After a rough loss at home to San Diego FC, the Vancouver Whitecaps looked to avoid a third straight loss.
LAFC and Vancouver have met for what has felt like 3000 times across multiple seasons since 2023. BMO Stadium is also a tough ground for any opponent, especially the Whitecaps.
But they tightened up defensively and just needed one goal for a huge win.
First half: Cubas goes down but Whitecaps soldier on
LAFC had the majority of possession early. But the Whitecaps were doing a good job of preventing scoring chances.
There was an early scare. 17 minutes in, Andres Cubas went off injured and had to be replaced by Ralph Priso. It looked like an apparent leg injury. Given the Whitecaps are dealing with international call-ups and injuries, that wasn’t ideal, especially since Cubas is a very important part of the team. Seeing that, Whitecaps fans were getting shaky.
Shortly after, Vancouver drew first blood. Emmanuel Sabbi has struggled offensively in recent matches and he woke up in style. The American took Jeevan Badwal’s excellent pass and Sabbi displayed a great first touch and finish. Now that is more like it!
LAFC usually likes to build out from the back but after conceding, they decided to be more direct. But the Whitecaps maintained their defensive shape and were marking Olivier Giroud, who was playing his last game in the black and gold as he was leaving for Lille.
Vancouver was doing a good job forcing turnovers and not letting LAFC take high-danger shots on Yohei Takaoka. There were also a ton of clearances and blocks in the box and they did a great job of limiting Denis Bouanga and his magic.
The Whitecaps were also patient on their transitions and made sure not to get caught out. The ball movement was fluid but not as frantic.
It is also worth mentioning that Priso did a good job replacing Cubas. Mathias Laborda, Tate Johnson, Ranko Veselinovic and Tristan Blackmon were all immense in the back. Unlike the game against San Diego on Wednesday, the Whitecaps defensive structure did not break.
Second half:
LAFC were not going to down quietly. Early in the second half, they were looking to get behind Vancouver’s high line. Giroud nearly tied the game after receiving Bouanga’s pass. Fortunately, for the Whitecaps, his volley was high.
The match was starting to get chippy. The tackles and fouls were starting to mount close to the 60th minute. The Whitecaps were being pushed back by LAFC and weren’t as lively with the ball and on the transitions as in the first half.
LAFC started to press more and Vancouver had to play a mid-block. They were forcing LAFC to play out wide and pass back and they were doing a solid job of clogging up the space in the middle.
LAFC were also using their speed to cut into the box and find space and also used their overlaps. But Laborda and Johnson were doing an excellent job of cutting them off and were both calm and composed when Bouanga or Javairo Dilrosun cut inside.
No matter what LAFC tried, the Whitecaps were locked in. Their defensive structure was hard for the black and gold to break and it was hard as steel. They found their rhythm defensively and stopped at nothing to keep that rhythm like Andrew playing Caravan in Whiplash.
It is also worth mentioning that Antoine Coupland had another strong cameo off the bench. After scoring against San Diego on Wednesday, the 21-year-old looked lively with the ball and was tough for LAFC’s defenders to bring down.
After the midweek loss to San Diego, this was a huge three points. And this further proved, Vancouver is one of the contenders in MLS.
Stats of the match
Sabbi’s goal was the only shot on target for the Whitecaps in the entire match. Now that is efficiency.
Here is a bonus stat that is quite mindblowing. It turns out the Whitecaps did something at BMO Stadium that is rarely done.
What was said
Whitecaps head coach Jesper Sørensen was very happy with his team’s performance.
“It was a tough game and we also had some difficulties on the way in the first half,” he said. “I think that we exploited the opportunities we had on the right side decently. We had to make some quick substitutions and that disturbed the rhythm a little bit. But we got back over that. I think we played solidly against the ball in most parts of the game.”
He also had high praise for Laborda and Ocampo.
“He’s (Ocampo) not used to playing up there…I think he played well and Mathias played well coming in,” said Sørensen. “It’s always difficult playing up against Denis Buanga because he’s a great player and we have huge respect for him. When you play against a guy like that, you need to be aggressive ( because if you’re passive, he can get into the box and he’s also very good at passing. But still, you cannot be over-aggressive because then if he beats you up. I think Matthias did a very good job today.”
“We were really compact,” said midfielder Jeevan Badwal on the win. “No goals through and Yohei put in an outstanding performance. But not just him, the whole team did really well. Against a top team like LAFC…that’s a really good outcome.”
Tweet of the match
A lot of plaudits has to be given to Priso for coming in for Cubas. He was another huge reason why the likes of Giroud, Bouanga and Timothy Tillman were unable to create high-danger scoring chances.
Last season, he had it rough, but this season, he has improved drastically.
Wrap-up
Vancouver flies back home and then flies back to LA to face the Galaxy. That game takes place on the Fourth of July and kickoff is at 7:30 pm Pacific. Can the Whitecaps start putting a winning streak together and go two for two in the City of Angels? Find out on Friday.
