Eighty Six Forever, Post Match, Vancouver Whitecaps FC

Post Match: White Washes Away the Rapids

The Vancouver Whitecaps made the most of their last chance to play at home before August, defeating the Colorado Rapids 3-1 in front of a raucous BC Place crowd on Saturday.

Playing their eighth home match in nine MLS matches to start the season, the Whitecaps managed to pick up their seventh home win, as they continued their torrid pace to start the year – doing so on a night where their home crowd made sure their voice was heard as they threw their support behind the ‘SaveTheCaps’ movement, which aims to let MLS know that Vancouver doesn’t want to lose this team anytime soon.

Photo Credit: Chaehyun Lim

The Whitecaps won’t finish the weekend in first place in MLS, unfortunately, as that honour will go to the San Jose Earthquakes, who have earned three extra points after having played an extra game, but the Whitecaps once again showed why they’ve been one of the best teams in the league this year – which has only helped boost local interest in the ‘SaveTheCaps’ movement, it must be said.

Now, they’ll really have to prove those credentials over the next few months, as a run of eight consecutive away games beckon for them in MLS play, but if they continue to play the way they have, there’s no reason why they can’t keep stacking up points.

Their performances might not always be as flashy, but they’ve continued to be remarkably efficient – and it can still be argued that they’re slowly working towards their best version of themselves, too.

Returning to the match, though, the Whitecaps made sure to show more of that recent progress early.

As has become customary since the March international break, it didn’t take long for the Whitecaps to find an early goal, marking the third time in their last four games that they scored within the first 15 minutes of a match.

After a nice switch of play from Édier Ocampo towards Thomas Müller, the German playmaker managed to show his wit on a great moment of improvisation, finding a wide-open Cheikh Sabaly with a lovely first-timed pass to help set up an easy goal.

That goal would give the Whitecaps good energy, and that’d spell bad news for the Rapids, who immediately got pushed back on their heels after conceding.

Because of that, it wouldn’t take long for the Whitecaps to double their lead, as they turned their early pressure into a second goal in the 24th minute. It’d come off some more exquisite play, too, as the Whitecaps did well to play through the Rapids press before Andrés Cubas played a beautiful through ball in behind for Brian White to go chase.

From there, White wasn’t going to miss the chance that was there for him, as Rapids goalkeeper Zack Steffen had completely misjudged the flight of Cubas’s pass, leaving him out of position and powerless to stop White’s easy finish into the bottom corner.

To the Rapids credit, though, they didn’t capitulate after that error. At that moment, it felt like the Whitecaps might be on track for another thumping home win, but that didn’t bother the Rapids, who managed to pull themselves back into the game with a 33rd-minute goal.

It wouldn’t be one to write home about, as the red-hot Rafael Navarro barely bundled the ball over the line (using his hand to do so), but that didn’t matter to the visitors, who were only down 2-1.

Clearly, they fed off that, too, as the game became a lot more of an even tussle after that goal. All of a sudden, the game felt susceptible to turning on its head, making the next moment a crucial one, especially once the second half started.

That made for a nervy second half, as both teams battled to author that next moment, which is why what happened in the 77th minute was so crucial. After trading chances throughout the half, the Whitecaps appeared to have found their breakthrough goal, as Bruno Caicedo bundled home a goal after a beautiful through ball from Müller.

Unfortunately, though, he was ruled to have used his hand to help him score, which was judged to have been in an unnatural position, leaving the goal to be disallowed after a VAR check. Safe to say, that was the worst-case scenario for the Whitecaps, who had to live through the emotions that came with the crowd’s reaction to the goal, and then the obvious frustration that came from those same supporters after the goal was disallowed (and it didn’t help that Navarro’s goal had stood earlier despite a similar infraction).

Considering the tension in the building, it could be argued that the Whitecaps might’ve been better off had they not scored at all, just to have avoided that rollercoaster ride.

Despite that, the Whitecaps didn’t let that frustration take over, as they instead used that as motivation, using that to actually find their third goal in the 85th minute.

Having been denied the opportunity to earn his second goal in as many games, Caicedo decided to play provider, making a great run down the flank before teeing up White, who carefully slotted the ball into the bottom corner with a great left-footed finish. Let’s just say the crowd loved that, too, after what had just occurred – and Caicedo’s smug celebration didn’t hurt in that regard, either.

And they wouldn’t be done celebrating there, either, as they got another big moment to cheer in the 87th minute. This time, it’d come at the other end of the pitch, as the Rapids, who were eager to remain in the game, almost cut the lead back to one.

Wanting to add a second to the goal he had earlier, Navarro had two great chances at goal, as he first directed a cross from Georgi Minoungou towards goal, before getting on the end of his own rebound, but on both attempts, he’d be denied by Yohei Takaoka, who made a pair of outstanding saves to keep his team in the lead.

Those stops would put an exclamation point on the game, as the Whitecaps knew they weren’t going to concede another from there, allowing them to cruise to victory.

They were made to battle for this win more than they would’ve expected, especially based on their strong start to the game, but they managed to get things over the line in the end.

Certainly, the numbers paint a picture of how well the Whitecaps played, especially offensively, as they outshot the Rapids 20-13, generating 3.5 xG from those chances, so they’ll be pleased they got the result the numbers suggest they might’ve deserved.

Here’s the xG map from this game, with the Whitecaps in purple and Colorado in red (OPTA)

Had they failed to win, it wouldn’t have been the end of the world, as they’ve banked enough points early in the season to get away with it, but with the swath of away games looming, every point counts – especially with how automatic the Earthquakes have been to start the year.

If the Whitecaps continue to play the way they have, however, then they won’t have to worry about playing away from home, even if that’s never easy to do in MLS, so look for them to build on this hot start, and to stay neck and neck with San Jose in this thrilling race that’s developing at the top of the Supporters’ Shield standings.

Cover photo: Chaehyun Lim

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