Report and Reaction: Whitecaps respond from recent losses to dominate Dynamo

(Photo Credit: @WhitecapsFC/x.com

What a difference a few days make. At the weekend, after sinking to their fourth loss in five games and dropping down the MLS Western Conference standings following another poor performance, there was a bit of doom and gloom in Whitecapsland. People weren’t necessarily hitting the panic button, but some were perhaps polishing it to get it ready for use. Rumours of the Whitecaps death were greatly exaggerated it seems and they bounced back in style to dominate Houston Dynamo on Wednesday evening, coming away from Texas with a 3-0 victory.

From wondering if the wheels had come off Vancouver’s wagon, the Whitecaps now find themselves back up into second place in the West, one point behind leaders San Diego, with a game in hand, and knowing that a win against that very same side will see them finish the weekend back in first place. The crazy rollercoaster that is football is in full flow.

First half goals from Emmanuel Sabbi and Sebastian Berhalter had set Vancouver on their way in Houston, before a third from Brian White sealed the deal early in the second half. It was a comfortable road victory and one that showed signs that everything that made the ‘Caps such a potent force earlier in the season were just lying a little bit underneath the surface and delighted to come back out again. And it very much needed to be seen.

Jesper Sorensen made three changes to the team that went down to a bad loss in Colorado on Saturday, with Tristan Blackmon missing out with a hamstring strain and Pedro Vite down in Mexico ahead of his transfer to Pumas, lining up with three at the back and it was a tweak that worked very well. One thing that the Dane has done so well this season is to manage players’ minutes and workload, giving players rest and giving other players minutes, without (on the whole) weakening the team overall.

The Whitecaps came out of the blocks flying, taking the game to the Dynamo and looking like the team that started the season with their neat interplay, pressing, and quickly winning possession back, and it didn’t take them long to open the scoring.

Edier Ocampo sent in a superb cross from the right in the 4th minute, which was met by Mati Laborda. The Uruguayans goalbound effort was turned away by Houston keeper Jonathan Bond but the ball came to Sabbi, who blasted home from a tight angle and celebrated in his usual acrobatic style.

Four minutes later and Ocampo whipped in another cross, with the ball eventually falling to Tate Johnson, but his fierce strike was blocked away by Bond.

As the ‘Caps turned up the heat in an already blazing hot Houston, Daniel Rios should have doubled Vancouver’s lead on a two-on-one breakaway after a neat touch inside from Brian White. The Mexican did everything right but the finish, with Bond quickly off his line to deny the striker.

Sabbi had a shot deflected wide in the 16th minute and the ‘Caps should have been out of sight. Instead they let the Dynamo back into the game.

Ezequiel Ponce headed narrowly wide in the 26th minute, before Lawrence Ennali was played in by a quick Jack McGlynn free kick four minutes later, pulling his shot just past the far post.

Houston had another couple of looks on goal, but were still looking for their first shot on target, and they fell two behind in the 42nd minute.

White and Rios just couldn’t get space for a shot and as the ball came back to White, he laid it off for Berhalter to fire home from 20 yards out with the aid of a deflection.

Sabbi almost made it three in first half stoppage time, but it was an excellent 45 minutes from Vancouver and just the response Sorensen was looking for.

The ‘Caps came out strong after the restart, with Ocampo once again the key dangerman, and they got their third in the 56th minute.

Sabbi ran through two defenders, powered into the box, and was brought down by Felipe Andrade. White stepped up to take the penalty, but was denied by Bond. The rebound came straight back to the US national team striker and he had an easy stroke home into the empty net for his 99th career goal.

Houston made a triple sub as they tried to change things up, and while they enjoyed more of the game for the last half hour, Yohei Takaoka only had one save to make in anger, and it was a fairly pedestrian one at that.

The Whitecaps comfortably saw out the remainder of the match and got back into the win column after some tough outings. The clean sheet was particularly welcome, although it does feel like feast or famine at the back for them at the moment. There’s been five league games since the return from the international break. They’ve not kept clean sheets in two of them, but have given up 11 over the other three.

Football being what it is, and all the highs and lows that come with it, it’s hard to say that the Whitecaps have finally settled back down and are the team we were blown away by at the start of the season. A poor showing at the weekend would undo all of that. It’s the nature of the beast as a football fan, but tonight the signs were there. Promising signs that the Whitecaps have their mojo back. And all while missing still a few starters. They now need to build on that.

