The Vancouver Whitecaps opened their 2026 MLS campaign with a professional 1-0 win over a plucky Real Salt Lake at BC Place on Saturday, as they try to pick up where they left off in league play last season.
It wasn’t always the smoothest performance, but a burst of quality in the second half helped everyone remember why this team is widely viewed as a top contender for silverware in 2026. A well-taken goal from AZ Jackson was the difference, and the ‘Caps did well to grind out a clean sheet against an RSL side that punched above its weight, despite lacking most of its best players.
Jesper Sørensen made three key changes to his lineup from the midweek. Ralph Priso entered the starting XI at centreback, pushing Mathias Laborda out to right back instead of Edier Ocampo. Thomas Mueller returned to the lineup, as expected, and Jackson was handed his first start in Vancouver, replacing Kenji Cabrera on the wing.
It was a bright start for the away side, however, with RSL winning three corners in quick succession and using their numbers in the midfield to win second balls and prevent the ‘Caps from breaking free. Vancouver struggled to cope with the midfield pressure from RSL, and a couple of nervy moments from the backline raised some eyebrows and nearly gave away a goal.
Once the ‘Caps won possession, the wide players were asked to do the bulk of the work, creating chances, taking players on, and asking questions of the RSL backline. Things weren’t always smooth there either, but Vancouver still should have been in front inside 17 minutes after a well-struck shot from Mueller hit the post, and Brian White couldn’t direct the rebound on frame.
Things hit a lull for the ‘Caps after a burst of momentum, however, and RSL kept their pressure up. The away side appeared to go 1-0 up after a superb ball from Luca Moisa caught the Whitecaps sleeping, leading to Ariath Piol tapping the ball into an empty net. The AR’s flag saved the ‘Caps, with the initial ball catching Alexandros Katranis offside.
The ‘Caps weren’t poor in the first 45 minutes, but the four-man midfield for RSL meant there were too many bodies in the centre of the pitch to find much space to work centrally, and Jackson and Sabbi didn’t have much support to help them create space wide. Mentally, there were more mistakes than usual from Laborda, Priso, and Tristan Blackmon than we’ve come to expect.
Minutes into the second half and Sabbi was fortunate to remain on the pitch after a high and late challenge on Moisa. RSL fired another warning shot moments later from Zavier Gozo, whose shot from distance barely missed curling into the net. Belief was oozing out of the young RSL side.
It was Jackson, however, who broke the deadlock shortly thereafter. It was his lovely solo run that unlocked Tate Johnson on the overlapping run, something we didn’t see much in the first half, and the cross pinged to Jackson. The debutant met the moment with a lovely finish to put the ‘Caps up 1-0.
The goal galvanized the ‘Caps, and they turned in probably their most ‘Caps-like spell of the match, bossing possession and keeping RSL under pressure. Given more space in the midfield, Berhalter and Mueller had more time on the ball and thus more success pinning RSL back and generating consistent chances.
The away side didn’t give up a second goal, but the ‘Caps didn’t allow them any real chances down the stretch either, despite a couple of nervy moments in possession for Vancouver in their own final third.
Stray Thoughts
- In the CONCACAF Champions Cup match, AZ Jackson didn’t have a huge impact, and I wondered a bit whether he would be able to replicate the Ali Ahmed role on this team. I see the vision much better now. Jackson was consistently dangerous, even before the goal. It didn’t always come off, but I think time can help better integrate Jackson into the attack and play into his strengths on the ball. I still would expect Kenji Cabrera to get most of the minutes on the wing for the time being, but this was a very promising showing from Jackson.
- It was not a good match from Laborda, who had multiple problematic giveaways under pressure in the second half and nearly caught Takaoka out with a poor back pass in the first half. Obviously, he has earned the benefit of the doubt at this point, but this was one of Laborda’s poorer performances in recent memory.
- Credit to RSL and Pablo Mastroeni, who had a clear tactical plan to try to combat Sørensen-ball, and it clearly worked to frustrate the ‘Caps in the first half. Part of this was surely youthful energy for RSL, combined with an opponent who played in the midweek. Still, the ‘Caps need to be ready for more teams that will have had an offseason to figure out ways to neutralize their possession-based system of play.
- Two matches where Brian White has not been well integrated into the attack. No real cause for concern here either, but he had far and away the fewest touches of any Whitecaps player. Addressing that will be a top priority for Sørensen.
- Ralph Priso continues to look natural at centreback. I can’t wait for his chemistry with Tristan Blackmon to grow (there were a couple of misplayed passes between the two).
- This wasn’t the sharpest performance, but in the end, I think the ‘Caps were good value for the win. RSL fans will rue VAR’s decision not to send off Sabbi (no comment). But RSL didn’t create many clear-cut chances in the second half, and that allowed Vancouver’s quality to shine through. Still some things to sort out, but this should leave everyone feeling a bit better about things heading into the midweek.
Man of the Match
Jackson showed that his style of play certainly suits this team. He put up more dribbles than anyone else on the pitch, and he showed he can unlock the defence with time and support in the attack. Sebastian Berhalter quietly pulled the strings, and Andres Cubas, Priso, Blackmon, and Tate Johnson got the job done defensively. But it is tough to look past Jackson — and a debut goal — in this one.
