Welcome back to the Canadian MLS Roundup for week ten, as we take a look across the three Canadian MLS teams, assessing their form and any relevant story-lines from the week.
Vancouver vs. Minnesota (3-1)
This was a battle of two strong teams with great defensive records and a string of good games behind them. Some solid football was guaranteed to ensue, with particular questions being the heavy rotation of the Vancouver squad that saw Pedro Vite, Tristan Blackmon, Sebastian Berhalter, and Brian White all not starting, but giving a chance to Jayden Nelson and Jean-Claude Ngando to show their skills.
The first half was a tough affair as Minnesota played fast, pressing football while maintaining a very strong defensive line that the Whitecaps found difficult to either penetrate or outflank, earning no shots on goal in the entire half, though handling the Minnesota offence confidently with Sørensen’s defensive tactics well on display, as the team effortlessly slid into place to defend as a block. The half ended with Vancouver holding a slight edge on possession but having had to put in some effort to fend off Minnesota.
Halftime saw Tate Johnson and Seb Berhalter come on, and the tone changed quickly, as an attack-confident Vancouver began a heavy push that rarely seemed to subside. Nelson in particular did stellar work fighting up the left flank repeatedly, and at 54 minutes Berhalter, fired a shot straight through the Minnesota defence bringing the score to 1-0 (after a lengthy VAR check).
Minnesota increasingly fell back on their defence, but with Vite and Ahmed coming on at 63 minutes, there was too much firepower to contain, and Vite scored in quick succession at 65 and 69 minutes, aided by Ngando and Ahmed helping set up the shots.
Minnesota was able to save their honour some as Trapp scored to bring the score to 3-1, which is where things ended. It also ended an 8 game run for Minnesota with no defeats.
Montreal vs. NY Red Bulls (0-1)
Long suffering CF Montreal travelled to New York this past weekend to try and get their first win of the season.
The match seemed to open well, with Montreal playing energetically, but Red Bulls’ sharper possession play was telling, and by the middle of the first half, Montreal was mostly playing within their own half, trying to contain attacks with the occasional foray forward.
Montreal’s defence may not be in the top of the conference, but it is able to hold its own often enough, and that was the case here. However, without offensive effort, nothing was going to come of it and it felt like Montreal had a difficult time getting serious control of the ball to build up play.
Halftime would lead to a much stronger performance, as the team got into the match more and were able to exert themselves better. While they never gained the majority of possession, it felt like Montreal were far more a partner in the game, though it certainly helped that goalkeeper Sebastian Breza showed up to work with a couple of solid saves.
Unfortunately at 67 minutes, a clearance from Tom Pearce gave NYRB a corner kick, allowing Noah Eile to head it in. Despite considerable effort in the final quarter of the game from Montreal, New York held steady.
It is perhaps easy to get despondent over another miss for Montreal, though the stats show a game that was fairly close, all things considered. Montreal had 5 shots on target, only 1 less than New York and passing accuracy was comparable by the end of the game. There is material here to work with, but it still has not come together.
Toronto vs. NYCFC (0-1)
Going into this match, I had predicted that a strong defensive performance would see Toronto through this match. That turned out to only be partially true. Both teams approached the match with a fairly measured pace and with a focus on contesting the midfield while being rather cautious in the attack.
I’ve said before that Toronto seems to be emphasizing the defensive backline in order to shore up their position: After all, the first step to winning is not losing. This has generally proven effective, and Toronto was able to largely negate the New York’s offensive efforts. However, it often requires Federico Bernadeschi to drop back in order to assist with defending, and the tendency has been to rely on lucky breaks and rushes to get a scoring opportunity.
This is a risky tactic as it leaves the attacks easier to contain, and NYCFC did a decent job blocking Bernadeschi near the goal, by having a defender interpose themselves rather than try to take the ball from him. The support would often arrive a moment too late to be able to effect any chances. The result was that despite 10+ shots, only one was considered on target.
A 0-0 draw would have been unexciting, but at least be a point. However, a foul in the Toronto penalty box awarded a penalty kick for NYCFC, and Alonso Martinez scored the only goal of the match from the spot. I rarely mention referee decisions as they are outside anyone’s control, but it did feel bitter that the penalty was awarded minutes after a similar foul was not called at the other end of the pitch.
Neither team was able to produce anything from open play, leaving NY to claim all three points from this affair.
For the Whitecaps, they are now a full 7 points ahead of the nearest competition in the Conference, and are still the only team with one loss in the West. The Supporters Shield is a much closer affair, with Cincinnati and Columbus 1 and 2 points behind respectively.
Vancouver will have a busy schedule, visiting Miami for the second leg of the CONCACAF Champions Cup Semifinal. From there, it is back home to play Salt Lake. Salt Lake has had a mediocre season, winning 4 and losing 6. They have the 5th lowest goals scored in the Conference, which suggests they will have a difficult time against the Vancouver tactics.
Toronto remains at 7 points. Their next MLS matchup is New England, who has one of the sturdiest defences in the league, with only 7 goals conceded, but also only 7 goals scored. With a home game, this may be an opportunity for Toronto, if they can find an outlet for some offensive movement. If the plan is to rely on Bernadeschi alone again, I am less hopeful.
Montreal’s fortunes do not seem much improved, remaining at 3 points with 4 goals scored across 10 games. To make matters worse they will be playing Philadelphia, the third best team in their Conference, and with the highest goal differential in the Conference as well. The saving grace is that it is at home for Montreal
Of course, I would be remiss in failing to mention that Toronto and Montreal will also battle in the preliminary round of the Canadian Championship. The outcome here will not affect MLS, but a tidy win could give either team a solid morale boost needed to go into week eleven.
(Image: Canadian Press)