Tuesday night at El Volcán, the Vancouver Whitecaps drew Tigres UANL 1-1 before losing 5-4 on penalties.

Overall, this was a nightmare Leagues Cup for Vancouver, and one they will be looking to quickly forget. That being said, the second half of this match against Tigres was memorable and entertaining. Despite the tough results, the Whitecaps still played some pretty good football over the last three matches, with some notable shortcomings.

In terms of this fixture itself, Jesper Sørensen elected to field a mix of veterans and youth, as both Ryan Gauld and Sam Adekugbe started, but so did Rayan Elloumi and Nikola Djordjevic. Surprisingly, Cheikh Sabaly also made the shift to right back, which I doubt many had on their bingo card.

The first half of this match played out exactly how Leagues Cup had gone for Vancouver. They were dominant in possession, very effective with their press, but struggled to find a clean breakthrough against a resolute Liga MX defense. Despite their relative dominance, it only took one break for Tigres to find the opening goal, as another direct ball over the top sprung the home side into transition, allowing them to score with their first shot of the match. It was a nice finish from Rodrigo Aguirre, but I think both Mathias Laborda and Isaac Boehmer would have wanted more from themselves on the play, as both had a rather underwhelming Leagues Cup.

Down 1-0 at the break, the Whitecaps had one half left to show some signs of life and spoil Tigres’ trip to the quarterfinals. Vancouver’s positive play continued in the second forty-five, though a breakthrough remained elusive. Emmanuel Sabbi came on in the 65th minute, and with it, the game started to really open up, as Sørensen shifted to a 4-4-2 and the Whitecaps began to attack with more urgency.

Finally, the Whitecaps found their breakthrough in the 79th minute, as Mihail Gherasimencov whipped in a cross following a corner and found Sabbi alone at the back post. The American forward lashed at the ball powerfully from a very difficult angle, but his strike was perfect, flying past Nahuel Guzmán and into the upper netting before the Tigres goalkeeper knew what had happened.

From that moment onward, the match descended into complete chaos. Between Tigres’ time-wasting and their general frustration at not being gifted every foul call they asked for, the tensions grew quickly, especially with the home side knowing they needed more than a single point to have any chance of advancing.

This tension erupted in the 88th minute, as Diego Lainez received a red card for dissent. Just four minutes later, Nahuel Guzmán was also sent off after delivering a forearm shove to the official, taking the chaos to another level. Then, despite significant delays during extra time, the official was quick to blow his whistle after the allotted stoppage time, sending the match to penalties as both teams complained profusely.

In the shootout, the Whitecaps started confidently and had the advantage after a great third-round save from Isaac Boehmer. Both Mathias Laborda and Ralph Priso had a chance to close the match out, but each time they were denied by Tigres’ second-choice keeper Felipe Rodríguez, with both Vancouver players shooting low to the keeper’s right. After Tigres converted in the seventh round, Rayan Elloumi had to convert to keep the Whitecaps alive, but sailed his shot well over the bar, handing Tigres the extra point.

Despite losing on penalties, the Whitecaps may have still done enough to spoil the Tigres party, as we’ll have to wait until later in the week to see if six points and an even goal difference is enough for them to advance to the quarterfinals. They currently sit fifth, meaning they would need León or Cruz Azul to lose by three goals, while none of the teams below them pick up a full three points.

I can’t think of anything more Tigres-coded than winning all three of their group-stage matches on penalties and advancing, so hopefully the other Liga MX teams don’t oblige.

For Vancouver, I thought this was a strong closeout to a very forgettable tournament. They put Tigres on the ropes at home in a match where the hosts fielded a full-strength team and the Whitecaps did not. Sure, Vancouver’s finishing throughout the tournament left a lot to be desired, and there were some issues dealing with direct attacks in transition, but I don’t think I’m too concerned unless those issues start carrying over into MLS play in the coming weeks, especially with reinforcements on the way.