Good Monday morning Caps fans. Hope you all had a lovely weekend and are gearing up for the week ahead.

It was business as usual on Saturday night, as the Whitecaps cruised past Portland 4-1. This one was not quite as dominant as last year’s 4-1 result at Providence Park, but it was still a comfortable game for Vancouver against a shorthanded Timbers side.

Portland brought a somewhat different tactical approach, opting for a fairly aggressive pressing strategy that did give the Caps fits at times. Vancouver is probably better off for the chance to stress test some of their building up out of the back. Mostly, however, Portland’s strategy gifted the Caps acres of space as soon as they broke through that first line of pressure, and Sebastian Berhalter and Edier Ocampo feasted.

Portland did hit back, pulling back a goal to make it 3-1 and making things nervy for a while before Brian White grabbed his second goal and the Whitecaps’ fourth to bury the match. There are definitely still things to clean up here, particularly in the buildup in the defensive third, but this was still a high-quality performance from a high-quality team. For those who were waiting for a result that reflected the style and quality this team displayed last season, well, this was it.

It was great to see White on the double, as he seems to have firmly found his form. Berhalter was brilliant and the best player on the pitch. Tristan Blackmon turned in a display worthy of the defender of the year (and made a, erm, heads up play on the goal). The Caps needed to take all three points against an overmatched Portland side and left no doubt.

They will hope to continue to build on that result against Seattle in midweek, as they host the Sounders in CONCACAF Champions Cup action. At the rate things are going, the Caps are going to score five goals in the midweek. Who says no?

Shameless Self Promotion

If you want more of my thoughts on the 4-1 win in Portland, head on over to the post-match recap.

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