Post Match, Vancouver Whitecaps FC

Post-Game: Late Gignac magic foils positive ‘Caps performance in 1-1 draw vs Tigres

For a second, the Whitecaps had a Concacaf giant on the ropes.

Up 1-0 over Tigres in the second half of their Concacaf Champions Cup tie in Langford on Wednesday, the Whitecaps had every reason to feel that their lead could’ve been even bigger, as well. Despite being up against a team that is currently tied for the Liga MX lead through 5 games of this Clausura season, the Whitecaps had hardly looked like a team playing their first competitive game since early November, apart from a timid first 15 minutes of the match.

Yet, while the Whitecaps were knocking on the door of a second goal, they couldn’t find it, as they had a goal ruled off for offside, and let a few other opportunities go to waste, leaving Tigres still in the game until late.

And there, the ‘Caps learned the hard lesson of this competition – you cannot give a team like Tigres a lifeline, or they will punish you.

Andre-Pierre Gignac reminded them of that in the 88th minute, as after a lacklustre game by his lofty standards as he returned from a small injury, he stepped up to take a dangerous free-kick, stroking it into the top corner to snatch a draw for Tigres.

As a result, the guests now head back to Monterrey with a huge advantage, with Gignac’s marker counting as an away goal, meaning that the ‘Caps need to now score in the second leg to have a chance at advancing.

After it had looked like the ‘Caps were going to head into that game with a multi-goal lead and no away goals on their ledger, that’s heartbreaking, but that’s Concacaf for you.

Despite the result, however, the ‘Caps have a lot to be proud of. Despite playing a top team in mid-season form, they more than competed, doing everything they needed to do to win.

And while that may not be enough for them across this tie, that bodes well for the MLS season that is still to come, one where they’ve got big aspirations as a potential title-winning candidate.

“Yeah, I think we did a very good performance against a very good team, to be honest,” ‘Caps head coach, Vanni Sartini, said afterwards. “We applied everything that we talked about during the week.”

“It’s positive that we’re creating that many openings against such a good team,” Ryan Gauld added. “So we have to we have to take the same belief going down there, and believe that we can go in and get away goals.”

Returning to the game, however, as one would typically expect, Tigres came out strongly, riding the wave of their strong support, as they looked to take the Whitecaps out of the game early.

Because of that, they’d find two good chances early, as Andre-Pierre Gignac flashed a dangerous half-volley wide of the post from just outside of the box in the first minute, before Juan Pablo Vigon nearly connected with a dangerous bicycle kick inside of the box in the third minute, whiffing at his attempt in the end.

At the other end, the Whitecaps finally got a good look at goal in the 17th minute, as Ryan Gauld bullied Gignac off a ball in midfield before setting up Brian White for a clean shooting opportunity, but despite that White instead chose to look for his strike partner in Damir Kreilach, just missing the Croatian with his pass.

Looking to make amends for his error hat created that counter-attack, Gignac nearly responded in the 20th minute, as he fired a dangerous shot from distance after capitalizing on a Whitecaps turnover, forcing a strong save out of Yohei Takaoka with his dipping attempt.

Photo Credit: Keveren Guillou

Then, continuing to push for an opener, Tigres once again caught Vancouver in possession in the 26th minute, as Rafael Carioca dispossesed Alessandro Schopf in a dangerous area before firing a powerful low shot, but Takaoka would stand strong to that attempt, as well.

Despite the hot Tigres start, however, the ‘Caps would slowly grow into the game as the half wore on. As a result, they had their best chance of the game in the 27th minute, as White teed up a wide-open Gauld, returning the favour for his teammates earlier through ball, but Gauld sent a trivela attempt just over the crossbar.

Yet, off the back of that pressure, they’d be able to finally find their opener.

After a dangerous probing long ball from Gauld towards White, the ‘Caps striker would do well to jump up and flick the ball towards the box, where it met a running Kreilach in stride, and from there all he’d have to do was slot the ball into the bottom corner for his first goal as a Whitecap, giving his new team a crucial lead in this game.

But even if they were able to grab the lead, it felt like this game was far from over, as it’s hard to keep a team like Tigres quiet for long. They’d quickly remind the ‘Caps of that, too, as Ozziel Herrera had an excellent chance to equalize on a dangerous cross to the back post, nearly finding the back of the net with a perfect half volley, one that was just kept out by the strong hands of Takaoka.

From there, however, the Whitecaps managed to otherwise keep Tigres quiet for the rest of the half, entering the break with their lead still intact.

And there, they had a lot to be pleased with how they were able to pull that off. After a slow start, the Whitecaps arguably had the more dangerous opportunities through 45 minutes, having more than held their own.

Of course, a big challenge still loomed – surviving the second half, which is easier said than done for a team playing its first competitive game of the year, but that task is always easier with a lead intact, which can often make tired legs feel lighter than usual.

But while the ‘Caps got set to defend a one-goal lead over the next 45 minutes, they also knew that it’d only help their cause if they were to turn that into a two-goal deficit.

To their credit, they’d almost found a way to do that early in the half, too, as Brian White slotted home a rebound after a flurry of Whitecaps attempts, but after a lengthy review, the goal would be ruled out for offside.

Unfortunately for the Whitecaps, that disallowed goal would be a double whammy of sorts for them, too – not only did it deny them of momentum, but it seemed to give new life to a lethargic Tigres side.

