Report and Reaction: Ten-man Whitecaps denied number one seeding in the MLS West in controversial home defeat to Dallas

It’s the hope that gets you. That and questionable refereeing.

Vancouver Whitecaps headed into the final match of the MLS regular season knowing they needed just a point against FC Dallas to secure first place in the MLS West and the number one seeding that went with it. They came out of it pointless, second in the standings, and facing a much tougher path to the MLS Cup. And probably with a giant chip on their shoulder and point to prove too.

Dallas came to Vancouver fighting for their playoff lives. They knew that depending on other results, a loss in this game could see them miss the postseason altogether. Even a draw might do it. They came with fight and they showed it right to the very end, denying the Whitecaps time and time again in the second half to come away with a very hard fought 2-1 victory and setting up a first round best-of-three series with Vancouver.

Mathias Laborda’s controversial sending off 11 minutes in the game changed the dynamic of the match. Dallas capitalised seven minutes later when Osaze Urhoghide headed home a corner, but Vancouver weren’t going to go without a fight and Thomas Müller leveled from the spot in the 28th minute. The Whitecaps dominated play despite being down a man, but Kaick Ferreira’s goal two minutes into the second half put Dallas back into the lead and they withheld an intense amount of pressure to see out the match and come away with the massive victory.

With everyone back from international duty and some injuries starting to clear up, Jesper Sorensen made two changes from the side that started last week’s dramatic late win Orlando. Drama seems to follow Vancouver around and it soon played out in this one.

After a strong start, the Whitecaps’ gameplan came undone when Laborda brought down Samuel Sarver as he chased down a long ball. Referee Allan Chapman gave the foul and booked the Uruguayan. Then, two and a half minutes after the incident and with Dallas waiting to take the free kick, the man in the middle was called over for a video review and Laborda was given a straight red for the denial of a goalscoring opportunity.

While I can see arguments for both a red and a yellow in the initial tackle, there is nothing in the footage that shows enough to make it clear and obvious to overturn the on-pitch decision for me. The fact it took so long to call Chapman over also clearly implies it was not clear and obvious. What it was, was very costly to the ‘Caps.

A make up call for Dallas after some controversial officiating the week before, akin to Vancouver getting a helping hand after the Tim Ford fiasco in San Jose? A midweek apology for the wrong decision won’t fly again with what was at stake. The Whitecaps are looking to appeal the card, but we’ll see where that goes.

Up a man, Dallas sensed their opportunity and they took it.

After Yohei Takaoka denied Sarver with a big leg save in the 16th minute, Dallas won a corner two minutes later, which Orhoghide got his head onto and headed home the opener through a crowd of bodies to give the visitors the lead.

But as we’ve seen so many times this year, the Whitecaps picked themselves up, dusted themselves down, and dominated possession, and they got their reward in the 28th minute after Emmanuel Sabbi was brought down in the box.

The Whitecaps winger got the better of Lalas Abubakar and was sent crashing to the deck for a clear foul.

But should it have been a red too? The new double jeopardy rules don’t seem to apply here as Abubakar clearly played the man and not the ball and seemed to make no attempt to get the ball, denying a clear goalscoring opportunity.

The Whitecaps complained, but no further action was taken, and up stepped Müller to blast home the equaliser from the spot.

The ‘Caps came close to going ahead in the 41st minute when Sebastian Berhalter’s fierce drive grazed the top of the crossbar and flew over.

Dallas then had a chance to head in at half time with the lead on a two-on-one counter attack eight minutes into stoppage time. Bernard Kamungo was in on goal, but Takaoka came up with a huge stop to deny him and the teams went in all tied up at one apiece.

It took Dallas less than 90 seconds after the restart to find the go-ahead goal and what also proved to be the match winner.

The Whitecaps were unable to clear the ball, allowing Sarver to cut it back to Ferreira to drill home from 12 yards out.

After that it was total Vancouver dominance. They threw everything at the Dallas goal but it led a charmed life, surviving close calls, last gasp defensive clearances, and some superb goalkeeping from Collodi to see the Texas side over the line and into the playoffs. That’s the good news for them, the bad news is they’ll be facing a highly motivated Vancouver side.

This loss hit hard. It would be easy to feel all the good work getting to this point had been undone, but that’s the small picture take on it. The big picture is one that has seen the Whitecaps perform way above expectations, setting numerous club records along the way, and although they fell at the final hurdle on Decision Day, they are in a very strong position for the postseason to come. No-one will want to play against this team and they have the chance for instant revenge against Dallas.

