After some midweek madness in Miami (okay, Fort Lauderdale), the Whitecaps showed no signs of any residual fatigue a few days later, as they continued a dominant start to their MLS season with a 2-1 victory over Real Salt Lake at BC Place on Saturday. 

Despite dealing with a potential trap game given the travel they had to endure after the emotions of midweek, which saw them book their first-ever trip to the Concacaf Champions Cup final, they quickly put that behind them in another solid performance. 

They were made to work a lot harder than the final scoreline indicated, as RSL put up a strong account of themselves despite themselves being off to a middling start to their campaign. Yet, as the Whitecaps proved over the last few months, this team is a force to be reckoned with even when not at their best, as they improved to 8W-2D-1L on the year in MLS play with this win, which keeps them atop the Supporters Shield standings with 26 points. 

That strong play continued right out of the gates in this game, as they did well to find early energy despite their midweek travels. 

Granted, their early buzz came from one of their rested players, Jayden Nelson, who played just 17 minutes against Miami on Wednesday. 

Armed with fresh legs, he immediately got to work torching RSL’s right side, and he was quite successful in his exploits. 

It should’ve been a sign when he flew through the defence, creating a 3v1, one that the Whitecaps squandered as Édier Ocampo was denied after taking too long to shoot after Nelson’s pass. 

That miss didn’t prove too costly, however – in fact, it encouraged Nelson to go into “fine, I’ll do it myself” mode in the 20th minute. Having picked up the ball just inside RSL’s half, he went on a fantastic solo run, weaving his way into the box before slotting a shot into the bottom corner to put his team up 1-0. 

GET IN!!! Jayden Nelson’s second of the season! 😮‍💨

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— Vancouver Whitecaps FC (@WhitecapsFC) May 4, 2025

With the lead in their pocket, it seemed inevitable the Whitecaps would add another, as they continued to generate chances at a significant rate for the rest of the first half. At the same time, almost uncharacteristically, they also leaked a few, as they struggled to deal with some RSL back-post crosses late in the first half. 

The stats at half time told the story, however – the Whitecaps outshot RSL 13-5, had 1.58 xG to RSL’s 0.44, and held 58% of possession, as they were otherwise in complete control of the match, with the only thing missing being another goal to put some breathing room between them and their guests. 

Because of that, it was not surprising to see the Whitecaps start to bring down the hammer, as they wanted to secure a confident victory. 

It took some time for that second goal to come – the Whitecaps even had a penalty saved as Rafael Cabral denied Daniel Ríos from the spot in the 68th minute – but that breakthrough eventually came in the 70th minute. 

Fittingly, it came from a surprise source, as an in-form Sebastian Berhalter, who had just come off the bench, teed up centre back Tristan Blackmon with a cutback, one that Blackmon powered home for his third (!!) of the season (which has him fourth in the team in all competitions, by the way). 

TRISTAN BRINGS THE SAUCE! 🔥

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— Vancouver Whitecaps FC (@WhitecapsFC) May 4, 2025

From there, it seemed like the Whitecaps were in the clear, and the last 20 minutes reflected that, as both teams lost rhythm after the goal, with the Whitecaps squandering several opportunities to go up 3-0. 

That made for a nervier than expected finish, especially when RSL’s Diego Luna cut the deficit to 2-1 in the 96th minute after a penalty, but despite that late scare, the Whitecaps suffocated the life out of the game in the last few minutes to secure the result. 

In a sense, however, despite what was overall a decently flawed performance, this is a good example of what’s made the 2025 Whitecaps so elite. On a day where they weren’t at their best, they were rarely in true danger of losing, and the numbers reflect the sterile nature of their domination – they outshot RSL 23-11, had 2.03 non-penalty xG to RSL’s 0.76, and held 55% of possession. 

Really, the lone frustration the Whitecaps can carry with them from this result is their finishing, as they missed three big chances, but given that they were without Brian White, who would’ve certainly had one or two today had he been available, they won’t mind that. That they still scored two goals shows that. 

Ultimately, as this team has shown, their floor is incredibly high – thanks to their style of play, they can dominate games where they’re not at their best, as they do an incredibly good job of controlling both sides of the ball. 

Thanks to that, they continue to rack up the wins, adding the latest to their collection on Saturday night. 

Extra thoughts:

• The Whitecaps do such a good job of crashing the box with numbers, as they did on the second goal. Given that they’ve scored so many goals this year, that’s been lost in the shuffle, but it’s been a huge reason for their offensive success. When they get the ball out wide, they crash the box with almost reckless abandon, and that has led to several goals off crosses and low cutbacks. In particular, their midfielders are profiting from that formula – Pedro Vite and Sebastian Berhalter have started to become quite proficient at getting on the end of those cutbacks, which has helped the Whitecaps improve their depth scoring. Makes it fitting that their second goal today once again came off a cutback, after they scored a few of those vs. Inter Miami in midweek and Minnesota last weekend. 
• Ralph Priso quietly had a strong performance in midfield, as he continues to be a key rotation piece for Jesper Sørensen. When the Whitecaps need someone to come into the midfield to hold the ball and get stuck in, he can provide that, as he once again showed in this game.. Plus, there are signs that his confidence is growing, leading to more contributions in other facets of his game – he had a shot and created two chances – something that he has in his game, but has struggled to find in the past few years after a major injury a couple of years ago. Under Sørensen, he’s finding some of his past form, and that’s given the Whitecaps another key piece in midfield. When speaking of the improved depth, he’s a great example of what’s working under the new Whitecaps head coach – he’s getting them to do what they’re good at, and a bit of something more. No jamming square pegs into round holes – sometimes that Vanni Sartini could be guilty of doing at times. 
• For as good as Jayden Nelson has been in terms of his execution, the big thing that has stood out with him has been his confidence. Sometimes, wingers can let a couple of bad decisions get to them, but Nelson has done a great job of being relentless and continuing to run at players. Combined with his improvements in his final action, and his speed, that has made for a fun combination – this game was yet another example of what that can look like. It’s fun to watch a winger who plays without fear – Nelson’s certainly got that going for him right now. 
• It’s been interesting to see how good the Whitecaps tend to play between the 45th and 70th minutes of games. Their last three victories have all come thanks to dominant spells in that period of the game, as they do a great job of coming out strong after half time, identifying where an opponent is weak and breaking them down. That’s been another big plus, as these Whitecaps aren’t stumbling onto results thanks to luck – they’re seeking out every advantage possible. For all of the talk of how good the Whitecaps system is, and it’s certainly been a big reason for this start, it’s worth noting that the Whitecaps have also done a great job of identifying weaknesses in the opponent, something that has contributed to the dominant nature of some of their results. 
• While the Whitecaps will joke that they’re happy to play every three days, how they ended this game shows that they’ve got some fatigue starting to build up, and that not having a game next week will be a bit of a plus for them. Some sloppy mistakes nearly cost them late, and had they not been playing RSL, this could’ve ended with a different result. Credit to them for locking in and not letting that happen, however – good teams tend to do that. 
• “Everybody is getting more responsible in the way we want to play. That makes it easier for guys to play the right way. We make a lot of mistakes in every game, but there’s always a guy to make up for it, and that’s good, as football is a game of mistakes. But we know our structure. We know how we want to build in the game, and people know they’re allowed to make mistakes. We as coaches just need to make a structure where those mistakes will not kill us in the game, and everyone has chipped in and done great.” – Jesper Sørensen, doing a good job of explaining what has fuelled this strong start.