Two second-half subs fired the Caps to a 2-0 win in San Jose, with strikes from Ali Ahmed and Alessandro Schopf rewarding a well-drilled defensive performance.

The result was the first time the Caps have won in Northern California in six years and while there were still warning signs in Vancouver’s attacking output, it was a clear improvement over the season opener a week earlier.

The Caps rolled with a similar attack and midfield as in their opening match but there were tweaks in defense, re-installing Mathias Laborda at CB and trotting out Luis Martins and Javain Brown at the fullback positions.

As we’ve come to expect in road matches, the Caps were initially happy to absorb some pressure and try and link up quickly to feed the front three on the counter.

But the away side wasn’t very smooth at executing this game plan, much like last week, with the transition play largely breaking down at the edge of San Jose’s defensive third. Good organization ensured San Jose couldn’t try and take advantage of open passing lanes and orchestrate breaks of their own via Jackson Yueill or Carlos Gruezo.

The one positive tactical development was the gradual ramp up of the press in the last 10 minutes of the first half — for the first time, San Jose looked genuinely uncomfortable. There was no real success in generating clear cut chances from this shift, however, and an uninspired first half saw both teams combine for an expected goals output of .15.

San Jose began to find some momentum in the second half, putting the Caps under pressure, forcing them to sit deeper and getting the first real chance of the night, with Amahl Pellegrino skying a free header that would have been his first goal as a Quakes player.

The Caps quickly recovered and were able to execute their best transition of the night on the hour mark, with Ryan Gauld picking the pocket of a San Jose midfielder and launching a 3v3, with the Scotsman perfectly playing in Brian White, who finished well in traffic but Daniel denied him a goal with his fingertips.

This inspired the subs that were much needed: the introduction of Ali Ahmed and Fafa Picault for Martins and Dramir Kreilach. It isn’t an accident that their addition was followed by possibly the longest spell of possession that Vancouver had in the match to that point.

It was a different second half substitute, Alessandro Schopf, who made the instant impact, however. A corner kick was punted out of the mixer but Schopf perfectly connected on a driven shot from outside the box that Daniel could get a touch on but not enough to keep it out of the back of the net, with Vancouver claiming a 1-0 lead.

The Caps would double their advantage thanks to the brilliance of Ahmed, who absolutely tortured Tommy Thompson just moments after he came on, blazing in on goal and curling a beautiful shot. It wasn’t the first time San Jose had trouble with Ali 1v1 and those struggles bit them as they pushed forward to try and get a foothold back in the match.

Stray Thoughts

• It is striking how much better the Caps look with Fafa Picault as a member of the front three and Ali Ahmed at wingback. Before that, the transitions, while featuring some nice work from Ryan Gauld, were predictable and a bit one dimensional. Ahmed and Picault helped unpick the lock by taking men on and Ahmed’s goal was a fitting metaphor for how things got turned on their head. It is a given that Ali will return to the starting lineup but Picault, who helped challenge a hulking and slow San Jose backline, was strong as well. The risk that he could blow by you and run in behind means CBs have to change their approach and it leads to him getting fouled or occupying defenders in a different way than Kreilach.
• The first half was boring and gives me some concern from an attacking perspective. But the defensive organization was brilliant. Yeah, the Quakes aren’t exactly prime Barcelona. But in any other context, giving up a fraction of an expected goal would be a big time cause for celebration. Laborda was a nice addition, Ranko Veselinovic was typically solid and I thought Javain Brown did pretty well also.
• Andres Cubas deserves special mention for helping lock things down in the first half and really disrupting San Jose’s ability to do much of anything.
• This clearly was the Caps’ gameplan. But you still have to wonder about the ability of this starting lineup to execute that gameplan against better teams. Having a physical target man in Kreilach is nice but if he doesn’t have the pace to stretch and challenge CBs, it won’t matter — he and Brian White are too similar in that sense. With no additional attacking reinforcements coming in anytime soon, this will be something for the coaching staff to chew over in the weeks ahead.
• But there is no need to overlook the obvious: This was a good, if boring, result for Vancouver. This type of strategy hinges on being able to take your chances and the Caps did, while San Jose couldn’t — its that simple. Winning on the road isn’t easy and this is a hopeful sign that their tendency to start the season slowly won’t nag at them in 2024.

Man of the Match

Ali Ahmed was the clear game changer and he was showing plenty of warning signs, even before he absolutely smoked Tommy Thompson and scored a fine individual goal. Ryan Gauld, however, shouldn’t be overlooked, even though his fellow attackers weren’t able to take advantage of his output, pinging in plenty of good balls in the second half.