Post Match, Vancouver Whitecaps FC

Post Match: Gauld chops up the Timbers

By Alexandre Gangue-Ruzic and Samuel Rowan

The Vancouver Whitecaps have advanced to the first round of the 2024 MLS Cup playoffs, as they defeated the Portland Timbers 5-0 In the #8 vs #9 Wild Card match at Providence Park on Wednesday night. 

Led by a hat trick from captain Ryan Gauld, and supported by a one-goal, two-assist showing from fellow Scottish Designated Player Stuart Armstrong, the Whitecaps were able to pick up a comfortable result in what most expected to be a tightly-contested game heading into it. 

They got the fun going early, too, as Gauld found the net in the 20th minute after a scramble in the box, before Brian White doubled the lead by slotting home a Mathías Laborda cross in the 24th minute. 

Then, they made it three by the 31st minute, as Armstrong found Gauld with a lovely pass, and then Gauld did the rest with an excellent chip over Portland’s James Pantemis to find his brace. 

From there, it felt like the game was all but over, but the Whitecaps weren’t done scoring, as Fafà Picault fed Stuart Armstrong with a perfect cross towards the back post in the 51st minute, and Armstrong headed home from close range to ice the game at 4-0. 

And just to add the cherry on top of their perfect night, the Whitecaps made it 5-0 in the 59th minute, as Armstrong found Gauld in behind the Timbers defence, and Gauld made no mistake in slotting home for the hat trick, one he fittingly celebrated by shushing the Timbers fans. 

After a rough end to the regular season for the Whitecaps, who lost four straight matches to close out the campaign after clinching a postseason berth, it was a remarkable performance from the ‘Caps, who scored five goals for the first time in 2024. 

Despite dealing with a week of headaches off the field, as they were forced to play this game on the road despite clinching home advantage thanks to a scheduling conflict at BC Place combined with a lack of flexibility in MLS’s schedule, they put that all behind them in a big way to find one of the most memorable victories of their MLS era. 

And what’s wild is that it seemingly came out of nowhere, too. While the Whitecaps will feel they perhaps deserved better out of the four games they recently lost, they’ve struggled to create their luck lately, looking like a shadow of the side that stormed out of the gates this season. 

But with this performance, they showed off what they can do at their best, and why it was a surprise to see them struggle as they have lately – with the pieces they have, there’s no reason why they can’t push to be a top team in the Western Conference. 

Now, after this result, they can still dream of playoff glory. Thanks to the forgiving nature of MLS’s playoff format, they remain in the same position as those who finished ahead of them in the table – with a shot of making a deep run if they can advance through the first round. 

A tough matchup awaits in that next round, as they’ll face the Western Conference leaders, LAFC, in a best-of-three matchup that starts on Sunday – the same LAFC side that eliminated them at this stage last year. At the same time, they’ll look to use their experience of that tie and this victory to get some revenge, and they’ll certainly have a shot at advancing if they keep putting in performances like this. 

On that note, here are three thoughts on this one. 

Ryan Gauld Puts the Whitecaps on his Back Once Again:

Over the course of a long season, there’s no doubting the importance of a team’s stars to success, and the Whitecaps know that well – as Designated Player Ryan Gauld goes, so does this team. 

He’s proven that over the years – he had 4G/5A in 18 regular season games in 2021, 8G/5A in 28 regular season games in 2022, 11G/12A in 32 regular season games in 2023, and 10G/14A in 30 regular season games in 2024. 

There’s a reason the Whitecaps have made the playoffs in three of those four seasons – having a player of that calibre can go a long way toward pushing a team forward. 

Because of that, it’s no coincidence that the Whitecaps’ recent slump coincides with a portion of the season when Gauld’s availability has been the most limited. 

Of the Whitecaps’ last nine MLS games, Gauld has missed four – two due to a nagging knee injury, and the other two due to his inclusion in Scotland’s last two international windows. Then, of the five games he did play, he only started three of them, making cameos off the bench in the other two. 

Because of that, it’s not surprising to see that the Whitecaps had a record of 1W-3D-5L across those nine games, showing how much they missed him. Gauld remained effective in his limited minutes – he scored once and assisted three times – but it felt like he wasn’t at his best, which was a worry heading into the playoffs. 

In this game, however, he was back to his usual standard, and his team fed off it in a big way. 

