The Vancouver Whitecaps continued their quest for a fifth straight Canadian Championship title.
The ‘Caps faced CF Montreal in the first leg of the semi-finals at BC Place. Montreal were 14th in the Eastern Conference with a 5-6-11 record, and their season had looked miserable. They added former Barcelona and Arsenal winger Alexis Sanchez, though he does not solve all their problems. Montreal’s last game was a 7-1 drubbing of Inter Miami. However, CF Montreal were just four points out of the final play-in spot in the Eastern Conference.
Vancouver were the favourites, but they could not ease up. They were coming off a 5-0 win over FC Dallas and a 3-0 win over Sporting Kansas City, and goals had been coming.
This game also featured a really good jersey matchup as both clubs were wearing their Archive Kits.
It was another one of those games for the Whitecaps: They should’ve won, but their attack let them down.
First half: Lethargic and Sloppy
Early on, the Whitecaps were sloppy with their passes. Thankfully, Montreal kept giving the ball right back.
Vancouver nearly took the lead ten minutes in. However, Ryan Gauld’s shot was cleared off the line.
Montreal was the first to strike. Dani Pereira stole the ball from Oliver Larraz and caught Isaac Boehmer off his line. That was a kick in the you-know-where for Vancouver.
Montreal were sitting deep. They had about seven players in the box, making it difficult for the Whitecaps to create chances.
The giveaways and errant passes were still prevalent. Montreal’s forwards Prince Owusu and Daniel Rios were pressing hard and nearly caught Vancouver on the break a few times. Mathias Laborda and Tristan Blackmon looked shaky at the back.
The ‘Caps looked lethargic. They looked like they just woke up from a long nap. They needed to wake up. Their attack was as dreary as the weather outside BC Place.
The building nearly came to life in the 40th minute when Edier Ocampo’s striker hit the woodwork. More of that was needed.
It was safe to say that was not a good half from the Whitecaps. They had 20 touches in Montreal’s box. Montreal had just one in Vancouver’s. The ‘Caps needed to wake up from their slumber.
Second Half: Better from the Whitecaps, but they take the draw.
Thomas Müller, Andres Cubas and Mihail Gherasimencov were on for Cheikh Sabaly, Larraz and Ocampo. Whitecaps head coach Jesper Sørensen needed a spark in this team, or rather, a kick in the behind.
Vancouver began the half by moving the ball more quickly. Blackmon even tried an Antonio Rudiger-style run into the box. He gave it to Gauld, but the Scotsman’s shot was blocked. Müller also nearly found Brian White with the free header, but it was out of the striker’s reach.
This felt like the Houston game from last month. (Same jerseys the Whitecaps were wearing.) It also felt like the game against San Jose in March. The ‘Caps had a ton of possession, but hardly anything came of it.
Montreal were cramming the box and making sure shots didn’t get through. Vancouver looked like they were running out of ideas.
It nearly got worse in the 69th minute. Prince Owusu got in behind the Whitecaps defence, and Sanchez tapped it in. But it was ruled offside.
The Whitecaps got their goal two minutes later. Substitute Bruno Caicedo, receiving Müller’s pass, looked like he ran faster than a jet engine. Gauld was at the perfect place and tapped the ball past Sebastian Breza. We had a game.
Caicedo nearly got the crowd on their feet again. Boehmer found him running down the pitch, and he was on the breakaway, but he couldn’t get a shot on Breza. Given the new FVS challenge system in the Canadian Championship (each team has two per match), teams were allowed to challenge. Sørensen challenged because it looked like a penalty on Breza for colliding with Caicedo. But he lost the challenge and a goal kick commenced. There really wasn’t enough to overturn, to be fair.
The Whitecaps continued to push, but a draw was the end result. Once again, the Whitecaps should’ve done more with their possession. Again, they had a slow first half and a better second half, but it wasn’t enough. Luckily, this wasn’t a loss, so that’s a silver lining.
Stat of the match
According to FotMob, CF Montreal had just three touches in the Whitecaps ‘ 18-yard box. Vancouver had 43. Another game of missed opportunities for the Whitecaps.
What was said:
“It was a good cup game,” said Sørensen after the game. “It was a brilliant goal from them. (CF Montreal) On my side, I think it was unfortunate, but you are biased in this business. It was a game where I think we played a little bit too slow in the beginning. They’ve made it easier for them to move…We were not as aggressive with the ball. In the second half, I think we played faster…we attacked them a little bit more in the half spaces where there were some opportunities. Of course, we had difficulties scoring.”
“It’s a game where we had the feeling we should’ve scored more and converted some of our big chances. We also have to look at a couple of situations, especially the second offside (from Montreal), not just in the back but leading up to it. I think it was an open game and now in the second leg, it’s tough like football always is. We’re ready for the chance.”
Gauld also spoke to the media.
“I’ve watched that a lot from the stands, Bruno just eating up space,” he said on his goal. “So once he pulled in that space, I just tried to make it into the box and do what I could.”
He also talked about the lack of offence.
“I think we’re playing too slow,” said Gauld. “We didn’t really put much pace and intensity into the game, and we didn’t have great control over anything. It wasn’t a good start to the game. It’s been that way in a few games lately. It kind of takes us until the second half and late into the second half to really get a hold of the game. That’s something we need to try and add from the first minute. I think when we do that, like the game against Dallas. We were dominant from the first minutes and saw how good of a team we are. There’s definitely something we need to make sure that we’re at that from the first minutes and not taking 30 or 45 minutes to get into the game.”
Tweet of the match
It seems that the Whitecaps 86ers archive jerseys are just like the Vancouver Canucks Millionaires jerseys. They went 0-3-0 in those jerseys, and many fans thought they were a curse. While the 86ers jerseys look nice, perhaps they should be thrown in the bin, unless they, of course, win a game wearing them.
Wrap-up
The second leg against CF Montreal isn’t until September 16. Kickoff from Stade Saputo is TBD. This Saturday, the Whitecaps welcome St. Louis City SC to BC Place, and that game kicks off at 7:30 pm Pacific. It will be a tough test for Vancouver as St. Louis has not lost a game since May 3.
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