Report and Reaction: Whitecaps have to settle for a point in frustrating top of the conference clash with LAFC

Vancouver Whitecaps returned to BC Place for the first time since April 25th, but were left frustrated at having to settle for just a point against Western Conference rivals LAFC after dominating proceedings, but struggling to find a way to break down the visitor’s ever deepening defensives lines.

Son Heung-Min had fired LAFC ahead against the run of play in the 37th minute, before Thomas Müller picked himself up after being hauled down in the box to fire home a 76th minute equaliser from the spot.

There were some positives signs that things were starting to come back together for the ‘Caps in this one, in front of a bumper 40,000 plus crowd, but that’s three games back from the World Cup break without a win now, and the chasing pack are closing in at the top of the Western Conference.

The Whitecaps dominated the first half play, allowing LAFC just one shot in the entire first 45 minutes. Unfortunately it was a shot that ended up in the back of the net and the ‘Caps were left to rue not turning their pressure into a goal.

Taking the play to LAFC from the off, Vancouver’s best early chance came six minutes in when Oliver Larraz played a through ball for Müller. The German cut it back to Jeevan Badwal but he couldn’t spin around to get a shot off through heavy LA traffic and the visitors cleared a goalmouth scramble behind.

Ryan Gauld whipped in the subsequent corner, find the head of Mati Laborda, but the Uruguayan headed over.

Hugo Lloris produced a point blank save to deny Brian White in the 11th minute, but the flag went up for offside in any case.

White brought a fairly pedestrian save out of Lloris in the 16th minute, then had the ball in the net in the 27th minute, finishing off a neat move to the back post, but once again the flag went up on the ‘Caps leading scorer.

Then came the killer sucker punch with seven minutes of the half remaining.

Tristan Blackmon’s tackle just inside the ‘Caps half bounced off Denis Bouanga, who bore down on goal, playing it inside to Son. The Korean spun around Tate Johnson to make a better angle and rifled the ball past Yohei Takaoka to give LAFC the lead very much against the run of play.

It was a tremendous goal by Son, showing the quality that a defence simply can’t give an opportunity to.

It was LA’s first and only shot of the half, never mind on target, and the ‘Caps couldn’t find a leveler before the breaking, heading in one down.

The Whitecaps came out strong again to start the second, but a Laborda drive that was deflected over in the 49th minute was all they had to show for it as the hour mark fast approached.

Müller blasted one narrowly over in the 69th minute after some nice build up for the ‘Caps, who were keeping the pressure on but struggling to break through the LA lines and trouble Lloris.

The ‘Caps made a double substitution in the 72nd minute, with Emmanuel Sabbi and Cheikh Sabaly coming on for Gauld and Cubas to add some width and pace to try and break those lines.

Two minutes later and Vancouver had the chance to level things up when Yevhen Cheberko pulled down Müller in the box. The German stepped up, sent Lloris the wrong way, and it was all tied up at one.

It was no less than the Whitecaps deserved and they now set about looking for the winner.

They just had to watch for the quick counter as they pressed and they were nearly caught out in the 88th minute when Son was sprung. Through on goal, with just Takaoka to beat, he skied his shot over, but his blushes were saved by the flag going up for offside.

As the game moved into five minutes of time added on, White nearly nipped in and got onto a Ralph Priso ball to the near post.

But that was to be it for the action and the teams had to settle for a share of the points, a result that the visitors will be far more happy with. They showed very little attacking intent during the match. Very uncharacteristic of them. Whether that was due to Vancouver’s constant pressure and winning the ball back, an off day, or struggles on the new BC Place surface, this was a team there for the taking and the ‘Caps will be frustrated that they couldn’t grab three very valuable points in the race for first in the West.

There’s still some concerns for Vancouver in terms of finishing their chances and being able to break down teams that just want to sit back. That’s two straight games where they’ve come up against that and not been able to score a goal from open play. More teams are going to play against them like this, which is a testament to just how strong this team is, but they need to find solutions to get through. They now have three Leagues Cup games to work on that, plus fully integrate the returning players back into the group, while finding valuable minutes for the fringe guys.

