Report and Reaction: Whitecaps come back from the dead to stun Timbers in Easter miracle

Vancouver Whitecaps produced an Easter miracle at BC Place on Saturday evening, scoring two goals in second half stoppage time to stun the visiting Portland Timbers and come away with a deserved 3-2 victory over their Cascadian rivals.

The Whitecaps dominated the stats sheet, but trailing 2-1 in the 89th minute, things were looking bleak. Edier Ocampo had fired the Whitecaps ahead just six minutes in, but the home side headed in at the break trailing after Juan Mosquera and David Da Costa struck in a late first half push for the Timbers.

The ‘Caps looked dead and buried, but when Antony blocked Ocampo’s fierce shot with his hands in the box, they were given a lifeline and Thomas Müller fired home from the spot in the 91st minute to tie things up. Vancouver weren’t done yet and sensed that victory was within their grasp and it came four minutes later from a superb Sebastian Berhalter shot from the edge of the box.

Portland had put up a solid defensive showing, but had shown little attacking intent in the second half and were punished for it. Vancouver deserved the win and showed that spirit that we saw so much of last year, when you felt no matter the situation, they could get themselves back in the game. It wasn’t a perfect performance, but it was a much needed one that sets them up for this month’s home stand before a tough May on the road.

With Ralph Priso and Andres Cubas both out injured, Jesper Sorensen made a couple of adjustments to his starting line-up but it was a strong Whitecaps team that he put out and they were on the front foot from the start in this one.

And they got the early breakthrough with just six minutes on the clock when ‘Caps keeper Yohei Takaoka sent a long ball forward which Ocampo got on to. The Colombian dragged it inside and easily got past Timbers defender Alex Bonetig, but Portland keeper James Pantemis had flown off his line to try and get to the ball. Ocampo knocked it past him and slotted it home in the bottom left hand corner to put Vancouver one-up.

This should have set Vancouver up for success. They were dominating the game and Portland were looking all at sea as the ‘Caps attacked. Cheikh Sabaly saw an effort saved from Pantemis in the 16th minute but Portland went up the pitch and responded with a chance of their own, with Takaoka saving an Antony header at point blank range.

Pantemis denied Laborda in the 21st minute when he got a leg on a Berhalter free kick, but the flag went up for offside in any case.

The inability to turn their possession and dominance into a second goal came back to haunt the ‘Caps when the Timbers tied things up in the 36th minute.

Berhalter didn’t get enough on a clearance in the ‘Caps penalty box and the ball fell to Mosquera 20-yards out, who lashed an unstoppable shot past Takaoka, and from nowhere, Portland were back on level terms.

That made it three league goals given up by Vancouver, all to stunning strikes from outside the box and it gave Portland a lift.

From nowhere, they became the more dangerous looking side and Takaoka denied Kevin Kelsy, with a save off a header in the 40th minute.

Sabaly saw a shot deflected wide two minutes later, after being played in by Müller, but the Timbers kept pushing and took a shock lead two minutes into first half stoppage time.

Again it came from a weak clearance in the ‘Caps box, with Laborda’s effort falling to Mosquera who threaded it through for Da Costa to finish from a tight angle.

Portland’s celebrations in front of the ‘Caps supporters drew loud boos from the BC Place crowd, but they’d stormed back in style and headed into the break in the lead.

Emmanuel Sabbi came on for AZ Jackson at half time for the ‘Caps and he added some spark to the ‘Caps attack, but without the crucial end product required. The American still hasn’t reached the heights from last season and looked a little out of sorts in front of goal after coming on.

Berhalter saw a shot deflected in the 54th minute, before Pantemis easily held a Brian White header from the subsequent corner. The ‘Caps were looking for a penalty four minutes later when Tate Johnson went over after a push in the box, but after a slight delay for a review, play continued.

Sabbi had a couple of half chances as the hour mark ticked by, first being off balance and unable to get onto a superb pass from Jeevin Badwal and then straying just too far forward as a White cutback went behind him.

