Sometimes, everything just comes together.
That was tonight for the Vancouver Whitecaps, who played their final home match at BC Place in the lead-up to the FIFA World Cup, winning 3-1 over Colorado Rapids.
A brace from Brian White and one from Cheikh Sabaly were enough to handle their Western Conference opponent.
In front of a sell-out 27,589 crowd, the Whitecaps waved farewell until August as they continued their record pace to start the MLS season.
Whitecaps head coach Jesper Sørensen said, “This was a great game.”
“I hope really people who watch this game here tonight had a good feeling because this was two very good teams going at each other from the beginning. And I think we played maybe the best game so far this season,” he added.
The Whitecaps looked dangerous from the first kick. They were first to loose balls, pressing the Rapids anytime they had possession and attacking from all sides.
Emmanuel Sabbi had a golden opportunity in the third minute, a header off of Sebastian Berhalter’s corner. But the effort was wide of the near post.
They did not have to wait much longer after that. In the seventh minute, Sabaly put the Whitecaps up by one, his second in the Blue and White.
Édier Ocampo’s cross from the right flew over the 6-yard box, finding Thomas Müller coming in unmarked from the left. The German tapped it over to Sabaly, who only had to redirect past Zack Steffen.
The Whitecaps doubled their lead in the 23rd minute. Andrés Cubas found White in acres of space on the left. Steffen looked to come out and try to play the ball, but was in no way going to make it.
The American caught the Rapids goalkeeper out of position with Steffen standing flatfooted near the edge of the 18-yard box.
White almost added another minutes later, but this time, Steffen came out and cut the ankle well. Sabbi pounced on the rebound, but it was blocked as well.
It capped a frenetic first half hour for the Whitecaps, where the Rapids had no chances and looked to just be hanging on.
Colorado scored in the 33rd minute. Tate Johnson was brought down in the 6-yard box by Dante Sealy. Rafael Navarro came in over the top with the shot.
Yohei Takaoka saved the first one, but the rebound hit off the striker and into the back of the net.
The rebound appeared to come off Navarro’s hand, but VAR did not decide to overrule the on-pitch referee’s call.
Second-half sub Bruno Caicedo thought he added another one to his tally in the 77th minute. However, it was ruled there was a handball offence by VAR.
But not to be deterred, Caicedo moved from finisher to creator, playing a beautiful cutback to White in the 85th minute to give the American striker a brace on the night.
#SavetheCaps rings throughout BC Place
The win was special, not only for keeping the Whitecaps on pace with the San Jose Earthquakes for the top spot in the league but also for the message fans brought into the stadium.
#SavetheCaps began earlier this week, an initiative and movement born out of the Southsiders, the Whitecaps’ largest supporters’ group. However, it has become a rallying cry for all fans, and that was witnessed in the march to the stadium and throughout the entirety of the match.
“It, of course, becomes emotional because it’s a declaration. It’s love to the team and to the players and to all of us. It’s a strong message. And it’s something that is important, that we have people coming here, watching us, want to support us, like us. And we also want to show our support to the city of Vancouver, and we feel it’s great every time we step out on the pitch here,” Sørensen said.
Whitecaps on the road
The next eight matches for the Whitecaps are away from BC Place (five before the World Cup, three after). It is their longest road trip of the season.
Of their nine matches in MLS so far this season, eight have been at home. The one away match was against Portland Timbers on March 7, a 4-1 win.
They begin this trip with a match against the LA Galaxy next weekend.
“We will not change the way we play even though we play away games,” Sørensen said. “This is who we want to be. And now, we have finished a very good home stretch, but our ambition is to do well on the road as well.”
Up next
As mentioned, the Galaxy are next. That match is on Saturday, May 2.
Kickoff is at 7:30 p.m.
