Apparently, being forced to play during international windows is not a good idea. Who would have thought?
Down five players due to the Gold Cup, the Vancouver Whitecaps were handed their second loss of the season as the Columbus Crew won 2-1 at home.
Whitecaps head coach Jesper Sørensen credited the “structure” of his opponent in their win.
“[The Crew] has a clear identity of how they play. And I think it’s a difficult team to play,” he said.
However, Sørensen believed his team did well given the circumstances of player call-ups, travel and environment.
“I think we did reasonably well,” he said. “We made a couple of mistakes that they made us pay for, and that’s what happens in football. But I think that we gave them a good match in the end. I’m pleased with the performance from the team.”
Sorensen opted for a similar formation as last week, a 5-4-1 or a 3-4-3, depending on how you interpret it.
The backline trio of Ranko Veselinović, Tristan Blackmon and Bjørn Inge Utvik held Seattle to no shots on target. They would be looking to replicate that same form.
With Andrés Cubas back from international duty, golden boy Jeevan Badwal was put on the bench.
Rios continued with his spot up front as both Brian White (international duty) and Damir Kreilach (injury) were unavailable.
Columbus got to work early. Lassi Lappalainen found space behind Édier Ocampo to run into the 18-yard box along the byline. He spied Ibrahim Aliyu, his wingback counterpart on the left, cut inside.
The wingback-to-wingback pass caught the Whitecaps off-guard and gave the home side the early lead two minutes in.
But the Whitecaps responded perfectly. In the sixth minute, Mathías Laborda found Daniel Ríos as he moved into the 18-yard box through the middle.
The Mexican striker hit the one-timed shot, and while the goal was originally given to him, J.C. Ngando had a touch on the way. The goal was reassigned to Ngando later in the match.
The Crew regained the lead in the 23rd minute after a poor touch by Blackmon was jumped on by Daniel Gadzag.
“Tristan made a mistake and he’s the guy that’s most upset and sad about that,” Sørensen said of the Whitecaps centre-back. “Apart from that, I think he played a very good game. I think he played with high quality. He’s always adding something to our game.”
The Hungarian got the ball over to Diego Rossi, who moved in all alone on Yohei Takaoka, easily beating the Whitecaps’ keeper.
The Crew believed they had a third goal in the 58th minute. Mo Farsi’s pass to Aziel Jackson gave the attacker the easy tap-in, but the referee, Guido Gonzalez, was called to the pitch-side monitor.
After the review, it was deemed offside.
Columbus had another two goals chalked off to offside. But late flags confused both players and fans alike.
Neither side was able to get past the goalkeepers or the referees. Columbus took the 2-1 win, handing the Whitecaps their second loss of the season.
Debuts for Selemani, Elloumi
Late in the second half, Whitecaps Academy products and current Whitecaps 2 players Johnny Selemani and Rayan Elloumi were brought on.
Both were first-team debuts.
“We’ve seen in training sessions that they do everything they can and have very good talent and promise,” Sørensen said.
The head coach was quick to mention the age of the two debutants and said he wanted to help manage their growth and not give too much, too soon.
“I have to be realistic about what I believe they can put on the pitch.”
Up next
The Whitecaps have an 11-day gap between this and their next match, a home game against San Diego FC.
That match is on Wednesday, June 25. Kickoff is at 7:30 p.m.
