The Vancouver Whitecaps got back on track, grabbing an early goal and stymieing a rudderless and tired LAFC team, in a needed 1-0 victory at BMO Stadium.

It wasn’t the prettiest of matches but Emmanuel Sabbi reversed a string of underwhelming performances with his third MLS goal of the season, while a sharp defensive performance helped the ‘Caps return to their winning ways. Despite conceding five goals midweek, this was the type of structure and discipline we’ve come to expect from this team.

Jesper Sørensen clearly liked what he saw in the second half of the San Diego match, returning to Mathias Laborda at fullback and Edier Ocampo in a more advanced position. That safely allowed Pedro Vite to play in midfield, positioning him to better influence the game.

LAFC started the match, as you would expect, trying to isolate Laborda against Denis Bouanga, with Igor Jesus playing some excellent balls from a deeper lying area to find their star attacker.

There weren’t a ton of clear cut chances early but the trajectory of this game, and potentially future matches, was changed when Andres Cubas was forced to exit inside 20 minutes with an apparent lower body injury, with Ralph Priso coming on in his stead. It goes without saying how much of a blow that would be, were it to turn out to be a long term injury.

It was the ‘Caps who had the first real look at goal, and it was all thanks to Sabbi, who worked hard to keep possession of the ball, chipping in Jeevan Badwal, who found acres of space behind the LAFC backline. The return cross found Sabbi, who controlled it well and put it past David Ochoa with ease. It has been a rough last month or so for Sabbi, but he showed his quality on this move and had some other positive flashes in the first half as well.

After the goal, Vancouver were content to sit back in a bit of a mid-block and invite LAFC forward, with plenty of attention paid to Bouanga, not just by Laborda but Tristan Blackmon and Priso as well. Laborda was sharp in his defensive duties, and Priso did well to clamp down in the midfield when LAFC tried to play a bit more direct and won some important second balls in the process.

Sørensen clearly made some adjustments after Wednesday’s dismantling at BC Place. Ocampo looked lively going forward, linking up well with Laborda as well when Vancouver saw an opening.

LAFC opened the second half with more of the same, having little luck finding space in transition, and instead relying on some hopeful runs to the touchline in an effort to try and pull the ‘Caps out of position. This pushed Steve Cherundolo to make some tweaks, bringing on the younger David Martinez and Nathan Ordaz to try and liven up their attack.

At times, Vancouver looked like a team running out of gas. Ryan Hollingshead smashed the post in the 70th minute and the match started to slowly open up, as LAFC found more space. Sorensen opted to swap J.C. Ngando for a battered Badwal, as well as Antoine Coupland for the goalscorer Sabbi, as the ‘Caps tried to see things out with some fresh legs. Those subs gave the ‘Caps a bit of a lift to get across the finish line.

You thought maybe LAFC would build towards a clear cut chance, one even they couldn’t miss. But some industry from the ‘Caps bolted the hatches and made no mistakes, seeing out the win well. This performance was everything Wednesday’s wasn’t, and it resulted in a deserved three points heading back to Vancouver.

Stray Thoughts 

• That match won’t be on any highlight reels at the end of the season but the ‘Caps won’t care. To the extent Sørensen got his tactics wrong on Wednesday, he nailed this one and he took advantage of the limp, unimaginative LAFC attack. They didn’t create much in the second but they didn’t need to and the shape and defensive work rate was immense. 
• This was an excellent performance from Laborda, who had to manage the always dangerous Bouanga and did so with aplomb. He had a monster seven tackles and never really looked out of position. 
• I was glad to see Sabbi get back on the score sheet and I thought his work rate was excellent the rest of the match as well. His decision making lets him down at times but the individual quality is certainly there, despite a rocky few matches.
• I love Olivier Giroud playing in this after announcing he would terminate his contract. It’s like the episode of Seinfeld where George Costanza turns up for work after being fired.
• I thought Sabbi was good, but he and Tate Johnson are not on the same page — there were at least three or four passes between the two that were not in the right place and it clearly came down to miscommunication, something to clean up.
• It’s a small sample size but Coupland does not look out of place at all at an MLS level — he was a handful for LAFC. He came on and immediately offered a different but effective creative outlet on the wing versus Sabbi and he carries the ball well, with a fun nutmeg of an LAFC midfielder. The fact that Sørensen brought him on with about 20 minutes remaining (versus a late cameo) shows that he has been impressed too.

Man of the Match

Sabbi is the obvious answer and his goal was really well taken. But I don’t think you can overlook Laborda, who was a monster defensively and really frustrated LAFC (and Bouanga) all night long. Priso deserves a shout-out for a credible emergency performance in midfield, and Badwal and Coupland also stood out.