The Whitecaps are moving on to the semifinals of the Canadian Championship, escaping with a 2-1 win over Valour at BC Place after a late winner from Bjorn Utvik broke the hearts of the plucky CPL side.

The first half was not the ‘Caps at their best, however the introduction of Sebastian Berhalter seemed to make a goal inevitable in the second. Emmanuel Sabbi obliged, but a set piece goal seemed to keep Valour’s hopes alive, before Utvik saved the day late off a header from a recycled corner kick.

The match marked Brian White’s return to the lineup after the Gold Cup, pairing with Jayden Nelson and Daniel Rios in the attack. The ‘Caps swapped in Isaac Boehmer for Yohei Takaoka to help meet their Canadian quota, with Ralph Priso returning to the lineup in central midfield and Bjorn Utvik tapping in for Tristan Blackmon. 

Things started about as you would expect, with Vancouver holding most of the possession, trying to find a way through a resolute Valour side. They primarily tried to overload with the fullbacks to create space for Nelson, Rios or Pedro Vite.

The ‘Caps struggled for shots inside the box, with their best looks coming from distance or quick balls out wide via those overloads. White narrowly missed a cutback shot and Valour narrowly evaded conceding a penalty, with Tate Johnson hauled down narrowly outside the penalty area. Vancouver elected to be patient, moving the ball side to side in hopes of a slip up from the away team.

But the longer things were deadlocked, the more Valour succeeded in slowing things down and the more confidence they seemed to show on the break. They challenged Vancouver’s resilience with some long balls over the top and found success in pulling them out of position by playing through space out wide.

Sørensen opted to bring Sebastian Berhalter on straight away after half time, relieving Jeevan Badwal with the hope of giving Vancouver another viable creative option to break down Valour. Berhalter’s arrival instantly gave the ‘Caps a lift, both in terms of trying to get White more involved in the match and throwing Valour’s defensive shape off a bit, and helping to unlock the wide players a bit more.

The ‘Caps got closer to a goal. Rios whiffed on a point blank chance, Nelson was denied only by a great Eleias Hamaras save and Valour was forced into some real last ditch defending to deny White a sniff of goal. The greater pressure from wide areas forced Valour into more fouls, giving Berhalter more chances to work his set piece magic.

The gaffer made the curious decision (presumably with an eye to manage minutes) to yank Vite and White in the 70th minute, leaving the ‘Caps without two of their linchpins to try and find the winner.

Yet it was Emmanuel Sabbi, who replaced White, who found the breakthrough. The ‘Caps did well with a second ball to put it into Sabbi’s path but he deserves the credit for finally providing the composure and finishing quality to get the needed tally.

Vancouver couldn’t see things out, however. A bit of poor defensive play forced Vancouver to concede a corner and Valour, who were forced to subside off of set pieces all night, to capitalize. A great delivery ping ponged off of a couple of ‘Caps players but they could not keep it out of the back of the net, giving Valour the equalizer.

Valour were surely drawing up their penalty shootout plans but it was an unlikely goal scorer who threw the ‘Caps a lifeline. Utvik was upfield after a corner kick and remained in the mixer and Jayden Nelson provided a lovely bit of service off the dribble. Utvik’s header escaped the reach of Hamaras and the defender wheeled away, dashing the hopes of the CPL side and booking Vancouver’s ticket to the quarterfinals.

Stray Thoughts

• A much closer shave than the ‘Caps were anticipating given Valour’s relatively weak performances as of late (though they deserve a lot of credit for hanging around in this). Vancouver had plenty of chances and were comfortably the better side in the second half but they were still too wasteful in front of goal, giving their opposition hope until the very end. Ultimately, the result is all that matters (just ask CF Montreal) but if you were looking for a resounding win to help get things back on track, this wasn’t it.
• Credit, however, to Berhalter and Sabbi, who changed the game completely off the bench. Berhalter helped unlock Edier Ocampo, who had space and could create danger but who just couldn’t get the ball quick enough in the first half. Really, Berhalter forced Valour to change their entire defensive structure away from clamping down on Pedro Vite and gumming up the works in the box. That’s when the real chances started flowing and Sabbi deserves kudos for a top bins strike — one that will hopefully help boost his confidence.
• White looks like a guy who hasn’t started a competitive match in awhile — he’ll be fine.
• I was already done with the Daniel Rios as winger experiment but now I’m done done. There’s a reason Ocampo was basically dead in the water every time he got the ball in the first half — Rios just can’t progress the ball fast enough and isn’t good at the quick build up play outside the box that Vancouver needs to succeed. Ali Ahmed can’t come back soon enough.
• The centerbacks were awesome (more below). Utvik in particular, who has largely had a rough season, was excellent, both in terms of popping up to serve as another creative outlet and by ensuring Valour didn’t get much attacking joy from the run of play.

Three Stars

Third Star – Jayden Nelson – 7.0

Nelson’s performance caused me to see-saw over the course of the match. He started brightly, then got found out 1v1. The arrival of Berhalter gave him a lift and he never really looked back, creating chaos off the dribble and, of course, the winning assist. Ultimately, I think he did a lot more good than bad.

Second Star – Tate Johnson – 7.5

Johnson continues to look comfortable and this was another sharp performance. He looked the more dangerous in the first half of the two fullbacks, combining well with Nelson. His service was good, including a secondary assist on Sabbi’s goal.

First Stars – Ranko Veselinovic/Bjorn Utvik – 8.0

I was going to pick Ranko and Utvik here even before the stoppage time winner, but that really sealed the deal on what was an excellent night from the centerback pairing. Both filled space will, moving forward and providing a secondary outlet, while also looking dangerous in the box (as the cumulative two goal involvements indicate). And, the corner kick notwithstanding, Valour had little to work with going forward, thanks to their industry.