Portland were throwing everything in front of Vancouver and defending superbly, blocking shots, cutting out cutbacks, and not allowing the ‘Caps any time or space in the box and as the minutes ticked down it looked like they would be heading back down to Lower Cascadia with all three points.

It wasn’t to be and the ‘Caps found themselves back on level terms a minute into second half stoppage time. Antony blocked a fierce Ocampo shot with raised hands in the box and Joe Dickerson pointed to the spot. Up stepped Müller, who had disappeared for much of the second half, and drilled it down the middle past Pantemis to level the game at two apiece.

The Timbers looked shattered and the Whitecaps smelt blood. Hurrying back to the halfway line, they didn’t just want a share of the points, they wanted all of them. And they got them.

The ‘Caps had a couple of forays forward, but as the seconds ticked down the Timbers had a quick counter of their own that was broken up by a superb challenge from Berhalter on Felipe Mora. Vancouver moved the ball forward and Sabbi’s shot was blocked, falling to Berhalter on the edge of the box and he fired it past Pantemis for the dramatic late winner.

The Timbers weren’t dancing any more.

And it was nearly worse as Bruno Caicedo almost had a debut to remember, cutting through the Portland defence straight from kick off but pulling his effort wide of the right post with the last kick of the game.

A fantastic fight to the very end from Vancouver and while there are certainly a few things you can pick apart from the performance, especially in terms of clearing balls from their own box, closing down on the edge of their penalty area, and either not making the right decisions in the opposition box or not being in the right positions to finish the chances created, they were deserved winners.

In the 89th minute of this one, they were sitting 5th in the MLS Western Conference standings. Six minutes later, they were second in both the West and the Supporters Shield. That’s how crucial every single point is in the league this season. Next up is New York City FC. They need to be more clinical in front of goal, but this will be a massive confidence booster for the team for the months ahead.

FINAL SCORE: Vancouver Whitecaps 3 – 2 Portland Timbers

ATT: 25,465

VANCOUVER: 1.Yohei Takaoka; 18.Édier Ocampo, 33.Tristan Blackmon, 2.Mathías Laborda, 28.Tate Johnson; 59.Jeevan Badwal (19.Rayan Elloumi 82’), 16.Sebastian Berhalter; 7.Cheikh Sabaly (14.Bruno Caicedo 71’), 13.Thomas Müller, 22.AZ (11.Emmanuel Sabbi HT); 24.Brian White [Substitutes not used: 32.Isaac Boehmer, 8.Oliver Larraz, 15.Sebastian Schonlau, 17.Kenji Cabrera, 26.J.C. Ngando, 29.Mihail Gherasimencov]

PORTLAND: 41.James Pantemis; 29.Juan Mosquera (5.Brandon Bye HT), 20.Finn Surman, 6.Alex Bonetig, 27.Jimer Fory; 80.Julio Ortiz (21.Diego Chara 77’), 10.David Da Costa, 30.José Caicedo; 11.Antony, 19.Kevin Kelsy (9.Felipe Mora 65’), 99.Kristoffer Velde (28.Alexander Aravena 82’) [Substitutes not used: 25.Trey Muse, 7.Ariel Lassiter, 15.Eric Miller, 23.Ian Smith, 88.Gage Guerra}

SCORING SUMMARY:
6’ – VAN – Édier Ocampo (Yohei Takaoka, Mathías Laborda)
36’ – POR – Juan Mosquera
45’+2 – POR – David Da Costa (Juan Mosquera)
90’+1 – VAN – Thomas Müller (penalty kick)
90’+5 – VAN – Sebastian Berhalter

STATS:
Possession: VAN 61.1% – POR 38.9%
Shots: VAN 22 – POR 9
Shots on Goal: VAN 9 – POR 4
Saves: VAN 2 – POR 6
Fouls: VAN 15 – POR 11
Offsides: VAN 2 – POR 1
Corners: VAN 7 – POR 2

CAUTIONS:
68’ – VAN – Mathías Laborda
80’ – POR – Diego Chara

REACTION:

VANCOUVER WHITECAPS

JESPER SORENSEN

On the match:

“You can never draw up a game. You can hope for something and prepare for something, but, you know, this game is so unpredictable and I think for a neutral, I think it was very entertaining. I think it was very entertaining for our fans, I think they left the building very happy, and they should because we played a very good game in general. Sitting at halftime being 2-1 down was a little bit, you know, that’s what can happen in this game. And the first goal they scored was an unbelievable strike. And the second goal they scored they took it well and I think we were making a few mistakes in our organizational way of doing it. And they did very well. And all of them were, behind 2-1 at halftime, playing for me a very good first half. And then in the second half, it was about believing and also not stressing the play too much, because we knew that it just takes a little break and we had that break.”

