After a pitiful performance in LA against the Galaxy, the Vancouver Whitecaps returned home to BC Place.
They weren’t facing an MLS team, but a CPL team. Vancouver was meeting Valour in the second leg of their Canadian Championship quarterfinal. If you forgot this game was happening or the first leg even happened, don’t worry, we did too. May 25 was the first leg and the Whitecaps drew to Valour in Winnipeg. A lot has changed since then.
But time and time again upsets happen in the Canadian Championship and in cup competitions around the world. CF Montreal were knocked out of the Canadian Championship by Forge earlier on Wednesday. (Montreal’s season goes from garbage to garbage on fire, though that is putting it lightly.) The Whitecaps have been victims of the CPL upset before. They lost to Cavalry at BC Place in 2019 and to Pacific FC in 2021 at Starlight Stadium. The latter marked the end of then-head coach Marc Dos Santos. His brother and assistant Phil was let go too. Now, he is Valour’s head coach.
But current Whitecaps head coach Jesper Sørensen and his squad wanted to bounce back after the loss to the Galaxy and from the first leg. Valour is currently second last in the CPL with a 2-2-8 record and they are one of two teams in league history to have never made the playoffs. The other is Vancouver FC.
The Whitecaps were David and Valour was Goliath. But Vancouver had to make sure they didn’t underestimate Valour and get a stone in their eye like Goliath did against David.
It turns out Sørensen wasn’t messing around. He started Brian White, who was back from Gold Cup duty with the US. White barely played in the Gold Cup, so he was fit and ready to go.
It was a strong lineup despite the rotation. So there was no reason for the Whitecaps, to not win right?
First half: It was…a half with bark but no bite
The Whitecaps did a good job pressing and keeping the ball in Valour’s half. But it seemed Valour anticipated it as they were dropping back in a low block.
Vancouver was doing a good job of going deep into the box. But they weren’t doing a good job of testing Valour goalkeeper Eleias Himaras. Daniel Rios’ shot from distance just went wide of the left post. White also had a close-range shot, but he skied it over the bar. Usually, he buries those and maybe he was rusty after mostly sitting on the bench for the US at the Gold Cup?
Still, the Whitecaps were like Jason Voorhees lurking and ready to pounce on his next victim. A goal was coming.
Valour was trying to beat Vancouver on the counter-attack. Fortunately, Ranko Veselinovic and Bjorn Inge Utvik did their jobs on the backline.
They were doing a lot right but there were some bad touches and some moments where the shot came too late or didn’t happen at all. It was a good half, but it was all bark and no bite.
Second half: We’re so back to it’s so over to we’re so back again
To add spark in the midfield, Sørensen took off Jeevan Badwal for Sebastian Berhalter at the half.
From the moment the second half kicked off, Edier Ocampo was getting noticed. He had a quiet first half but early in the second half, he was speeding down the right flank and making moves on the Valour defenders.
The Whitecaps were pushing again. They were swarming the box like a bunch of hornets and Rios had a couple of grade-A chances. However, his touch failed him on the first one and his shot went off the defender on the second. Nelson nearly got himself a highlight on Sportscentre with a spin move on the Valour defender but his shot was wide. He even was denied by the hands of Himaras.
They were dominating possession. Surely they would score? But the final touch kept eluding them. A goal was there and in their sights, but they took time searching like Hwang Jun-ho finding the island in Squid Game.
The goal finally came in the 79th minute thanks to a bullet of a shot from Emmanuel Sabbi, who came on as a sub. Berhalter also made a huge difference, it was nice to have him back. Veselinovic got the assist and he became the 17th different Whitecaps all season to get an assist in all competitions.
And…the Whitecaps had to ruin it. Just a few minutes after Sabbi scored, Valour had a corner kick. The defending was messy in the box and substitute Jevontae Layne managed to head it in. That was Valour’s first shot on target because, of course, it had to be. It felt like the Whitecaps of old again.
But in soccer and in sports, things can change in a flash. Nelson was flying all game and he finally had a goal contribution to his name and it couldn’t have come at a better time. His cross found Utvik and his header beat Himaras. The Whitecaps had the lead again and that was Utvik’s first goal as a Whitecap. Vancouver went from we’re so back, to it’s so over, to we’re so back again in a matter of minutes. Sports, man.
It wasn’t easy and it was messy at times, but the Whitecaps advanced to the semi-finals of the Canadian Championship once again
Stat of the match
The Whitecaps finished the game with 71% possession and Valour only managed 29% according to FotMob.
What was said
“It was a normal cup game, hats off to our opponents,” said Sørensen after the match. “They did everything they should, everything they were supposed to do to make it very hard for us. That’s how cup football is, it can be difficult at times.”
“You know that you want to win the game and you want to protect the lead a little bit if you get the lead late. Then we played a little bit in between and didn’t commit fully to the attack, but didn’t commit fully to going backward either, So it was a little trickier when they scored, and of course that was a tough one. Also, maybe a corner kick we shouldn’t have given away, but that’s just how it is. It’s like the Pumas game where they didn’t have much and then they had a corner kick, then we were able to strike back. That’s cup football, it’s back and forth and a lot of nerves, because it is decisive and I’m very happy for the win.”
“I think we played well,” said Nelson. “It’s difficult breaking down a back five the whole game…With these matches, it’s a mental game.”
“We’re an experienced group. , I can’t say much, but this group has been together for a very long time. I think that’s one of the reasons why we can come back in the games and we know that we’re able to bounce back.”
Tweet of the match
Should anyone be surprised FOX got the wrong Vancouver team? No.
Wrap-up
The Whitecaps made this tie harder than it needed to be. The second leg was better than the first. Sure, they should have blown Valour out, but the final third could have been better. In the end, what mattered was that they advanced.
As a result, the Whitecaps will face Forge in the semi-finals. The first leg is in August while the second is in September. The winner of that tie will face Vancouver FC or Atletico Ottawa with the Whitecaps or Forge hosting. A Lower Mainland final is possible.
It is back to MLS for the Whitecaps this weekend as they will have to brave the altitude and face the Colorado Rapids on Saturday. Kickoff is at 6:30 pm Pacific. Vancouver will hope to get back to form in the league and continue to fight in the Supporters Shield race.
