Thursday night at BC Place, the Vancouver Whitecaps advanced to the next round of the Concacaf Champions Cup, after a 2-0 win (3-2 on aggregate) over Costa Rican side Deportivo Saprissa.
It was not a perfect performance for the Whitecaps, especially in comparison to their dream start to the MLS season down in Portland this past weekend, but the win at BC Place was enough to get Vancouver past a tricky Central American opponent, and that’s all that really matters.
Saprissa brought an intriguing initial approach to the match, eschewing their usual bunker and counter strategy, instead opting to hold more of the ball, trying to take Vancouver’s dynamic front three out of the match. With Kendall Waston and Ariel Rodriguez up front, Saprissa had very little pace to lead their line, so it made sense that the visitors would be less dynamic in transition than you would normally expect, and would have to find goals another way.
Those tactics did not last forever, however, as after an initial period where the visitors came out strong, they eventually settled back into a traditional low block, and the Whitecaps started to find some joy on the ball. This was highlighted by Ali Ahmed buzzing down the left wing midway through the first half, finding himself twice on the ball right in front of goal. Unfortunately for the young Canadian, his final touch continued to elude him, as he failed to produce a shot on target despite having two tremendous looks to find the back of the net.
The pace of the match slowed a bit at the end of the first half, and the two sides went to halftime with the match still locked at 0-0, and with Vancouver needing to find a deciding goal.
The Whitecaps got exactly what they needed to start the second half, as Jayden Nelson, who remains red-hot, whipped in a perfect ball right onto the head of Brian White, who made no mistake heading it home. Nelson’s start to the season has been massively impressive, and if he can contribute to the attack in multiple ways, not just with his pace, that can be huge for Vancouver.
After the Whitecaps went up 1-0, the momentum of the match swung pretty consistently back and forth between the two teams from there on out. There were moments where the Whitecaps pushed for a second goal, but equally, there were moments where Saprissa had chances to smash and grab an equalizer and complicate the tie even further.
Ryan Gauld and JC Ngando entered the match in the 60th, and Gauld combined with White several times following the Scot’s introduction, but they could not manage to find a second breakthrough, still leaving the tie in the balance.
Just after the 80th minute, Ranko Veselinovic entered the match to help hold things down at the back, and Saprissa really started to throw everything forward for an equalizer. This culminated with several set piece chances for the visitors, including a Kendall Waston header he clattered off the crossbar, after he was left completely unmarked in the Vancouver area.
Ultimately, the Whitecaps were able to punish Saprissa’s aggressiveness with a second goal late on, when the visitors were not able to clear the ball after a Seb Berhalter free kick effort, and Brian White took care of the rest.
Even with this goal, Saprissa had the chance to push things to penalties if they could secure an away goal at the death, but the Costa Rican side had pretty much run the tank empty at that point. In the end, Vancouver walked away with a 2-0 win, one where the score-line made the match look more convincing than it was in real time.
Overall, I thought the Whitecaps were clearly the far superior side over the 120+ minutes between these two teams, but Saprissa did a great job using their veteran experience and grit to keep things close. Meanwhile, the Whitecaps left the door open for Saprissa, even when they had several opportunities to slam it shut.
To some extent, I think we can chalk this up to growing pains under Sørensen. The structure this team has displayed has been very strong, but there have certainly been some mental mistakes. Those are all part of the adjustment process.
If I had to nitpick, I think that the Whitecaps could have commanded the ball a lot more in the final 25 minutes. Because Saprissa had no pace up front, there was no real danger in passing the ball around and letting the visitors chase, but the Whitecaps at times looked too complacent to defend the lead, or too eager to score the second goal immediately.
By not starting Gauld, Cubas, or Veselinovic, Sørensen has left his group in a pretty strong position for this Sunday’s home opener against the Galaxy, so it will be interesting to see how the Whitecaps line up for that contest.
Now that the Whitecaps have been able to erase their loss down in Costa Rica, it’s hard to find much to fault with the start to their season. Vancouver has an opportunity to take another big step forward on Sunday against the defending champions, LA Galaxy, in the home opener.
Image Credit: Ty James
With no disrespect to Ahmed (who I like personally), he has really, really struggled over the past year with club. Compared to a guy like Jayden who is flying out there, Ali looks unbelievably low on confidence. His teammates continue to find him in dangerous areas, but he overthinks everything. In the kindest way possible, I think Jesper should look to give him a few weeks on the bench to let him mentally reset. At present, I’d rather literally anyone else in the team, even if that means changing the formation.
and Brian white does what he does- comes out of a small dry spell and gets us 2 goals to win the game- whatever his new salary is, White is definitely worth it – even when he isnt scoring (which happens to all strikers), he works his arse off
Ocampo impresses me and i think he will be a golden nugget this year- fast, pacey and a good passer- he will push for more quality time every game – same for Ngando
Salty
The officiating was bad in the 1st half. I was thinking corruption it was so bad. On Ahmed’s 2nd chance he was fouled, his standing foot being clipped/kicked as he tried to shoot. Should have been a penalty.
Yeah calls have been bad so far this year. Both for and against us.
written by Salty
have more to say later on today, bue:
– Jayden nelsen continues to impress- his cross for White’s goal had more spin than a drunk person’s head
– Ali Ahmed frustrates the hell out of me- whatever goes off in his head when he gets quality chances to shoot and score is something for soccer shrinks to look into- unless he solves it, Ali will stay in MLS
– Ngando really impresses with his steadiness, maturity, decisiveness in passing- he wanders the MF with intelligence and connects well with other players- an interesting player that just might push- with the present line-up- into a regular starting/sub role
– Adekugbe is playing with a lot of energy and he is an intelligent player- how long can his legs last ?
– continue to be nervous when our goalie does his short passes – he made 1 blunder that almost cost us a goal
– Priso lacks the pace and skill to be a starter and i am not convinced he is MLS quality- he gives up the ball with poor technique
– I like our new head coach’s game tactics- he brought Gauld and Ngano on at the right time, is pacing his players for a lot of games and is giving bench players opportunities- he responsds to games, unlike Vanni who reacted to games… and there is a massive difference