Every point is huge for the Vancouver Whitecaps going forward. The San Jose Earthquakes come into the town as pretty much the winner of the MLS Wooden Spoon for dead last in the league. This was a big opportunity for the Whitecaps to get three points, especially with key players coming back from international duty. Still, they couldn’t take San Jose lightly. After all, the Earthquakes beat Real Salt Lake a couple of weeks ago.
But the Whitecaps took care of business for a big three points.
Match musings
It took a bit of time for both teams to get settled in. However, after the twentieth-minute mark, it was all Vancouver.
With Ryan Gauld and Fafa Picault back, the two played up top. The two of them were leading the charge. Ali Ahmed and his agility were back on the right side and he along with fellow Canadian Sam Adekugbe and Gauld and Picault were being very creative and making things happen in the final third.
Chances came. However, Earthquakes goalkeeper Daniel made some good saves off Picault and Ahmed. (Though the latter was offside.) Oh God, was it going to be another one of those games? Ah s**t, here we go again. After getting goalied by FC Dallas’ Jimmy Maurer last week, it would have been frustrating for it to happen again.
Fortunately, the goal came. The delivery on the corner from Gauld was perfect and so was the header from Picault. Ah, that’s what I’m talking about.
The first half pretty much went to plan for the Whitecaps except it could’ve been more.
The second half saw the Whitecaps continue their good transitions. They looked threatening especially the balls coming from Pedro Vite. The Ecuadorian’s passing was very accurate and he was constantly winning the ball back and the same could be said for Alessandro Schöpf.
The Earthquakes only managed five shots and two were on target. Yohei Takaoka had no trouble with those two shots. However, it was nervy at times in the second half as San Jose had a few good looks. There was that sense of dread, but thankfully Ranko Veselinovic, Tristan Blackmon and Bjorn Inge Utvik constantly applied pressure and made key blocks and steals. The Earthquakes did score in the 68th minute but Ousseni Bouda was way offside, he miscalculated.
However, Vancouver pushed on and the two Scotsmen, Gauld and Stuart Armstrong connected for the second goal. It was a nice given go between them and Pedro Vite. Seeing the former Dundee United players reunited and scoring was just as exciting as Linkin Park’s reunion.
In the end, it was a solid performance all around and the Whitecaps got the job done.
Stat of the match
According to Fotmob, Picault had an expected goals rate of 1.55. To put that in perspective, the entire Whitecaps xG was 2.94. Picault had over half of Vancouver’s xG.
What was said
“I think we played very well,” said Whitecaps head coach Vanni Sartini. “I would say, without even having a minute of not being the best team on the field. In the last two games, we played really well against Austin and Dallas, where we were probably the best team on the field for 75 out of the 90 minutes. Today was 90 out of 90. We had a lot of chances, we played really well. It would have been a disaster, to be honest to not win today because we showed that we were clearly the best. But I’m really happy with the quality of the team, as we played literally as we planned.”
Sartini was asked about how even players who are not often on the team sheet step up.
“It’s a beautiful thing, everyone is doing well,” he said. “This is by far a special group. It’s a group where everyone loves each other. No jealousy, people always supporting each other…so I’m really proud of them, I want to be honest, I’m really proud of my staff too,…When I’m talking about my staff, not only the guys on the bench but everyone who works in the building. The second thing is that because we have a lot of quality players, and when you have a lot of quality players,… every day they are challenged to do more.”
Armstrong and Gauld did their presser today.
“Yeah I think we’ve created a lot of chances again,” said Gauld. “The boys created a lot against Dallas and then again tonight and we probably should have put the game out of their reach sooner is a big thing for us.”
“Well back then he was very good and he’s still very good so nothing much has changed there,” said Armstrong on Gauld. ” It’s nice just to play with Gauldie again, it’s really fun to link up with him.”
Best of Twitter
Best no hindsight
The signing of Picault last January was kind of a weird one as he mostly played as a winger in the past, particularly last season with Nashville SC. However, with Sartini not using wingers, Picault has played up top as one of the nines or as a ten. It really has worked out for him and he’s fit in perfectly like a puzzle piece. It’s crazy to think that he is having quite possibly the best season of his career at 34 is even more impressive.
Picault was always seen as a depth player but he has been key for the Whitecaps. They might as well pick up that option now.
Best saving grace
If it weren’t for Daniel, the Whitecaps would blown the doors off before halftime. Come to think of it, the Earthquakes have 14 points this season and if it weren’t for Daniel, they probably would have zero.
Best Scottish connection
Hopefully, this is the start of great things for both Gauld and Armstrong. Now what about adding Brian White to the mix? The three of them are going to be a time bomb but for other teams.
Best looking back
Those were dark times, hard times you could even say. The club has changed a lot in the last few years. Has it all been perfect? No. Was it easy? Definitely not. The seasons change, but they are not the same.
Four years ago, the Whitecaps were one of the worst teams in MLS. Now, it looks like they can achieve great things. They still got a long way to go but it feels so good watching this club rise from the depths.
Wrap-up
The Whitecaps head out on the road for two games next week. First off, they play the Houston Dynamo on Wednesday. They have not won Houston since 2018. Kickoff is at 5:30 pm Pacific.
The standings are tighter than ever.
The wild, wild west is going to go down to the wire. One week, a team could find themselves close to second, the next they could be barely hanging over the play-in line. Once again, every point matters.