(Image: Mark Zhuang)
The overreaction to this game from some parts of the fanbase is so stupid. Sabaly and Caicedo haven’t even joined training yet, you’d think people who have a bit of patience on the attacking side. meanwhile, 2 clean sheets in a row with barely any xG given up
The flaw in your argument is that they actually do let teams know when the season is going to begin. If you’re not ready, it’s on you: nothing to do with ‘patience’ when your last-minute moves result in lost points at the beginning of the season. 180 meaningful minutes with White and Muller against sub-par opponents and we have one goal off of a random deflection and only 2.45 xG. The CB situation is as tenuous as it was in September and chanting “Priso is a really good fit there” has a half life of about three more weeks. How many more of our best players have to spend more time on the disabled list before we start wondering why we’re unable to fix them in any sort of reasonable time? I mean, sorry to be “stupid”ly pessimistic, but there is clearly work to be done here, and considerable time has already been lost.
spot on!
Of course the village idiot agrees lol
it’s the first week of the season, dumbass.
well at least i remember my name!
Thanks, Captain Obvious. Now maybe try to advance from “I can read a calendar” to “I can objectively look at the performance and express reasonable concern.” We’ve had good first weeks before which led to good seasons. This was a lucky result against a woefully inexperienced side. We nearly won the West last year by playing well from day one, not by getting a bunch of lucky wins early on. Two winnable games lost in the to-you-forgivable first part of the season last year would have meant 5th place instead of 2nd. Improvement is needed before points start getting lost.
been a tkt holder for 3 seasons now and this might be the game that worries me the most. Far too much faffing around at the back when 1-0 up. Jesper was having fits on the sidelines when Blackmon went back to the gk once more when a progressive pass up the wing was on!! I though Berhalter looked arrogant and way too cocky in the second half with his cheeky passes in def 1/3. And why on earth is the gk doing drag backs in his own box!! Just about deserved the win, and AZ def looks like Nelsons twin – must be the hair! Hope the squad depth mentioned above materialises otherwise we may be in trouble if any of this 11 gets inj!! But decent entertainment for first of season
Callies DR
AZ looks better than Nelson but not close to Ali. I’m quite worried about this team and do not share the pervasive optimism in the league this year about their performance.
Makes sense that you’re not optimistic, considering this fanbase is notoriously whiny and cynical.
GOOD TO BE BACK
Ref Drew Fischer isnt known for rashly giving red cards- he stays calm and focused on letting the players get noticed, letting the game dictate the outcome– i think he gave Sabbi a break – another ref would have sent him to the showers
AZ reminds me a lot of Nelson and not just because of the hair style– but i think he has more purpose to his dribbling so i can see why Axel signed him- i stiil think that Cabrera will be the more important winger- and we still have to see 2 other wide players in Sabaly and Caicedo
i was shocked by how much the Caps goalie and defenders played around when the game was 1-0- took multiple chances with ping-pong ball, including Takaoka, and almost got burned for such inane play- waiting to get a look at CB Schonlau
i am not worried about White’s play- sure, he had an easy tap-in from the Muller post, but he will get his touch back— he always does- but i think Jesper could have put Elloumi in with 20 minutes to play; and why jesper played Muller for the entire game is a mystery
for the opening game of the season, it was decent play and entertainment- RSL played a perfect away game by glogging up the MF- as i said leading up to the season, teams now know that the Caps are to be taken seriously, so its going to be tougher to get results
POTM- its a toss-up between AZ (tricky, pacey and got a nice goal) and Priso who continues to shine at CB with his intelligence of reading the play, interceptions and crisp passing out (and i think he will make Canada’s WC Team, what with all the CB injuries)
sure nice to get the win to start the season- too bad that the natural grass being put down this Spring cant be kept in after the WC… but that wont happen
Salty
Arguably the worst performance of the Sorensen era but we’ll take the win and move on.
Probably lucky that RSL were far more decimated by injuries than we were (presumably because they play on grass?)
you probably dont remember the game late last season vs Dallas (a weak team) where we lost the game and lost 3 points- that was the worst and it cost us a home game vs Miami for the MLS Cup
Well we were down to ten men after ten minutes and still dominated that game so I think this one was worse tbh
Oddly enough, thanks to the dominance of the Western teams on opening night and the goal explosions elsewhere, the Caps are seventh and could be even lower after today’s games despite being undefeated. They looked uncomfortable on the BC Place turf (or whatever it has become over time; AZ went face first into it and looked like he had unearthed an ant colony at one point): did the new stadium deal not allow them to practice there once and get re-acclimatized? With the new season starting and the same injuries as late last season affecting the lineup choices, it’s clear that we need to be on grass eventually, or find a faster recovery method for the injuries that BC Place hands out. Muller and White were hardly noticeable and a shake up from Gauld in the second half would have been the perfect antidote.
The Sabbi challenge was bad, but do players actually wear studs on turf? It seemed to come out of being shut down so effectively and he needs to be more patient when that happens, because it will this year as teams learn what strategies defeat Jesper’s tactics. I’d have taken him out within minutes after that lucky break to make a point.
Among the inane Apple TV innovations for this year, which for the season opener included a pair of commentators that sounded like they had major roles in Coronation Street, is an apparently obligatory 75th minute Assist of The Day award, which went to Tate Johnson for expertly deflecting the ball off the defender directly to the goal scorer by random chance. I am wondering whether they will persist with this silliness when a game is scoreless through 75, or whether they will give it to a ballboy or a cute usher. At least it beats the overdrawn “opened his account” TSN insists upon, making the BMO execs happy whenever someone scores their first goal of the year.
Agree…..I cancelled Apple today….enough games on TSN until World Cup …..then I may return to Apple~!
Good luck with that, hope you can understand Stephen “marbles in throat” Caldwell. I think he needs subtitles.
Having seen a replay of Sabbi’s callenge… yikes. That should have been a straight red, I don’t know how VAR didn’t call it. Studs showing, lunge and planting them into the other player’s knee on a bad challenge. It’s textbook
i agree with you- but drew fischer always aims to give the benefit of the doubt to all teams and its one reason why he is a very good ref