Do you remember the 21st night of September? Well, the Vancouver Whitecaps will want to forget this one.
This was a big test for the Whitecaps as they faced Western Conference-leading LA Galaxy on their ground. But with the Canadian Championship final against Toronto FC happening on Wednesday, head coach Vanni Sartini decided to go for a rotated starting eleven.
It was a gamble but it didn’t pay off. However, there is no use dwelling over this for too long, some bigger games are ahead.
Match musings
The first half was scrappy. The Whitecaps did a good job staying in it.
The counterattacks were good for Vancouver. However, the final third play was lacking and you have to give credit to the likes of Maya Yoshida making clearances and Riqui Puig for tracking back for LA.
Speaking of counterattacks, the Galaxy are one of the best in MLS. Puig, Dejan Jovelic, Joseph Paintsil, Gabriel Pec, Marco Reus and Puig were dangerous. They were fast, like A-Train running across New York running into people without knowing or caring. But imagine there were five A-Trains, that was the Galaxy’s attack. They were especially dangerous when they found space.
It did help that the Galaxy attack was as indecisive as me at a record store on a budget. But Takaoka didn’t have any difficulties making saves and Ranko Veselinovic was like a bulldog with his blocks and clearances. That was another day at the office for the Serbian centre-back.
But it was Pec who broke the deadlock. Reus did an excellent job of keeping the ball.
Vancouver was holding the score down like Phil Swift’s Flex Tape holds down spills. At least they were only down 1-0.
Ryan Gauld and Pedro Vite came on at halftime. As captain, Gauld was trying to steer the ship out of shark-infested waters. But unfortunately, they hit a rock. After some good play in and around the LA box, Alessandro Schöpf made a poor pass intended for Edier Ocampo and Pec went quickly the other way. It looked like the pass was for Jovelic but it went off Sebastian Berhalter and into the net.
But it didn’t take long for Vancouver to get back into the game. Gauld found Berhalter who smartly headed it for Brian White who was poaching and tapped it in past John McCarthy. That is two goals in two games for White since his return to the lineup.
It looked like the momentum was on the Whitecaps side as there was still plenty of time left. But like the Decepticons, the Galaxy wanted to come out and end things with fury.
The Whitecaps continued to push but a bit too much. Their defensive line was really high and against the Galaxy, that is a very, very, dangerous thing. Look at the ball from Puig and Tristan Blackmon was turned around leaving Pec all alone on an island and he easily found Paintsil. It was like the Whitecaps had a nagging feeling they forgot something but then realized it wasn’t important but it was too late.
Transitions killed the Whitecaps all game. Puig even got himself a goal late in the game. He’s one of the best players in MLS for a reason: he’s a dual threat, offensively and defensively dangerous.
The disappointing part about the Whitecaps on Saturday was the fact they had the chance to tie the game after White scored. But small mistakes and defensive lapses ended up costing them.
A small consolation was another Ryan Gauld assist for Sam Adekugbe’s first MLS regular season goal deep into stoppage time. The Galaxy’s weakness was corners and set pieces but it took the Whitecaps 96 minutes to take advantage. Too late, 15 years too late!
It was always going to be tough to beat the Galaxy at Dignity Health Sports Park. After all, the Galaxy are undefeated there. The rotated lineup gamble didn’t pay off and the priority was the Canadian Championship final on Wednesday anyway.
Stat of the match
As good as the Galaxy’s attackers were, there needs to be some credit given to Yoshida. The 36-years-old centre-back made nine clearances against Vancouver according to Fotmob.
What was said
“I’m just a little disappointed because we couldn’t tie,” said Sartini after the match. “I’m really even more disappointed because it happened when we had all the so-called experienced players (on the pitch) instead of the guys that maybe played a little less in the first half. Again, mistakes happen, so it’s OK, we’ll just work on it to be better next game.”
“The next five games are going to decide our season and we knew that we need to go all in and start packing for Wednesday, it’s going to be a community effort, from us, everyone who works for the club and the fans,” said Sartini on the upcoming stretch and Canadian Championship final. “The fans are, in my opinion, going to play a critical role in the next five games to put us in the condition to try to reach the highest position possible and to win a trophy Wednesday.”
White was the only player who spoke to the media.
“Frustrating one, obviously we know the kind of talent that they have, especially going forward, we got to see it really up close and personal today,” he said. “Unfortunately, we’ll look at the errors we made. We allow edthem to have so much space and time to be able to hurt us like that. I think offensively, there are moments where we could have been better with the final pass decision…and be more clinical in the final third. So a lot to learn from this and hopefully we can go into the stretch we have coming up still.”
Best of Twitter
Best All Gas, No Breaks
At this point, I’m not too sure if Johnson is back next season. He has a club option for next year but with Nicolas Fleuriau-Cheateau signed to a pro contract, I’m not too sure. Unfortunately, he didn’t do a whole lot against the Galaxy.
Best momentum killer
It’s crazy how goals in soccer can change the momentum. Before Paintsil’s goal, Adekugbe’s cross just missed White. Now imagine how the game would’ve turned out if White got on the end of it and buried it.
Best reality check
I predicted fifth or sixth at the beginning of the season and it still looks realistic. But since the Western Conference continues to be wild, it is very hard to predict where they will finish. Vancouver currently sits in seventh but is just four points behind third-place Colorado Rapids. (Who beat Toronto FC 2-0 on Saturday.) But they are just four points above Minnesota United who hold the final play-in spot. (They beat Sporting Kansas City 2-0.)
Other notable results include Real Salt Lake and Portland drawing 3-3, FC Dallas beating LAFC 3-1 and Houston Dynamo winning away to Austin 1-0.
Honestly, it would be disappointing if the Whitecaps ended up with one of the play-in spots. Top four is the goal and it is still very doable. However, the stretch ahead is rough. Four out of the five remaining MLS matches are at home and the Whitecaps haven’t been at their best at BC Place this season. They are 6-3-4 at home this season and that puts them at 19th in the league when it comes to home form.
It’s time for some home cooking.
Up next
Kickoff for the Canadian Championship final on Wednesday is at 7:00 pm. Then, the Whitecaps play Portland on Saturday and kickoff for that is at 7:30 pm.