It was both nervy and entertaining, but the Vancouver Whitecaps managed to get past Deportivo Saprissa over the course of two legs in Concacaf play, thanks to a 2-0 home win at BC Place on Thursday night. Let’s have a look at the individual performances from the match:

Yohei Takaoka: 4.0

A weirdly anxious game for Takaoka. Saprissa only had one shot on target, which gently bounced into his arms, but there were a couple of near disastrous giveaways. He didn’t look very confident on the ball which is unusual for him.

Mathias Laborda: 5.0

This was not the sort of game that Mathias Laborda thrives in as all of the play was in Saprissa’s half most of the time. I don’t recall him getting into trouble defensively very much but his lack of dynamism in attack limited his contribution.

Bjorn Utvik: 7.0

This game was all about management for the centre-backs. I though Utvik did a good job of not giving Saprissa any scraps to jump on while he was on the pitch. There was also clearly some buy in on the new possession based system as he did well to hold the ball under some pressure a few times.

Tristan Blackmon: 7.5

I also thought Blackmon did very well managing the game. His ability on the ball was particularly helpful with so much possession. He did about as good a job in the physical battles with Kendall Waston as can reasonably be expected.

Sam Adekugbe: 7.0

Adekugbe was very effective overlapping on the left hand side. He was also quite strong in the build up phase.

Ralph Priso: 4.0

To me Priso always looks incredibly nervous. He seems petrified of playing the ball forward and making a mistake. In a game like this where moving the ball quickly to break down Saprissa was important, Priso just was not very a good fit. He did win a header against Kendall Waston though so I give him props for that.

Sebastian Berhalter: 6.5

Berhalter was basically fine without necessarily distinguishing himself. His free kick was obviously key to the second goal. There were some tackles, there were some progressive passes, pretty standard Berhalter game.

Pedro Vite: 8.0

Vite is still really humming as the most attacking #8. This role seems to maximize his ability to influence the build up and to make a difference in the final 3rd.

Jayden Nelson: 7.0

His assist on the first goal was a special play. He also had some good contributions on the defensive side of things with his pace. However, that assist was his only shot contribution and I think we saw some of the inefficiency in his game.

Ali Ahmed: 8.0

I am on the record as not believing Ali Ahmed can work in a front three. This game didn’t convince me I was wrong but I became more open to the possibility. Sure, the outcomes were not there, but if he gets four shots in the box every game then he is going to score some goals eventually.

Brian White: 9.0

2 goals, 4 shots, all of the little things you expect from Brian White. Not a lot more you can ask for.

Substitutes: 6.5

Overall, Gauld and Ngando gave the team a needed boost when they came on. Ocampo, Cubas, and Ranko were mostly charged with locking things down, so did not see a lot from them.