Like comic book villains that will just not die, the Vancouver Whitecaps knew they were in for a hard-fought battle in Round One of the MLS Cup Playoffs against LAFC.
Unfortunately, the villains took the first match, a 2-1 win at home leaving the underdog Whitecaps with everything to do back in Vancouver.
But Vancouver never felt outdone by their opposition. A lack of taking their chances as they presented themselves and the strength of LAFC’s transition game led to the Whitecaps head coach calling it “a game of inches.”
The Whitecaps knew the lessons given to them by LAFC over the past couple of years and did not want to end up on the receiving end of a shellacking.
And though it was a small sample size, Sartini opted for the same formation as the Portland Timbers match.
It seemed to pay off early. Over the first 20 minutes, the Whitecaps were pragmatic in defence but inventive in attack.
In the seventh minute, Stuart Armstrong unlocked Brian White with a great pass in between defenders to find the American striker all alone inside the 18-yard box. White’s shot beat Hugo Lloris but could not beat the far post.
Armstrong was involved again in the 14th minute with a similar pass to White again. However, this time the American played the ball to the side of Ali Ahmed. The Canadian cycled back to Armstrong who went laterally to Pedro Vite at the top of the 18-yard box.
The Ecuadorian’s shot beat Lloris but went just wide of the post.
It was a positive start to the match for the Whitecaps.
However, for all their work, it was LAFC that opened the scoring. Mateusz Bogusz’s shot hit Tristan Blackmon on the arm.
No call was initially given, but VAR intervened to stop the play and refer referee Jair Marrufo to the pitch-side monitor.
The play was brought back and the penalty was given. Denis Bouanga stepped up and put LAFC up by one in the 30th minute.
Ryan Gauld had a chance late in the half with a free kick in an enviable position. The captain got it over the wall but hit the crossbar.
LAFC added a second ten minutes into the second half. Cristian Olivera beat Yohei Takaoka from about eight yards out after receiving a quality pass from Mateusz Bogusz.
The home side controlled much of the second half with Bogusz dominating the play. LAFC never looked as though they were w forced off their game.
“The rhythm that they play here is so high that 60 minutes look like 85 minutes in some other places,” Sartini said of LAFC.
However, the Whitecaps did make it interesting in the dying minutes of stoppage time as Gauld got the visitors on the scoresheet.
But despite a nervous last minute, nothing else was added. And with no aggregate score in the draw, the final go goes into the records as a footnote and not something potentially more.
Only one change from the Portland line-up
The emphatic 5-0 win in the Western Conference Wildcard spot over Portland Timbers gave a much-needed boost to the confidence of the players.
It was enough for Sartini to keep the same formation but add a minor change by bringing in Ahmed instead of Fafà Picault.
“I think Ali did well, and he was very instrumental, especially in the first half,” Sartini said. “He was very good at defending, helping Mathías [Laborda] against Bouanga in the first half.”
Sartini said the second match will not necessarily have the same setup.
Up next
The second match of the Best-of-Three is on Sunday, Nov. 3. Kick-off is at 5:45 p.m.
