Saturday night in front of a record crowd at BC Place, the Vancouver Whitecaps played out a 0-0 draw with visiting Austin FC.

After two matches in a row where Austin parked the bus against strong opposition and looked to capitalize on the few opportunities that were presented to them, the way this match played out could largely have been expected. Even still, the degree to which Austin looked uninterested in doing anything other than playing for a scoreless draw, especially in the second half, was jarring. Ultimately, Vancouver’s challenges breaking down a low block continued, and while there were a couple of decisions that went against them, you can’t be relying on those moments to earn you three points, especially at home.

I’m going to keep this report card reasonably brief, as the Whitecaps have a quick turnaround this week, playing on Tuesday night in Calgary against Cavalry FC.

Ok, on to the grades we go:

Yohei Takaoka – 6.5

The Japanese keeper only had to make one save in this match when Driussi struck from a tight angle. It sounds like Boehmer will start midweek in the cup, so it will be interesting to see how the young Canadian looks.

Bjorn Inge Utvik – 7.0

The Norwegian has had a strong start to his Whitecaps career. He’s been no-nonsense at the back and sharp with the ball at his feet. It was good to see him getting involved on set pieces as well.

Ranko Veselinovic – 7.0

The Whitecaps defensive line had little to do, but they also deserve credit for cutting out transition moments before Austin even had the chance to make them dangerous. I wonder if Ranko will play on Tuesday night.

Tristan Blackmon – 7.5

The same solid defensive showing as the rest of the backline, but Blackmon was also a real value in possession. He was 7 for 9 on his long balls and added a key pass.

Andres Cubas – 7.5

It felt like it took the Paraguayan a bit to warm up, but he was dominant in the second half as Austin could never get anything past him. he won 3 of his 4 duels, completed 6 of his 8 long balls, and had 3 tackles.

Alessandro Schopf – 6.5

Given how much Vancouver had the ball in this match, it probably would have made more sense to have Pedro Vite in the midfield. It’s not like Schopf was poor, but with Vancouver having so much time around the edge of Austin’s box in possession, it didn’t play to the Austrian’s strengths.

Sam Adekugbe – 6.5

First of all, gutted for Sam to see him go down with injury, wishing him well. It’s tough not only because the Whitecaps lose an important player, but also because it still looked like Vanni Sartini was in the process of working out how to best use the Canadian International in Vancouver’s system. This was the first time both Sam and Ali started together in their preferred positions.

Ali Ahmed – 7.0

If you look at all the counting stats, Ali was great. He won a staggering 8 ground duels, completed 3 of 4 dribbles, 3 of 3 long balls, and had a key pass. The problem at the moment is that Ali is struggling to turn all of this positive play into goal contributions. Ali has been asked to do a lot of different things tactically, so maybe if he can find a rhythm at one spot it will help him. Nonetheless, with White and Gauld to target up front, the Whitecaps are going to need Ahmed to translate his good play into goals and assists more often.

Fafa Picault – 8.0

Picault has been a great addition for Vancouver. They needed a player who can threaten 1v1 but also has the skill set to combine with other attackers, and Fafa has fit that perfectly. He was unlucky to be at the wrong end of two tight officiating decisions.

Ryan Gauld – 8.0

The Scotsman had 4 key passes and was the hub of Vancouver’s chance creation, even though it did not lead to any final product at the end of the day. Perhaps Vancouver’s best chance (that was not affected by an officiating decision) was when Gauld lined up a shot at the edge of the box which only just grazed past the top left-hand corner of the goal. As he lined up that shot in the stadium, I thought for sure it was headed for the back of the net.

Brian White – 7.0

It’s always a bit of a tough day when you’re the frontman and the match ends 0-0 at home. That said, White was tremendous as a facilitator in this match with 4 key passes. I really like the combination of Picault and White up front as options for Gauld.

Substitutes

Ryan Raposo (8.0) was very good coming off the bench replacing Adekugbe. This was a dream match for Raposo in the sense that he had a ton of time on the ball in the final third and was not asked to do too much work on the defensive side. For all he’s not, Raposo has been very good this season creating scoring chances, many of those ending up in the back of the net. Unfortunately, they did not against Austin. Pedro Vite (7.0) as mentioned earlier, he was a better fit in the midfield given how much Vancouver was lurking at the edge of the Austin area. I’d like to see Pedro get back to shooting a bit more often, as he did last season, because he certainly has that quality in the locker. I like Levonte Johnson (6.5) but he needs to make more of an impact in these 10-minute cameos if he wants an extended run. We’ll see how much he plays on Tuesday.

Ok, that’s all from me. What did you think about the match on Saturday and what are your expectations for the midweek matchup?

Let me know in the comments!