The Vancouver Whitecaps began their quest for a fourth straight Canadian Championship title. Only Toronto FC has done that, and they did so from 2009 to 2012.
The first stop was Winnipeg’s Princess Auto Stadium to play Valour in the first leg of the quarterfinals. As expected, Vancouver head coach Jesper Sørensen put out a heavily rotated squad. It had been ages since Damir Kreilach started a game, and Belal Halbouni and Jeevan Badwal were getting rare starts as well.
Full-backs Sam Adekugbe and Mathias Laborda were still coming back to match fitness after injuries, and they started as well.
Valour came into this game after beating TSS Rovers in the preliminary round of the Canadian Championship. In the CPL, they are tied for last with a 1-1-4 record.
First half: Good start, not a good finish
It didn’t take long for the Whitecaps to hit the ground running. This goal came quicker than an order at McDonald’s.
A sneaky free kick eventually led to a banger of a volley from Adekugbe. It was almost like the Whitecaps stopped time with this free kick and caused Valour to freeze.
Vancouver continued to win the ball back and dominate possession. But after the 30th minute, there was some naive defending from the Whitecaps, and Valour had a couple of good looks.
That naivety ended up costing the blue and white, and Rocco Romeo managed to head in the corner despite all the bodies around Isaac Boehmer. The Whitecaps goalkeeper got a yellow card for complaining, but he probably should’ve stayed on his line, as his movement blocked his view. Sloppy one for Vancouver to give up.
The Whitecaps started off well, but some sloppiness cost them in the later stages of the half. There also needed to be better looks in the final third.
Second half: Caught chasing but managed to tie it
It looked like Valour were blasted out of a cannon at the restart because they came out firing.
One could argue that there should have been a foul before Valour started the transition. Regardless, the Whitecaps were caught chasing, and Bruno Figuerido fired a missile past Boehmer.
Vancouver’s attack struggled. Emmanuel Sabbi, in particular, was having a rough match, and Jayden Nelson didn’t look as effective as he was in previous games. Kreilach looked like the football had left him.
Ali Ahmed, Sebastian Berhalter, Brian White, Ranko Veselinovic, and Giuseppe Bovalina came on to spark something for the Whitecaps. It was a chippy half and the referee made some questionable calls.
Luckily, Ahmed came to the rescue. He did a very good job of preventing the clearance with this nice turn, and the shot was even better.
But the story of the game was that the Whitecaps just couldn’t get that killer instinct, and the defending and Boehmer lacked composure at times. You’ve got to give credit to Valour for their valiant effort, too. The team that is tied for the worst record in the CPL went toe to toe with a CONCACAF Champions Cup finalist. They looked like they wanted it more and looked more threatening than the Whitecaps in front of the goal.
Sørensen said last Saturday’s 0-0 draw in Austin was the worst performance of the season. Tuesday evening’s performance in Winnipeg seems to have been worse.
Stat of the match
According to FotMob, Jeevan Badwal was the most fouled player on the pitch. He was fouled five times. The 19-year-old was solid in the midfield and was a calm presence in a chaotic game.
What was said
“Scored the first goal and then, I think maybe took our foot off the pedal, and I think their quality showed,” said Ahmed on the game. “I think it was an equal game…Second half, after tying it up… we were pushing for a third, but they were as advertised. Nothing unexpected.”
“I think it was a typical away cup game where we came off to a good start and controlled the game well, and then it was like we got played behind a couple of times,” said Sørensen. “Valour got some confidence out of their set pieces; they scored on one as well. I think they brought all the physicality that they could and should in a game like this. I think it’s a normal thing that you end up in a scrappy game like this, where your opponents are doing very well, also they played with a little bit more freedom than normal in the competition. So yeah, we were not able to play fast enough to play out of the duels and behind them, so that caused us a lot of trouble.”
Sørensen spoke about the rotated side.
“People get valuable minutes,” he said. “I think I was quite happy with Jeevan’s [Badwal] performance today. I think that he looked very good. He hasn’t been playing that much, and he played very well. Also, it’s been a while since we started both Mathías [Laborda] and Sam [Adekugbe], so it was good for them as well. I think I was quite happy with what we got out of the game. Of course, I would have loved to win. I would have loved that we played a little better with a better connection, but we didn’t. But that’s sometimes how it is. Also, credit for Valour for playing a very good game tactically against us.”
Wrap-up
That is three straight draws for the Whitecaps in all competitions. Should we be concerned? Yes, but the panic button should be left alone for now.
This part of the season and the next few months are always tough. It is unrealistic to expect the Whitecaps to keep up the form they have been in for the whole season. The Champions Cup final is less than a couple of weeks away, more midweek MLS games will happen, and in the summer and fall, more Canadian Championship games will. What separates a good team from a bad one is how they handle adversity, and the Whitecaps are facing their first real test of it.
It is strange to see that the Whitecaps can beat Inter Miami but can’t beat Valour. But there is still the second leg to be played at BC Place, and that will take place on…July 9. Got to love this scheduling!
But the fact that three straight draws are considered a loss of form goes to show the standards have been raised with this club. Years ago, three straight draws would have been seen as a success. The good news out of all of this is the Whitecaps are now 13 games unbeaten across all competitions.
Vancouver will look to keep that streak going as they travel to Utah to face Real Salt Lake on Saturday. Kickoff is at 6:30 pm Pacific.