By the time they next take to the pitch in MLS action in Seattle in two weeks time, we’ll hopefully see the fully flowing Whitecaps we saw in the first half of the campaign.

FINAL SCORE: Vancouver Whitecaps 1 – 1 Los Angeles FC

ATT: 40,086

VANCOUVER: 1.Yohei Takaoka; 18.Édier Ocampo, 33.Tristan Blackmon, 2.Mathías Laborda, 28.Tate Johnson; 8.Oliver Larraz, 20.Andrés Cubas (11.Emmanuel Sabbi 72’); 59.Jeevan Badwal (6.Ralph Priso 82’), 13.Thomas Müller, 25.Ryan Gauld © (7.Cheikh Sabaly 72’); 24.Brian White [Substitutes not used: 32.Isaac Boehmer, 3.Sam Adekugbe, 19.Rayan Elloumi, 26.J.C. Ngando, 41.Nikola Djordjevic, 43.Trevor Wright]

LAFC: 1.Hugo Lloris; 24.Ryan Hollingshead, 5.Ryan Porteous, 33.Aaron Long, 23.Yevhen Cheberko; 66.Mathieu Choinière, 4.Eddie Segura, 11.Timothy Tillman (8.Mark Delgado 72’); 18.Jacob Shaffelburg (30.David Martinez 72’), 7.Son Heung-Min, 99.Denis Bouanga [Substitutes not used: 12.Thomas Hasal, 17.Jeremy Ebobisse, 19.Tyler Boyd, 21.Ryan Raposo, 22.Jude Terry, 45.Kenneth Nielsen, 91.Nkosi Tafari]

SCORING SUMMARY:
37’ – LAFC – Son Heung-Min (Denis Bouanga)
76’ – VAN – Thomas Müller (penalty kick)

STATS:
Possession: VAN 61.7% – LAFC 38.3%
Shots: VAN 20 – LAFC 5
Shots on Goal: VAN 4 – LAFC 1
Saves: VAN 0 – LAFC 3
Fouls: VAN 14 – LAFC 9
Offsides: VAN 2 – LAFC 4
Corners: VAN 11 – LAFC 1

CAUTIONS:
48’ – LAFC – Ryan Hollingshead
56’ – VAN – Ryan Gauld

REACTION:

VANCOUVER WHITECAPS

HEAD COACH JESPER SØRENSEN

On the performance:

“We went for it, I think that was the positive thing. I think the mentality of the team is amazing. We are not perfect, and we won’t be perfect, but I think overall, we came out great, got a great start. Our re-pressure was excellent. The energy that the players came up with was what we needed also to show that we are back at BC Place, and really wanted to embrace the fact that we are playing at home. And I think as the first half progressed. I think that they had a couple of times where they had a little bit of a break, but apart from that, I think we were in good control, and we also created some good opportunities. We were close to scoring a couple of times, but overall, we played well and then you get a punch in the face by the goal, and it was an excellent goal. Well done by Son. We can always talk about how we could have avoided and stuff, but well taken by him. Then in the second half we just pushed, but without giving up too much.”

On Oliver Larraz:

“I think he did very, very well. I think it’s the best game he’s played since he came. And, you know, for a player who comes into this team and we have seen Andres [Cubas] and Sebastian [Berhalter] be very, very good playing together last year and also this season.

He had to just see how he could utilize the opportunities that open up for him. And now he gets more regular playing time, and I think he today showed that was his best game, and that he’s on the right path, and it also shows that we have very good alternatives in the midfield as well.”

CAPTAIN RYAN GAULD:

On the 1-1 comeback:

“We had a lot of the ball. [LAFC is] a difficult team to break through. They’re happy to kind of sit a little bit lower and let us have the ball, and, we had a wee bit of difficulty creating clear-cut chances, but I think the persistence showed at the end, and we obviously get the penalty, and then we kept pushing after that, and just unfortunately we never created quite as much as we would have wanted.”

On his first start at BC Place in a year:

“It’s been a long time, but I feel good. It’s good to be back in front of our fans, and I think we put on a good performance for them. It’s a shame, obviously, we couldn’t come away with three points, but it’s good to be back home, and we’ll look forward to playing a few more games.”