The Vancouver Whitecaps quest for a fourth straight Voyageurs Cup rolled into Hamilton.
They never faced Forge before. Of course, Forge is the first dynasty in the CPL. They have made every CPL final since the league began in 2019 and won four of them. Currently, Forge is the best team in their league, sitting at the top of the table with an 11-7-0 record. Forge has also gone unbeaten in 21 games across all competitions.
This was the Whitecaps biggest test in the Canadian Championship run. Forge upset CF Montreal in the quarterfinals and looked to do the same to Vancouver in the semis.
The Whitecaps knew Forge couldn’t be taken lightly.
First half: Topsy-Turvy
Forge were hungry from kickoff. They were the ones who drew first blood. Ten minutes in, Bjorn Inge Utvik’s headed clearance was weak, and it fell right to Nana Ampomah. Well, that escalated quickly for Forge.
Vancouver struggled to find their rhythm. The passes weren’t quite at head coach Jesper Sørensen’s tempo as they were all over the place.
Fortunately, the Whitecaps woke up. Sebastian Berhalter’s free kick wasn’t cleared, and he found Utvik and Tristan Blackmon in the box. Utvik positioned himself well, and Blackmon made no mistake with the header. That’ll do.
Vancouver started looking like a car after an oil change. They were finding and exploiting spaces in and around the box and were making quick passes on the transition. That was the Whitecaps that have been seen all season.
The transitions looked sharp. Jayden Nelson found Brian White for a picture-perfect pass, and the American international wasn’t missing from there.
Forge wasn’t going away quietly into the night. Neither was Utvik, but for the wrong reasons. The Norwegian defender made a terrible mistake with the ball, and Brian Wright easily beat Boehmer. Looks like the car was still rusty.
This was an entertaining 45 minutes. But there were mistakes from both sides defensively. The Whitecaps looked composed in the midfield and the attack, but lacked it in the defence. This was still anyone’s game and tie.
Second half: Tight, Tight, Tight
There was a slight scare early in the half for Whitecaps fans as White looked to have hurt his hamstring. However, the OneSoccer broadcast said that while there was hamstring tightness, the change was precautionary. Phew.
Then there was another scare. Blackmon made an excellent and well-timed tackle on Wright in the box. It looked like the 29-year-old hurt his shoulder but was OK to continue. Double phew. Also, that looked like it could’ve been a penalty, about 50/50. Triple phew.
Forge was pressing to go ahead, and the Whitecaps had a hard time getting a shot on Forge goalkeeper Jassem Koleiat. This game continued to be so tight, like a playoff game.
There were rough tackles. This game was physical, and both teams were cautious with the ball and pressed like there was no tomorrow.
For the Whitecaps, there were good things and stuff to work on for leg two.
Stat of the match
Blackmon made 11 passes into the final third according to Fotmob. That’s pretty good for a centre-back!
Tweet of the match
Maybe that was Tim Ford disguised as Utvik. All jokes aside, it is clear that Utvik has to be better with Ranko Veselinovic done for the season. Plus, a new centre-back can’t come soon enough.
Wrap-up
The Whitecaps and Forge play leg two of this tie on September 16 at BC Place. That feels like a thousand years away.
Vancouver returns to MLS action as they host the Houston Dynamo at BC Place on Sunday. Kickoff is at 6 pm Pacific.
Oh, and by the way, Thomas Müller will make his debut as a Whitecap in that match. He arrived in Vancouver on Wednesday afternoon while the Whitecaps were playing Forge. It is safe to say he arrived with a ton of fanfare as swarms of fans and media were at YVR to see the German legend arrive.
Müller will also be unveiled to the media on Thursday morning at 9 AM. He will join Sørensen and Whitecaps sporting director and CEO Axel Schuster for a press conference on the fifth floor of the Telus Garden tower in Downtown Vancouver.
With Müller now in the fold, the Whitecaps and their fans have trophies in their sights.
