Report and Reaction: Whitecaps set club road record with battling draw in the Houston heat and humidity

It was your proverbial game of two halves in Houston on Wednesday night, as Vancouver Whitecaps battled to another road point with a 1-1 draw against the Dynamo, setting a club away points record in the process.

The Whitecaps were very much under the cosh in the first half, and in many ways were fortunate to only go in at the break trailing to Ezequiel Ponce’s stoppage time penalty. But it was a much different Vancouver in the second half and they deservedly tied things up in the 73rd minute, when the returning Brian White stroked home a Fafa Picault cross, for a share of the spoils.

On a night where the ‘Caps could have gone into the top four with a win, and they could have got all three points if they’d only been a bit more aggressive after leveling, they stay where they are in the ever tightening Western Conference, setting up an exciting season run-in that will really test how good this current team really is.

Vanni Sartini made four changes from the team that beat San Jose on Saturday, lining up once again in a 3-5-2 formation, with both Stuart Armstrong and Ali Ahmed rested for the heat and humidity down in Houston.

The Dynamo came out strong and caused a string of corners and defensive scrambles in the opening minutes, but couldn’t make their pressure pay with a breakthrough.

Sebastian Cowalcyzk had the ball in the net for Houston in the 10th minute, but Ibrahim Aliyu was clearly offside in the build-up before sending in his telling cross from the left.

Vancouver were struggling and playing the match mostly in their own half. Ryan Gauld did fire off a weak shot in the 12th minute, forcing the first save of the night for Dynamo keeper Steve Clark, and he was called into action again to deny Picault at his near post in the 24th minute.

Aliyu did well to get onto a lovely ball over the top three minutes later, but he had a heavy first touch, allowing ‘Caps keeper Yohei Takaoka to smother the danger.

Takaoka produced a strong save at the back post to deny Amine Bassi in the 33rd minute, after he got onto the end of a Griffin Dorsey cross, but the flag went up for offside anyway.

With the game seemingly drifting into half time scoreless, Vite’s tackle on Bassi three minutes into stoppage time was initially given as a free kick on the edge of the box, but was upgraded to a penalty after a video review. Up stepped Ponce, and although Takaoka got a hand on it, the Dynamo DP fired home and Houston had the lead at the half.

¡Ponce golazoooo! Tune in to #MLSSeasonPass on @AppleTV to catch the second half!#Hustlin4More pic.twitter.com/bbcPZ89rOy

— Houston Dynamo FC (@HoustonDynamo) September 19, 2024

Vite was lucky not to pick up a second yellow for the foul for the penalty and was one of two players hooked by the ‘Caps at half time, with Ralph Priso and Alessandro Schopf coming on, and it was a much different looking Vancouver side for the second 45 minutes.

Schopf sent a cross in to the back post, which Mathias Laborda headed wide in the 55th minute, before Gauld won the ball on the edge of the box and fired a shot in that Clark saved 10 minutes later.

The ‘Caps dodged a bullet when Erik Sviatchenko crashed one off the bar in the 68th minute, with an Edier Ocampo header ending up in the side netting for Vancouver three minutes later.

Vancouver were looking threatening and they got the goal their play deserved in the 73rd minute with a well-worked move that saw Gauld play the ball through to Picault and the Haitian sent in a perfectly weighted pass for White to sweep the ball home from in front of goal, in his first game back after a concussion.

INSTANT IMPACT by White to get our equalizer 💥

📺 https://t.co/TQRoyr9khU #VWFC | #HOUvVAN pic.twitter.com/frIc0k0jbw

— Vancouver Whitecaps FC (@WhitecapsFC) September 19, 2024

It felt that the Whitecaps were in the ascendency but they went back into their shell instead of killing off the game and the Dynamo enjoyed the lion’s share of the play for the rest of the match, but a very solid and structured Vancouver defence kept them at bay.

The result made it just one loss in the last 10 MLS games for the ‘Caps. Fantastic stuff, and the fact that you come away from going to such a tough place disappointed to only get a draw, is a testament to what we now expect from this team. They outshot Houston and battled hard in some very tough conditions.

With his assist, Gauld set a Whitecaps MLS club record for assists in a season with 13, while Picault tied his career high in goal contributions with 16 in all competitions, previously set with Houston in 2021.

The draw also saw the Whitecaps set a MLS era record of 25 points taken on the road in a season and they now head to conference leaders LA Galaxy on Saturday for what is set to be a very entertaining encounter and perhaps a precursor to a playoff match to come between the teams.

