The Vancouver Whitecaps snapped their winless streak on Wednesday, with a Ryan Gauld brace powering them to a 2-1 win over Sporting Kansas City.

SKC have struggled as of late and the Caps took full advantage, dominating much of the match and only conceding a late consolation goal to the home side, controlling much of the possession and creating lots of pressure on the KC backline.

Another midweek match means changes to the midfield and backline from the side that lost to Inter Miami over the weekend. Bjorn Utvik and Javain Brown rotated into the lineup, as did Sebastian Berhalter, Luis Martins and Ryan Raposo. It was a return to the 3-1-4-2 formation that Vanni Sartini used last season.

There were a couple of sweaty moments early, with SKC hitting on the counter to find players in space. But for a poorly struck shot from Jake Davis, a save from Yohei Takaoka and a brilliant recovery tackle from Sebastian Berhalter, the home side could have easily found themselves 1-0 up within minutes.

For the first 20 minutes or so, Kansas City continued to have the bulk of the possession and chances, with the Caps trying to find space through the wings or by moving the line of engagement higher up the pitch and activating the press.

It was a long throw that finally broke SKC’s resolve, however, with balls into the box continuing to trouble the home side. Brown’s throw was flicked on to a wide open Ryan Gauld, who say his first shot blocked but fortunately had the deflection fall to his feet, allowing him to take a quick dribble and finish past John Pulskamp to give the Caps a 1-0 lead, their first advantage in over a month of MLS play.

The goal was deserved. Despite conceding a couple of solid chances early, the Caps slowly revved up the intensity and began to grow into the match, winning the ball in better and better spots.

Vancouver started the second half with a similarly high level of energy and pressure, winning tackles and second balls left and right and putting Kansas City under a lot of pressure with more possession, even though they weren’t able to turn it into a second goal. The trajectory of the match forced Peter Vermes to bring on his higher level attacking pieces to try and turn the tide.

One concern to keep an eye on came at the hour mark, when Brian White was caught on a nasty follow through of a firm challenge and required treatment. He re-entered the match but exited about 10 minutes later in favor of Fafa Picault.

The pressure the Caps brought was truly impressive and a throwback to the start of the season, closing down passing lanes and causing Kansas City all kinds of problems. SKC finally caved in a way that was impossible for Vancouver not to score, with Tim Leibold playing a back pass to no one, which was coolly collected by Ryan Gauld, who didn’t make any mistake 1v1 to grab his second goal of the night.

Sporting Kansas City made things interesting in added time, with Khiry Shelton going on a nice run past the Caps backline and Yohei Takaoka was unable to grab his cross or the resulting shot from Marinos Tzionis to pull one back. They never threatened in getting the tying goal, however, and the Caps saw things out to break their winless streak.

Stray thoughts

• I’m going to try and refrain from making any sweeping judgements on the tactical tweaks from Vanni Sartini here because, well, Sporting Kansas City are down pretty bad right now. But the three man midfield just added an element of control that had been missing in recent matches and helped shield the backline a bit. It also let Ryan Gauld shift more centrally and do what he does best: creating pressure, scooping up the ball and immediately moving it forward in concert with the wingbacks.
• The biggest difference maker tonight, however, was the Caps hoovering up second balls, which they have struggled with in recent matches. That third midfielder helps but in general this was a team with more intensity and more desire than we’ve seen recently — a refreshing change. Winning those types of balls helps them spur on the types of attacks that we saw regularly earlier in the year, something that just isn’t possible when they’re pinned back or losing the ball regularly in midfield.
• Sebastian Berhalter had one of the best last ditch tackles I’ve seen all season to snuff out a 1v1 that would have been a likely goal, just three minutes into the match. I thought Seb was largely quite good and showed enough to merit a place in a three-man midfield going forward, if Vanni Sartini keeps the formation going.
• The backline deserves lots of credit as well for being imposing and well-drilled, a return to where they were at the start of the season. Vanni will be frustrated to lose the clean sheet but this was clear improvement and I think Javain Brown is returning to his past levels, while Bjorn Utvik continues to look like a really solid option.
• What more can you say about Ryan Gauld? While Brian White endures a rough patch, the Scot continues to lead by example and carry the team on his back. He was played more centrally and it was exactly what the doctor ordered.

Three stars of the match

3. Javain Brown/Bjorn Utvik

I thought Brown was the best of the solid backline and he has really showed signs of improvement lately. Utvik did enough against an imposing Alenis Vargas and continues to be impressive with the ball at his feet. And both guys didn’t blink when the better attacking players subbed on. No shade to Ranko Veselinovic either but I thought Utvik and Brown put in a good showing as depth pieces.

2.  Andres Cubas

Six tackles underscored Cubas’ importance to frustrating SKC in the center of the park and force some poor passes and touches that helped Vancouver win the ball closer to midfield. And when Vancouver needed him to track back even further, Cubas obliged and helped snuff out danger.

1. Ryan Gauld

Duh. Gauld deserved both goals, despite some SKC errors, putting himself in the right place and seeing it pay off. He did this constantly all night and led a pressure campaign that was superb and which helped Vancouver dominate the second half. A vintage Gauld-ian performance.