Because of that, after a pair of half-chances from both teams, Tigres had two of their best chances of the game in quick succession, as Luis Quiñones curled a dangerous shot just wide from the edge of the box in the 62nd, before Carioca flashed a thunderous power shot just wide of the goal from a similar position minutes afterwards.

After surviving that spell, however, the Whitecaps showed that they still had some fight in their legs in the 73rd minute. There, Gauld and Fafà Picault were able to win a ball in a dangerous position, creating a dangerous 3v2, one that finished with Pedro Vite curling a dangerous shot just wide of the post from outside of the box.

Eager to rescue something from this game, Tigres continued to push, and had a nice look on a counter-attack in the 83rd minute, with Herrera flashing a dangerous shot from a tight angle, forcing a strong save from Takaoka.

Unfortunately for the Whitecaps, the Tigres pressure would eventually pay off in the 88th minute. After winning a free kick in a dangerous area, Gignac stepped up to take the set-piece, and he just guided the ball into the top corner with curl, tying things up at 1.

Eager to leave with more than a draw, Tigres nearly grabbed a winner in stoppage time, too, as Juan Brunetta had a good look from the edge of the box on a counter attack, but he’d send his shot right at Takaoka.

From there, however, the game would end without much further action from both teams, leaving them to head into Mexico with the tie locked up at 1-1, with Tigres holding the advantage on away goals.

“I think we executed the game plan well, I think we stuck to the principles and had a good performance,” White said. “Obviously, we would have liked to come out with a couple more goals, but I feel confident going to Mexico next week knowing that we could come away with a result.”

Other thoughts:

  • Pedro Vite had an excellent game on both sides of the ball in midfield. Despite being paired with Alessandro Schopf, who seemed to struggle with the pace of the game at times, Vite was a tempo-setter on the ball, helping his team play through Tigres’s pressure on more than a few occasions. And, as a bonus, he continues to show a lot of growth on the defensive side of his game – his tackle from late in the first half is a prime example of that, as it’s hard to imagine him making a challenge like that when he first arrived in Vancouver.
  • The front three of Damir Kreilach, Brian White and Ryan Gauld showed a lot of promise in their first competitive match together. They might not be the most vertical frontline, but their chemistry and understanding of each others movement was a big plus. Of course, Gauld and White’s offensive ability and partnership is well advertisted, but it is encouraging to see how Kreilach has already found a way to fit into that.
  • For a team that struggled at times defensively last year, this performance was positive to see from the ‘Caps. The structure in which the Whitecaps defended was key, in particular, as they made it very tough for Tigres to break them down in possession. Given Tigres’s success at generating offence through that avenue, that’s key, and contributed to a lot of the ‘Caps success, especially in terms of what they were then able to generate on counter-attacks that they crafted off of Tigres errors in possession.
  • Speaking of counter-attacks, this game may have seen one of the best pressing that the Whitecaps have had in a game. They made life very tough for Tigres every time that they turned their backs or got pushed out wide, pressing very aggressively in those situations. For a team that has long said that they’ve wanted to apply pressure on teams high up the pitch, but have sometimes struggled to put that into practice, that was positive to see, as they were able to make Tigres look very uncomfortable on the ball.
  • Ryan Raposo continues to step up in big games. He was very active on both sides of the ball, creating some dangerous opportunities offensively while doing his job defensively, showing that he can more than soften the blow of losing a Richie Laryea.
  • A player of the game shout has to be given to Mathías Laborda, who may have played one of his best games in a Whitecaps shirt. Not only did he rarely get beat down the right side, where he was playing on the outside of the Whitecaps back three, but he brought a lot of snarl to duels, and was calm in possession. In a game like this one, it was a huge positive for the Whitecaps defence, as he helped put out a few dangerous fires. After an up-and-down first season in Vancouver last year, the ‘Caps are going to need him to be big this year, and this was a good first step in that regard.
  • It feels like this second leg in Monterrey could be a huge test for this Whitecaps team. They’ve proven they can go head-to-head with top teams in games, but doing so in a venue like El Volcan would be a big step forward, further solidifying their credentials as a team. Win or lose, proving that they could compete in this game could be huge for the rest of the season.

3 thoughts on “Post-Game: Late Gignac magic foils positive ‘Caps performance in 1-1 draw vs Tigres”

  1. I largely agree with AGR and saltyBugR3. I predicted a 4-0 blowout so I’m pretty satisfied. I am very keen to see this team once they start to gel and even more keen to see how they perform once they get their final DP in the summer.

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  2. The Caps had a pretty good game. Lots of positives. I think the narrow pitch helped Laborda and Raposo on the right and Martens and Blackmon on the left with much less ground to cover. This narrow pitch also helped the Caps higher press. Whether on the ground or in the air Blackmon and Laborda made a good number of quality balls up to the front three. It’ll be interesting to see how the Caps play on the wider pitch

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  3. if only Berhalter hadnt have made an unnecessary contact and giving Gignac a set piece whistler of a goal– the Mexican player was locked in, going nowhere until Seba did his messy tackle

    POTM- PEDRO VITE– he was terrific in MF ; and Laborda played a significant game with his toughness – 2 maturing players ; and i do prefer raposo over lareya who tends to slow down the Caps counter-attacks

    high crosses into our box area is like holding your breath and gasping

    this is a game that i expected the Caps to loose significantly, but its nice to be wrong, isnt it ?? shame it wasnt at BC Place Stadium

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