If that series was over and done in two matches, no-one would be surprised. Now they need to go out there and do it.

FINAL SCORE: Vancouver Whitecaps 1 – 2 FC Dallas

ATT: 26,741

VANCOUVER: 1.Yohei Takaoka; 18.Édier Ocampo (59.Jeevan Badwal HT), 12.Belal Halbouni, 2.Mathías Laborda, 28.Tate Johnson (25.Ryan Gauld 82’); 16.Sebastian Berhalter, 20.Andrés Cubas; 11.Emmanuel Sabbi (75.Rayan Elloumi 73’), 13.Thomas Müller, 22.Ali Ahmed (17.Kenji Cabrera 82’); 14.Daniel Ríos (6.Ralph Priso 13’) [Substitutes not used: 32.Isaac Boehmer, 7.Jayden Nelson, 23.Joedrick Pupe, 27.Giuseppe Bovalina]

DALLAS: 30.Michael Collodi; 18.Shaq Moore, 3.Osaze Orhoghide, 25.Sebastian Ibeagha, 5.Lalas Abubakar (24.Joshua Torquato 65’); 77.Bernard Kamungo (32.Nolan Norris 80’), 55.Kaick Ferreira (19.Paxton Pomykal 80’), 12.Christian Cappis, 6.Patrickson Delgado (20.Pedrinho 34’); 28.Samuel Sarver (50.Diego García 80’), 11.Anderson Julio [Substitutes not used: 1.Maarten Paes, 8.Sebastian Lletget, 22.Álvaro Augusto, 99.Enes Sali]

SCORING SUMMARY:
18’ – DAL – Osaze Orhoghide (Patrickson Delgado)
28’ – VAN – Thomas Müller (penalty kick)
47’ – DAL – Kaick Ferreira (Samuel Sarver)

STATS:
Possession: VAN 63.5% – DAL 36.5%
Shots: VAN 18 – DAL 11
Shots on Goal: VAN 7 – DAL 7
Saves: VAN 5 – DAL 6
Fouls: VAN 11 – DAL 17
Offsides: VAN 0 – DAL 1
Corners: VAN 8 – DAL 6

CARDS:
2’ – VAN – Édier Ocampo
11’ – VAN – Mathías Laborda (Red)
27’ – DAL – Lalas Abubakar
45’+1 – DAL – Anderson Julio
71’ – DAL – Bernard Kamungo
89’ – DAL – Osaze Orhoghide

REACTION:

VANCOUVER WHITECAPS

JESPER SORENSEN

On tonight’s match:

“That was a little bit of a rollercoaster in the game here. I think we came actually out quite strong, I think we got quite hard punishment at the beginning with the yellow card to Édier [Ocampo]. And in a game like this, we’re very cautious, that’s also why we took him out at halftime, we didn’t want an extra [red card]. And then of course, the one for Mathías [Laborda], they looked at it many times and figured it was a red card and, you know, that’s how it is. But I think after the first couple minutes after the red card we got control over the game and did well. Of course, they scored quite soon after on a set-play, where we made an adjustment to take Daniel [Ríos] out pretty early and we put in Ralph [Priso]. There was a miscommunication on the first corner kick, on the back stick, but apart from that we took over the game and the players played really well, with a lot of passion, and also with a lot of energy. And then, I think coming out strong in the second half, but also made a mistake from when they played under us from the right side and the ball came out and back in. Then it was about if we could score from then on. I think we were close, we had opportunities, we couldn’t really take them today. We’ve been good at also, late in the game, getting a goal back, but we couldn’t do it today but overall, I think we looked strong 10 against 11, and I think that it was an exciting game.”

On reflecting on the regular season:

“[The season was] memorable in many ways, in many good ways, in the season so far, it’s not over. But it’s a season where players have done amazing, everybody around the team has been very good. We have developed ourselves in both individual players and also as a team. And I think its been very pleasing to see the way we play, with the connection we now have also to our home fans and everybody in the city of Vancouver. I think there’s excitement around the Whitecaps and I’m very happy for that, I think the players deserve it. It’s been a season with a lot of highs and a couple of lows, but a season that I think has been very good so far. We’re not over, and we’re looking forward for the last part of it.”

