It’s confirmed; the Vancouver Whitecaps are in a slump. After being handed a 5-3 loss by San Diego FC tonight, that is three losses in their last four matches in all competitions.
A four-goal night from Milan Iloski summed up the night for the visitors.
The Whitecaps had spells throughout the match where they were effective in implementing their game plan, but for two 15-minute stretches on either side of the half, the entire match was undone.
Whitecaps head coach Jesper Sørensen called San Diego “very proactive.”
“We had the strategy of going up and pressing high because we know they can be very solid on the ball,” he said.
The first started positively for the Whitecaps. Play was quick and fluid through the wings.
However, it did not last. San Diego asserted themselves physically and in particular, in the midfield. Andrés Cubas, Ralph Priso and Jeevan Badwal looked disjointed at times, occupying the same place in a tightly packed group rather than playing to cover the width.
The Whitecaps tried to control build-up by playing out of the back, but it ended up being to their detriment. Iloski jumped on a poor pass and quickly reversed the traffic, heading back into Vancouver’s 18-yard box.
Yohei Takaoka was able to save the initial shot but could only parry it away. The San Diego forward grabbed his rebound and slotted it back past the prone goalkeeper in the 35th minute.
Iloski added a second two minutes later as he broke through with another San Diego attacker. Only Johnson was back, and the left-back could not manage the two coming towards him.
Iloski’s shot gave Takaoka no chance.
The Whitecaps thought they found a path back into the match late in the half in the 43rd minute. Pedro Vite played an excellent back across the box to Édier Ocampo, who hit the mid-air volley past CJ Dos Santos.
But as the announcer relayed the goal, Iloski completed the hat-trick, a beautiful headed effort just a minute later. Anders Dreyer’s cross was a well-placed effort for the forward.
It was the first hat-trick in San Diego’s short history.
“I think we were reacting very, very poorly on goals in this game,” Sorensen said. “They scored one, boom. They scored again. We scored. Boom. They scored.”
It was a gut punch to the Whitecaps, who believed they had cut the lead for the visitors in half.
As play resumed, San Diego carried on where they had left off. Iloski had his fourth goal two minutes into the half.
Dreyer played the ball up, intending for Alex Mighten, but the winger smartly let it continue to Iloski. It was a simple tap-in past Takaoka after that.
Second-half substitute Mathías Laborda brought the deficit within two with a well-placed goal in the 66th minute. Vite’s ball cut through traffic inside the 18-yard box to find the fullback moving inside.
“We adjusted things at half-time, but I think we dug ourselves too deep a hole,” Sørensen said.
Tristan Blackmon had a chance to move the Whitecaps within one with a solid header, but he was wide of the mark.
Instead, San Diego added a fifth goal at the edge of stoppage time. A poor clearance by Takaoka was grabbed by Tomás Ángel, who rounded the keeper and passed it into the net.
Whitecaps’ sub, Antoine Coupland, handed his MLS debut, and got a goal late into stoppage time for a silver lining to the game. But at that point, it was done.
Up next
The next six MLS matches will be played on the road. First up is a trip to Los Angeles to take on LAFC on June 29.
Kickoff is at 6:30 p.m.