On Bruno Caicedo’s debut:

“Bruno Caicedo’s debut was amazing. He hasn’t been here for long, and everybody could see what he can do. And he was really hungry to make an impact, and he did. And if this is what we can expect from him from the start of his career in Whitecaps [colours], then I think we have exciting things to look forward to. Obviously, this was a little bit of a good moment for him to get in where we could push and he could also do something with the freedom, they didn’t really know about him, but we saw some very good things from him and I was very happy with his debut.”

MIDFIELDER SEBASTIAN BERHALTER

On his late winner:

“I just knew I needed to get into the box, and I just got fortunate that it fell to me. Then once it fell to me, I knew I was going to score. So it’s a good effort from the whole team. Honestly, I just looked at it, that was in the 91st and 95th minute, you know? To score two goals in stoppage time shows a lot. It shows belief, and it shows that we believe in each other and that it doesn’t matter if we’re 2-1 down in the 91st minute, we still have chance, so it’s pretty cool.”

On winning in front of the biggest crowd of the season so far:

“We want to win for them. They kept us going to the last minute, even though we’re down [and needed] two goals. We could hear them and they’re cheering us on to keep going. That’s something we haven’t had in the past and to see that output is awesome. And I just hope they keep coming back and hope they enjoyed the game!”

GOALKEEPER YOHEI TAKAOKA

On the match:

“It’s a massive win for us, and we showed our mentality. We never give up until the end. It’s a massive win, but we have to look back at the end of the first half, we’ve conceded two games in a row. We have to be solid and we can’t allow a goal in the end of the first half. So I think we should be better, but it’s a great win.”

On the confidence in his defenders winning the ball and keeping the ball to prevent the other team from generating chances:

“We’ve been working on it since Jesper came in. We try to dominate the game and try to do that [possession] from the back. They always show themselves to give me an option, so I think it’s easy for me to find them, and I like to play this style.”

PORTLAND TIMBERS

HEAD COACH PHIL NEVILLE

Overall thoughts on the match:

“We were 2-1 up in the 85th minute and the decision doesn’t go our way. Ultimately that’s what cost us the game. That decision. Super proud of the players. I think we had to dig in for the first 15 minutes. I didn’t think we played the way that I wanted us to play. And then I thought we gained some momentum, some composure, some control. Two really, really special goals. I knew second half was going to be another difficult game on the road, and we dug in, we defended well, we blocked shots, we counter-attacked. I think we should have kept the ball better. If you don’t keep the ball then you’re just going to be under the cosh the whole second half. But ultimately, the referee’s decision cost us the game. You look last week, the last time we played against LA Galaxy, the referee’s decision cost us the game. So I feel frustrated, I feel frustrated for my players, I feel frustrated for the organization. I think there was a lot of outstanding quality shown by my players tonight, and things that we’re not in control of, I felt cost us the game. How many bookings were there tonight? One? Diego Chara, first tackle? I think that Joe Dickerson knows that there should have been at least one more player booked on the pitch tonight. But anyway, we’ve lost the game. We’ve got to keep going. We’ve got to keep believing in ourselves. I’ve got every confidence in everyone that’s working towards that goal. The last two games have shown a small glimpse of who we are and what we’re about. We saw some outstanding debuts tonight, and like I say, 85th minute, a decision cost us the game.”