MIDFIELDER THOMAS MÜLLER

On his team’s performance tonight:

“We had still a great game. We outplayed a team with almost 80 minutes 10 versus 11. I know the result was not for us, I know that we did mistakes, as we do in every game, maybe in this game we got punished for it. We had big chances to equalize the game. I don’t like to talk a lot about the ref, but there were two or three situations, I think, if he were to watch it back, maybe he should decide differently. But it is what it is. In the end, I’m proud of this team. Normally, I’m not used to playing these kinds of games, [where] if you are one man down, you still get your opponent in so many situations suffering. We had way more energy, the only problem maybe I have with us is that sometimes I have the feeling we need this pinch, [like] we need to be back 1-0 to get more courage, to be more brave, to take, not risky decisions, but maybe just a better one. That we are maybe way more aggressive. The first five minutes we were quite good, then we did the mistake. I’m not sure if it has to be a red card, maybe, but it was still a good game. If you watch it back I think that it was a better game than, I don’t know, Portland at home. In the end it doesn’t matter. I feel still very confident. We wanted to be first in the Western Conference, but life is like it is. You have to accept sometimes some results. You can only control how you approach a game and not what kind of results you get. And that’s it. I told the boys ‘put the heads up, it’s not a bad day for us’. I think it showed still how good we are and we can build on that more than we should take it as a setback.”

On his first upcoming playoff experience:

“I’m used to the North American sports like, minimum best of three series. So for me it’s more a surprise that the next steps in the playoffs are only one game, only one knockout game, because I like it if I watch NBA games and the teams, after the first or the second game, they adapt in their matchups, they try to find different solutions. So that’s kind of fan interesting thing, so I like it. But in the end, it is what it is, we only have the next series with us, Best-of-3. With us, it’s even a best of four, because we played them today to get a feeling for each other. Even if [tonight] was a special game because we were such a long time one man down. But I’m looking forward to it in the end. It’s about winning these games, proceeding in the playoffs, getting from round to round. Getting also this feeling for this excitement to have knockout games – ‘go big or go home’. In the end it’s every time on the edge, that’s also really nice, I love that. But you can lose. You can lose, it’s part of the game, you can lose but we won’t.”

FC DALLAS

HEAD COACH ERIC QUILL

On the match tonight:

“We had belief in ourselves. We knew what was at stake. We knew we were playing arguably the best team in the league, and it was going to take a huge performance and mentality to do what we did. Obviously, the red card affects the game, and I’m pretty impressed with who Vancouver was with 10 guys. As honest as you could ever ask, and they still have a lot of quality to themselves. But our guys when we gave up the goal for them to go 1-1, I think the crowd got into it, and we were on our back heel a little bit, even up a man. In the second half, I was proud of our return to being up a man, and our mentality to find the second goal right away. And then the fight at the end of the game, when they’re knocking on the door and our guys are giving everything of themselves, slide tackling, aerial presence, and fighting to just secure the win. I was just proud of that warrior effort that they gave.”

On what it means to make the playoffs:

“We have fans back home that pay to come see us play, and they watch us with everything that they have, and we want to represent our fans and the city of Dallas. We want to fight and be a club that they’re proud of. And I think that if they’re watching over the last three months and what we’ve become, they should be really proud of the efforts and the steps we’ve made to be where we are, and we deserve to be where we are. I’m grateful, I’m happy and these guys deserve all the credit, because their mentality and their efforts is what why we’re here. So I’m just a fan of what we’re doing right now.”

GOALKEEPER MICHAEL COLLODI

On clinching a spot in the playoffs:

“It’s a team effort, from front to back. Everyone just worked their tail off, and credit to Vancouver because they are a good side. It took the starting 11 and the guys that came off the bench as well. I am super proud of this team and we will see them (Vancouver) again in the playoffs.”

On the ups and downs of the season:

“It’s been a really long season full of ups and downs. There were player changes, new coaches and staff changes as well. We found a way to get it done and that is something we players take pride in. We find ways to win games, find a way to get into the playoffs and avoid the wildcard game, plus make a run in the playoffs.”

DEFENDER SHAQ MOORE

On making the playoffs:

“It’s a big moment for us. We had a lot of ups and downs this season with a new group of players and coaches. Hats off to the team and coaches for coming together at the right time after having a year like the way we did. To culminate like this is great for the team. We are looking forward to the playoffs, and we will be ready to take on Vancouver again in the playoffs.”

On the mentality heading into playoffs:

“It feels good. We take what we get. If we had a loss, tie or win, we would’ve just played our game and played wherever we had to in the playoffs. Luckily we came away with the win and we will take that too. Any opponent we were to face in the playoffs is going to be difficult. We are not writing off Vancouver, we know they are a good team and they will make adjustments for the playoffs and so will we next time we play each other.”