It was a tale of two Whitecaps sides in the first leg of the best-of-three playoff series against LAFC. The one in the first half, which went toe-to-toe with the home side and should have had a goal or two. The other, for much of the second half, which looked tired and out of ideas.

There were some quality performances amid all of this, despite the disappointment that came from a result we’ve seen way too many times before. Some players, however, didn’t look quite up for the playoff task, or flagged after having to play in the midweek.

What does this all mean for the playoff edition of the report card? Read on.

Yohei Takaoka: 5.5

Could have done better on the Cristian Oliveira goal, but the blistering pace of the shot ultimately made things hard on Takaoka. 

Sam Adekugbe: 5

Struggled going forward on the left hand side and his missed pass sprang the first real transition chance LAFC had — the one that led to the penalty. Seemed to tire and faded defensively as well as the second half drew on. Overall, not a great showing for Sam.

Tristan Blackmon: 6

Was more than a little hard done by to concede the handball penalty that put LAFC ahead. Other than that, it was a fine night for Blackmon, flashing forward with a couple of nice runs and doing the basics defensively. 

Ranko Veselinovic: 6.5

Was a pretty typical match for Ranko in this one — comfortable in the air, no major errors, a half chance of his own in the box off a corner kick. The Caps’ defense had some issues in this one, but not from their main man in the middle. His lone glaring fault of the night was getting a tackle wrong 1v1 with Mateusz Bogusz and picking up a yellow.

Mathias Laborda: 5.5

Started off well in keeping Denis Bouanga at bay, but fell off hard in the second half, possibly a sign of tired legs or a nod to the immensity of the task at hand. 

Stuart Armstrong: 7

Picked right up where he left off at Portland by perfectly weighting a through ball to Brian White minutes into the match that should have been an assist. He was really cooking in the first half but, like most everyone else, his influence would wane. Still, was instrumental in pulling the strings.

Andres Cubas: 6.5

A lot is asked of Cubas in these sorts of matches and he largely held his own against Timothy Tillman and Lewis O’Brien. 

Pedro Vite: 7

Looked really lively and as engaged in quick buildup play as we’ve seen this year. His partnership with Armstrong already seems to be growing. Had a great moment tracking back to halt an LAFC counter. Another good performance from Vite and he looks a natural in the latest version of the midfield.

Ali Ahmed: 5

The Caps weren’t able to get him on the ball in the most dangerous parts of the pitch, the places where Ahmed can really work defenders. Accordingly, it was a very quiet night for Ahmed and you wonder if Vanni Sartini should have kept Fafa Picault in the starting XI.

Ryan Gauld: 7

Was lively to start the match, getting on the ball in dangerous areas, before dropping deeper in the rest of the first half and never really working back into an influential role, at least until pulling one back for the Caps in the dying moments of the match.  

Brian White: 5.5

Was unlucky not to score just minutes into the match and did everything right, beating Hugo Lloris — but not the upright. White possibly could have composed himself a bit more before taking that chance. Of bigger concern was that he never really got back on the same page as the Scottish duo. That missed chance? It was his only shot of the night.

Alessandro Schopf: 4.5

Some woefully poor decision making in the one big transition moment Schopf was asked to run, where he couldn’t pull the trigger on where to square the ball. He had a couple of other suspect balls as well.

Sebastian Berhalter: 5.5

Whipped in some crosses, one or two of which were dangerous, but no one was able to do much with them. Otherwise, not much to remark on from Seb.

Fafa Picault: 5.5

I thought Fafa might help give the Caps a bit of a different threat going forward but his introduction came after the match was largely settled. Fafa was able to get on the ball a decent amount, but had a hard time working much for himself off the dribble.

Levonte Johnson, Damir Kreilach: N/A

Both came on as attacking subs to rest some tired legs in the dying stretches of the match. Kreilach helped with some lovely build up for Gauld’s late goal and will deservedly walk away with an assist.