On the character within this team fighting back in games:

“Well, we went down to 10 men against LA Galaxy, and the players on the pitch were incredible. They were fighting. There’s incredible spirit. I believe in them. They believe in themselves. They believe in everything that we’re doing. And we’ve had to show those qualities tonight. I felt again the Galaxy game, we had to show those qualities because of a really poor decision. And today, we had to show those qualities — and we didn’t get our rewards — because of another poor decision. So I think in life, the tight turns you eventually get the rub of the green. At this moment in time, we had four or five decisions this season that we think have been really, really poor. But [the Professional Referee Organization] pats themselves on the back and they’ll go home happy, and they’ll get their autographs, and we’ve just got to keep going. I believe in my players. We’ve got some outstanding young players that want to play the right way. In the second half, we need more courage to play. We can talk about the decision, but we needed more courage to play in the second half. Keep the ball, and we didn’t do that. That’s something that we got to work on this week.”

On if he’s concerned about his job security:

“Who’s calling to my head? Fans? Are they? Okay, well, you know that I work for a club that’s got the best fans in the business. They’re passionate, and they want success. And I want success as well. I think what we’re building here is something really special with this young team. We’ve got a vision to build the best young team in MLS, and I think along that path is going to be peaks and troughs, and they’re going to be with us all the way. I fully support that. The one thing I would say is that as long as they are criticizing me, I’m fine. As long as they get behind the players, I’m even better with that, because those players are giving absolutely everything, and they will get their rewards because of their quality, because of their work, because of their endeavor, because of their commitment. I said to them in [the locker room]sometimes you think that the world is against you, and it feels like that with the decisions that are being made, without a shadow of a doubt. [Jimer] Fory shouldn’t have been sent off in Colorado. Kamal [Miller] shouldn’t have been sent off against LA Galaxy, and there shouldn’t have been a handball tonight. But that will change. That will change. Once it changes, then we’re going to be a really good team.

On the positives to take away from this game:

“[José] Caicedo, Joao Ortiz, David Da Costa, [Kristoffer] Velde, [Alex] Bonetig, Finn Surman, Juan Mosquera, Antony, Fory, I think they’re all playing to a really good level. Honestly, I think our young players are really good. We all know we need to keep stepping up. We all know we need to keep being better. We all know that the results have to start coming. But I am incredibly confident, incredibly confident in this group of players. I’m incredibly confident in the work that we are doing and we just need to keep neutral in our thoughts. I know that there is obviously a lot of noise, but the noise will help us get better. The noise will help us spear us on. We’ve got a passionate set of supporters who are the best, and we will deliver for them.”

DEFENDER FINN SURMAN

On if the team would benefit from a coaching change:

“No, I don’t think that’s an appropriate question. And I don’t think that’s something that we need to happen. I think it’s down to us players. We know in that [locker room] that we have not been good enough and we can’t be conceding these late goals. We need to, first of all, play better in the second half, we need to keep the ball better, and we need to manage the game slightly better. Especially when you do get to those last 5, 10, 15, 20 minutes where, if you are holding on to the lead for whatever reason or holding on to a draw, whatever the situation is, we need to be better.”

On the positives of coming from a goal down to take the lead heading into halftime:

“I agree. I believe that we can be a good team, and we’re showing that for periods, but we’re not showing it consistently enough. These goals we are conceding are just poor. I don’t know what else to say. That first goal was one ball over the top, and I don’t know if it’s a miscommunication. I don’t really know what happened. But one ball over the top and they score. Then in the second half, once we slowly get ourselves into it — which again, takes a little bit too long for us to get into it — but once we get into it, we start to play well, and we start to move the ball and create opportunities and get back into the game, get the lead. Then from there, we need to continue to do the things that we’re doing well, and not kind of try as hard as we can, not to sink back and just keep giving up the ball.”

On the positives to take away from this game:

“I think we need to take the positives from it, of the periods that we played well, and then I also think we need to learn from it. There’s no point in just losing and then not learning and saying like the odd thing comes down to luck and the bounce of the ball and stuff like that. But you have to learn. We can see if we are conceding shots from the top of the box, we need to get more pressure on the ball. If we’re conceding set pieces, we need to work on set pieces more. That sort of stuff. We need to learn, as well as take the positives, because there’s no point in just getting on with it when we need to just grow up as a group.”