Death, taxes and Andre-Pierre Gignac scoring against the Caps. Even a very good performance for 87 minutes couldn’t erase those essential truths, but Caps fans will have plenty of positive takeaways to draw from their 1-1 draw against Tigres in the first leg of their CONCACAF Champions Cup tie. How did the new arrivals fare? Who could make an impact once MLS play starts up? The report card has all the answers.

Yohei Takaoka: 7.5

Had a couple of big saves in the first half, really keeping Vancouver in it when they were struggling to cope with waves of Tigres’ attack. Was generally quite confident on set pieces but was caught cheating a hair on Gignac’s wonder strike.

Ryan Raposo: 6.5

Really grew into the game and was a pest in the second half, forcing turnovers in dangerous areas and starting to get on the end of more crosses. He was aggressive going in on tackles, for better or worse, and was adequate defensively. A tidy match for Raposo.

Mathias Laborda: 7

Thought Laborda battled hard, particularly in the second half, communicating well with the backline and reading the game well. Can’t ask for too much more than that.

Ranko Veselinovic: 7

A rock, as usual, helping to blunt Tigres’ chances when they held the bulk of possession but were limited to long range shots and crosses into the box, which the backline handled pretty well.

Tristan Blackmon: 7

Was actually one of the main creative outlets early as the Caps were mainly playing out of the back and looked solid, both in passing and in his defensive duties. 

Luis Martins: 5.5

Seemed overmatched physically and lacked any confidence carrying the ball forward, with a couple unseemly turnovers in dangerous areas to boot. This performance won’t make Sam Adekugbe sweat much about losing his starting role.

Alessandro Schopf: 4.5

Offered nothing as a holding midfielder in terms of defensive output and ball retrieval, looked somewhat more effective when he drifted forward, winning second balls and trying to put crosses into the box. The bigger concern is his inability to translate transition chances into actual goalscoring opportunities — a key requirement for a midfielder in this system. 

Overall, I’m not sure why Schopf is still getting looks when you have J.C. Ngando and Seb Berhalter on the bench and this match was pretty much exhibit A of that.

Pedro Vite: 6.5

His creativity, especially from deeper lying areas, was very good but his lack of physicality in midfield hurt him against a more domineering opposition. Still, this is a somewhat new role for Vite as a deeper lying playmaker and I like it, as he dropped almost into the backline to pick up the ball and carry it forward. 

Ryan Gauld: 8

Is still elite at pressing and turning ball recoveries into counter attacks — and because it is Gauld, you know those counters are going to be well orchestrated. Was one of the few players who looked up for the battle with a more physical Tigres side and looks to be in mid-season form already.

Damir Kreilach: 7.5

I thought Kreilach would need a match (at least) to settle in but he had other plans, going from “well, he’s getting in promising positions but doesn’t have the chemistry with Gauld and White yet” to scoring his debut goal quickly. He didn’t quite keep up that level the rest of the game but you can see what the vision is here and I am confident Kreilach can execute it, assuming he can say healthy. I feel better about this signing after tonight.

Brian White: 7

No one relishes a route one goal like Brian White, even if he is assisting it. And while his goal was chalked off, it was a reminder that no one gets into promising goal scoring positions — even if it involves a scrappy finish — like Brian White. You have to think he would like another shot at a couple of the chances created in the second half, though.

Sebastian Berhalter: 5.5

Was the offending party to concede the equalizing free kick, though I’m not convinced at all that it was a foul.

Fafa Picault: 7

Looked like a better version of Junior Hoilett and was uber effective in the press for a 10-15 minute window after coming on. Another guy where you can see the vision in terms of his contributions to this team.

J.C. Ngando: N/A

Looked aggressive taking guys on and had more of a midfield presence. Those same things also led to a turnover or too. I rate Ngando and would like to see him more but this isn’t much of a sample size to base anything off of.

Javain Brown: N/A

Came on to close the game out but, well, Gignac had other plans.