As usual, Gauld’s impact was felt in several other areas of the pitch. He was a creative force, helping link the Whitecaps attack together, and he was excellent defensively, helping the Whitecaps suffocate the Timbers when playing out of the back and into midfield. 

But then, there was his hat trick, his ‘piece de résistance – he figuratively put his team on the back with those goals, which were much needed for a Whitecaps team that had scored just eight goals in their last 10 games in all competitions. 

And that’s huge. Of course, the Whitecaps will be pleased with his overall effort, as that helped them massively – they were excellent on both sides of the ball, especially defensively, and Gauld certainly played his part in that. 

At the end of the day, though, they’ll trade some of his tackles if it means he scores clutch goals like this in the rest of the playoffs. 

In MLS, the postseason is often a time when teams need their stars to shine brightest, as it can be their quality that can decide what might be otherwise cagey games. 

In the past, the Whitecaps haven’t always had those sorts of top-level stars to rely on in these games, but it feels like in Gauld, they’ve got such a player, and he’s proven that with his regular season performances, which are right up there with the best in MLS. 

But with just one assist in three prior playoff games for the Whitecaps before this year, he was still looking for a breakout showing in the postseason, one where he showed the rest of MLS the sort of quality Whitecaps fans have become accustomed to seeing on a regular basis. 

In this game, he found that breakout, and in a big way. 

Now, the Whitecaps will hope he’s just getting started, as they’ll certainly need more of this against an LAFC team loaded with stars of their own. But in Gauld, they got one who can shine just as bright as them, and that feels like something they’ve never had in their MLS era, and he showed that in this memorable win. – Alex

Adekugbe and Armstrong Arrive at the Best Possible Time:

Over the past two years, both Sam Adekugbe and Stuart Armstrong are players who joined the Vancouver Whitecaps with significant pedigree and expectations behind them. They are players Axel Schuster brought in to help push this team over the top, signing Adekugbe in 2023, and then bringing in Armstrong in 2024. 

For different reasons though, I think it would be fair to say that neither player really hit full stride during the 2024 regular season. 

With Adekugbe, he dealt with lingering fitness issues, and although there have been some good moments, his inconsistent availability has made it difficult for Vanni Sartini to fine-tune his role within the squad. 

Meanwhile for Armstrong, being a late-season addition always meant he was going to be on the back foot this year, with the lack of a pre-season following his 2023-2024 European season only adding to his struggles to get up to pace.

Yet, thankfully for the Whitecaps, both players were able to flip this narrative on its head at the most important time, turning in their best performances in a Whitecaps shirt Wednesday night in Portland.

Looking at Adekugbe, his versatility as both a reliable defender and a calm presence on the ball in possession helped Vancouver win the midfield battle in this match, while also providing very important support for the back three defending Portland’s dangerous attackers. 

Armstrong, perhaps even more impactfully, was able to cover a massive amount of ground from his deeper box-to-box role, playing countless quick passes that helped break Portland’s press and expose space between lines as Vancouver looked to hit the Timbers in transition. His chemistry with Ryan Gauld is also evident, as the two combined brilliantly on two of Vancouver’s five goals.

Beyond their individual contributions, the fact that Vancouver were able to get massive impact showings from players not named Gauld, White, and Cubas is also very significant. 

These two veterans were brought in to take some of the pressure away from that existing core, making the Whitecaps less predictable and far more difficult to play against. While I think we all have understood that vision, this is perhaps the first time we’ve really seen that come to complete fruition on the pitch – and boy, what a great time to have that happen. – Sam

Vanni’s Tactical W

With Vancouver’s late-season slump, Vanni Sartini’s future was perhaps not yet under imminent threat, but his role with the club going forward was certainly a talking point.

Key among these discussions was if Sartini was too stubborn to modify his tactics to suit the players at his disposal, and if Sartini was doing a good job getting the most out of his best players.

While I won’t say that this match erases all those concerns, it was certainly a sample of what prime “Vanni-Ball” looks like with this current Vancouver Whitecaps squad, especially defensively. 

Portland’s attacking threat was obvious, and Sartini used Sam Adekugbe quite effectively to support his three centre backs, allowing Tristan Blackmon and Mathias Laborda to defend aggressively. This fit not only the strengths of those defenders, but also took away time from the likes of Jonathan Rodríguez and Antony, who are at their best when they have time to create with the ball at their feet.