FINAL SCORE: Houston Dynamo 1 – 1 Vancouver Whitecaps

ATT: 14,282

SCORING SUMMARY:
45’+7 – HOU – Ezequiel Ponce (penalty kick)
73’ – VAN – Brian White (Fafa Picault, Ryan Gauld)

STATS:
Possession: HOU 63.6% – VAN 36.4%
Shots: HOU 10 – VAN 9
Shots on Goal: HOU 2 – VAN 4
Saves: HOU 3 – VAN 1
Fouls: HOU 13 – VAN 11
Offsides: HOU 5 – VAN 1
Corners: HOU 12 – VAN 2

BOOKINGS:
26’ – VAN – Pedro Vite
37’ – VAN – Yohei Takoka
38’ – HOU – Erik Sviatchenko
57’ – HOU – Micael
90’+4 – HOU – Amine Bassi

HOUSTON: Steve Clark; Griffin Dorsey, Erik Sviatchenko, Micael, Franco Escobar (Daniel Steres 79’); Adalberto Carrasquilla (Brooklyn Raines 70’), Artur; Sebastian Kowalczyk (Mckinze Gaines 78’), Amine Bassi, Ibrahim Aliyu (Latif Blessing 70’), 10.Ezequiel Ponce (Sebastian Ferreira 84’) [Substitutes not used: Andrew Tarbell, Brad Smith, Ethan Bartlow, Jan Greguš]

VANCOUVER: Yohei Takaoka; Mathías Laborda, Ranko Veselinović, Bjørn Inge Utvik; Andrés Cubas (Ralph Priso 45’); Ryan Raposo (24.Brian White 60’), Sebastian Berhalter, Pedro Vite (Alessandro Schöpf 45’), Sam Adekugbe (Édier Ocampo 70’); Ryan Gauld (Tristan Blackmon 86’), Fafa Picault [Substitutes not used: Isaac Boehmer, Belal Halbouni, Deiber Caicedo, Levonte Johnson]

REACTION:

VANCOUVER WHITECAPS

VANNI SARTINI

On his team’s second-half fight-back:

“The second half was much better. I asked the guys to stay in the game because that was the most important thing. Every time that we had the ball, even in the first half where we didn’t play well, every time we felt that we could score. We played the ball in behind and we could have done something, and in fact, we created more chances, Mathías [Laborda] had a couple of chances with the header, and then we scored a beautiful goal. I would say it was a classic Whitecaps’ goal with the combination on the side and then Brian [White] attacking the first post. So, I think it was a massive point against a very good team.”

On Brian White’s impact off the bench and how it felt to have him back:

“He played and after 10 minutes he scored! That’s how I feel. He had the presence in the box, what was missing, to be honest. If you play a dominant game, like how we played in Austin and last game against San Jose, you can even play with two guys that are not classic number nines, because the ball is that much in their final third, so sooner or later someone is going to arrive there. But if you don’t play a dominant game, you need with you a number nine who occupies the box and can attack those spaces. So, you know, Brian [White] came on and he did fantastic, so I’m really happy.”

On the performance of MLS Defender of the Year contender Ranko Veselinovic:

“In the locker room they all joke because I have some sons, and Ranko is one of my sons. I’m really proud of his growth tactically – he’s always been a good defender, but for me, he was always too much, I would say instinctive, and not believing in what he has to do tactically. In the last two years, he became a master in playing that position in our zonal defence system. Today he showed, and he showed himself, that when he’s in the right position, it’s really hard for everyone to win the one-v-one against him. He made two great interventions one in the first half, but also the one in the second half against Ponce that he could have scored the second goal.

Those are the little bricks that then make the house, that it make us tie because everyone can see the pass of Gauldy, the assist of Fafa, the goal of Brian. But if there’s no work before from everyone else, it’s hard to score goals. So I’m really happy that he did a fantastic performance.”

FORWARD FAFA PICAULT

On his team’s resilient performance:

“I’m very proud of the group because, coming here a few days after our last game, performing under these [hot] conditions it takes a lot. Everyone stuck together after going down 1-0, we fought together as a group, we defended well, we stuck to what we needed to do and I’m very proud of everybody.”

HOUSTON DYNAMO

HEAD COACH BEN OLSEN

On tonight’s result:

“We played very well. We had tons of good chances, and we just didn’t see it out. We can analyze their goal all we want, but we have to be able see out these games. With this type of attacking performance at home, we should be winning.”

On Ezequiel Ponce’s third goal this season:

“(Ezequiel) Ponce is getting into better spots each game. He continues to get more looks and more shots, so that’s a positive. Now we just need to continue to see more of them go in.”

DEFENDER GRIFFIN DORSEY

Opening remarks:

“It was another game at home that we dominated and should’ve walked away with three points from. We have things to learn and some more winning to do on the road. I respect that they’re one of the best teams in the league, but I think that the locker room was disappointed that we tied because we deserved to win.”

On Saturday’s match in Austin:

“We’re thinking of the game in front of us right now, and we owe Austin. They took six points from us this season. It’s a rivalry game and a good atmosphere. It’ll be a great night to get a win in Austin.”