal.

LAFC never say die, however. Luis Martins came a whisker away from conceding a penalty but it was Ranko who slipped a few seconds later to gift the home side a gilded edge breakaway and LAFC don’t miss those often. It was Carlos Vela who tapped in against a helpless Takaoka, with a surprisingly difficult finish from the Mexican cooly finding the back of the net.

That was the last substantive chance for either side, however, as the Caps buckled down and kept LAFC to some lower probability shots from distance and time-wasted the rest of the night away to their first road win of the league campaign.

Stray Thoughts

  • Despite what some fans may think (and past evidence to the contrary), we have to start facing fact: Vanni Sartini knows what he’s doing tactically. I was pretty skeptical of the starting XI that Sartini cobbled together and thought that Luis Martins as a CB was a horrible idea — but it produced one of the best halves of the season to date. The four-man midfield did a pretty good job of winning the ball back quickly and, if they didn’t, dropping back into a well-organized shape. Moreover, this formation was uber effective at quickly transitioning from defense to attack, which really caught LAFC out.
  • Obviously, this type of approach wasn’t quite as effective without the ball and LAFC doesn’t need much time to pin a team back in their own defensive third and make them say uncle. But the break leading to Vancouver’s third goal showed that this is a team with the quality to make a pretty marginal counter attack into something much more dangerous. You also have to think that a team like SKC, who isn’t quite as incisive with the ball, would be a team that is even more vulnerable to some of the benefits of the 3-1-4-2 formation Sartini deployed.
  • He lacks the goal contributions of Ryan Gauld but, man, Pedro Vite is indefatigable and was the engine behind a lot of the most dangerous breaks the Caps were able to conjure.
  • Credit to Sebastian Berhalter for a couple key interventions coming off the bench. Andres Cubas should also not be overlooked as massive, covering the additional space opened up by the new formation brilliantly.
  • Ryan Raposo needs to take fewer dumb bookings because, my God, he nearly gave me a heart attack that he was going to get a second yellow card.

Man of the Match

There were a lot of strong performances up and down the team sheet but there is one clear answer: Ryan Gauld, who recorded his eighth match with multiple goal contributions. In a season where Gauld has been masterful, this was perhaps his best performance yet. When you’re missing key contributors, you need your remaining stars to step up and boy, did Gauld ever do that.

5 thoughts on “Ryan Gauld brushes aside LAFC, lifts Whitecaps to first road win”

  1. Pingback: Coffee with the Caps, Monday June 26 - The Third Sub

  2. Glass city on Twitter summed it up “71% of the Earth’s surface is covered by water, Cubas covers the rest.” Gauld was extraordinary. Cordova does not look like he is enjoying himself – he doesn’t even join the team in celebrating goals. His assist on the last goal was his best moment.

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  3. More Straying thoughts and more inane than the first – LOL:

    1. you are 100% right- head coach, Vanni sartini, is starting- i said starting- to get my previous comments laid to rest and see him as coach who is turning into a quality head coach… but i think that those of us who were very critical of him should get some applause for motivating himself to adapt and evolve (i would like to think that Vanni does read our comments)

    2. Pedro Vite’s game has really improved this season– if he keeps doing this, then the Caps will have to sell him on for a tidy profit- he is becoming a full participant in the game with a lot more focus and committment

    3. MOTM– comes as a 3-some

    – Gauld who led the team with an inspired performance
    – Cubas for his pit-bull performance
    – Vanni for his decision-making that was sublime

    still not a Cordova fan, but he did get 2 assists- but DAMN, this guy doesnt finish chances

    this is a good team that could get better– but a 7 game road trip is coming and that will be tough to stay in the play-off hunt- home wins must be a MUST

    lost supporters should start coming back– the TEAM is entertaining and united

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  4. Fun game to watch. Good win for the caps. It doesn’t say much but that was probably the best effort I’ve seen Cordova put in. He has lost a ton of weight and looks fitter.
    If he can get ever get his finishing in line we might have another option up front.

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  5. Gauld is in full form, Cordova can make things happen but can’t finish to save his life, Cubas is the best DM we’ve ever had (better than Laba IMHO).

    I’m hoping Cordova can score enough to have some transfer value and recoup some of his cost. I feel for the guy cause he is totally snake bitten in front of net. Aside from that his game looks very good but without goals we can’t justify the DP spot.

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