Keen to get Evander on the ball as much as possible, the Timbers tried to build centrally (a questionable call from Neville if I’m honest), but with Vancouver’s diamond four playing very narrow in the middle of the park, there was very little room for Portland to play successful progressive passes. Andres Cubas was an absolute monster at the bottom of that diamond, hounding Evander and not allowing him to occupy the spaces he uses so effectively near the opposition box.

With Vancouver winning the midfield battle, Pedro Vite and Stuart Armstong were able to start running forward in space, stretching Portland’s defensive lines and opening up options for Ryan Gauld, Brian White, and Fafa Picault. Once they did that, Ryan Gauld and Brian White displayed the clinical touch the Whitecaps had been missing over the last month.

All of this goes to say that Vancouver showed the best version of themselves in all three areas of the pitch against Portland. It was a complete picture of what the Whitecaps can look like at their best.

Now, it’s worth noting that Portland did not look very sharp in this match, and it did appear as though the Timbers’ effort level started to fade, especially deeper into the second half, but you can only play the team in front of you.

Overall, I think it’s exciting that we saw a glimpse of what this Whitecaps team is capable of doing under Vanni Sartini. Now, it’s a question as to whether or not they can produce similar results against far more challenging opposition in LAFC. It should be fun! – Sam

This post was done in collaboration with Canadian Soccer Daily, who cover all things Canadian Soccer at https://canadiansoccerdaily.com

7 thoughts on “Post Match: Gauld chops up the Timbers”

  1. Vanni changed the formation and they had major success. Which is great. But it just reinforces that his stubbornness to do so earlier may have cost them all sorts of points over the course of the season, a higher finish in the standings, and a chance to avoid LAFC.

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  2. I had a good feeling about Gauld as he played really well in his matches against Croatia and Portugal. There was a time he was known as the Scottish Messi and last night he lived up to it.

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  3. Any thoughts on Ahmed? Is he still injured/recovering?

    I was a little surprised he didn’t start over Vite given the formation, but then again, Vite’s 2 assists make me eat crow.

    But I was really surprised he didn’t come on as a sub to use his pace to punish the tired and demoralized Timbers. Either for Adekugbe in a like for like, in midfield for Vite or even up top for Fafa. I mean, we played Kreilach, so pairing Ahmed up top would work better than Johnson for pressing, right?

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  4. This was simply the best 90 minutes of football this team has produced in the 9 years I have followed them both at BC place and away. Smart, active, entertaining, and confident. Yes, Portland had a bad night, but the team made them have a bad night. Awesome stuff, especially after the dismal September/October we have had.

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  5. As bad as the defending.was for Portland (and Caps punished in an exclamatory manner), the keeper was a big part of the problem on the second and third goals. On the second, though it was a closer range turn and shot by Blackmon, it was not that pacy and most high level keepers would have smothered that instead of parrying it staight back for a greasy rebound to Gauld. On the second, there is little reason to commit like he did far from the near post on the byline after Laborda’s nifty turn: just hold the position at the near post and trust your defender’s recovery run to pressure the Uruguayan. Instead, he didn’t block the cross and took himself out of the net completely. Take note of the first goal the last time Pantemis was in a big game.

    https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=kUV_jWTuf_c

    The fourth goal was a mishit backpass but you can also make a case that Pantemis was rooted inside his six yard box and not in a pass receiving position during the team’s possession stretch. Perhaps getting lobbed cleverly by Gauld was still living rent free with him.

    Never been a fan of Pantemis. I always thought that he was overrated as CNT material by Montreal/Quebec/Greek Canadian fans and he showed why again.

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  7. we all know that LAFC will be a much different than a shockingly dismal Portland team- the head coach’s decision to attack centrally makes me wonder what Cap videos he has been watching- opponents have successfully attacked us on our flanks- Neville might get the sack

    and we can all lay a bet that LAFC will do that– so Vanni will have to flex his Team or we will pay the price- PROTECT OUR FLANKS should be the mantra this training week

    and playing on the road in Game 1 is a bonus for us- we dont rise to the occasion at home

    it was a crow-eating win- who of us really suspected a huge win and performance like that ?

    it was the best Team performance in a critical game i have seen the Caps play in a long time … maybe the best since being in MLS

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