Saturday’s game in San Diego is now huge and could have massive implications come the end of the season in October. Taking anything from it would be important for Vancouver. It’s a top two battle and I can’t wait for it. What Whitecaps will turn up?

FINAL SCORE: Houston Dynamo 0 – 3 Vancouver Whitecaps

ATT: 15,266

HOUSTON: 31.Jonathan Bond; 36.Felipe Andrade (25.Griffin Dorsey 59’), 22.Pablo Ortiz, 4.Ethan Bartlow (24.Femi Awodesu 78’), 2.Franco Escobar; 35.Brooklyn Raines, 6.Artur (14.Duane Holmes 78’), 21.Jack McGlynn; 8.Amine Bassi (27.Sebastian Kowalczyk 59’), 10.Ezequiel Ponce, 11.Lawrence Ennali (9.Ondrej Lingr 59’) [Substitutes not used: 1.Jimmy Maurer, 12.Toyosi Olusanya, 17.Gabriel Segal, 30.Junior Urso]

VANCOUVER: 1.Yohei Takaoka; 18.Édier Ocampo, 2.Mathías Laborda, 4.Ranko Veselinović © (12.Belal Halbouni 84’), 15.Bjørn Inge Utvik, 28.Tate Johnson; 16.Sebastian Berhalter (59.Jeevan Badwal 90’+4), 13.Ralph Priso (20.Andrés Cubas 72’); 14.Daniel Ríos (7.Jayden Nelson 72’), 24.Brian White, 11.Emmanuel Sabbi (26.J.C. Ngando 85’) [Substitutes not used: 30.Adrían Zendejas, 32.Isaac Boehmer, 42.Nelson Pierre]

SCORING SUMMARY:

4’ – VAN – Emmanuel Sabbi
42’ – VAN – Sebastian Berhalter (Brian White)
56’ – VAN – Brian White

STATS:
Possession: HOU 56% – VAN 44%
Shots: HOU 13 – VAN 14
Shots on Goal: HOU 2 – VAN 7
Saves: HOU 4 – VAN 2
Fouls: HOU 19 – VAN 10
Offsides: HOU 0 – VAN 1
Corners: HOU 6 – VAN 1

CARDS:
14’ – VAN – Sebastian Berhalter
34’ – HOU – Amine Bassi
38’ – VAN – Emmanuel Sabbi
49’ – HOU – Brooklyn Raines
50’ – VAN – Brian White
70’ – VAN – Tate Johnson
76’ – HOU – Sebastian Kowalczyk
89’ – HOU – Femi Awodesu
90’ – HOU – Franco Escobar

REACTION:

VANCOUVER WHITECAPS

JESPER SORENSEN

On formation change and response:

“I think it’s important that we can play different shapes and formations, both on and off the ball. We tried it against Seattle, we tried it against Columbus, and I think that we know how to play it, we know how to do it, and I think we were more compact today. We didn’t press up that high except for some moments. And I think that the team really responded well. We knew we were not happy with what we performed the last couple of games in LA and in Colorado. But today, we really turned a corner. I think also, with the effort and energy and the discipline and structure we played with, it was very, very good.”

On keeping a clean sheet after a strong defensive performance:

“I chose to change the formation also because we have been a little bit too open. We have been conceding chances, and I’m more interested in how many chances we concede compared to goals because goals can be a little bit random. But I think it was necessary also to show the players that I also wanted to help them. If we needed to do something structural, then we’re also ready to do that. And I think it’s important that we now know we can switch. We can switch from game to game, and we can also switch in games, and that’s very important, so players know what to do. And I think they adapted very well to that change.”

DEFENDER MATHÍAS LABORDA

On getting more involved with the attack this season, including the opening goal:

“We worked a little bit on that. I’m showing when I have the space and the ball, and I’m feeling like it’s a good opportunity to go. So that’s what happened [on the first goal tonight].”

HOUSTON DYNAMO

HEAD COACH BEN OLSEN

On the team not looking hungry enough:

“There is no excuse. The hunger was not there from the get-go. Now we have another team coming into town that is going to do the same thing and try to bully us, and that’s what Philadelphia does. We have two more home games coming up, and hopefully, we will have the right response for both of them. If we get six points out of nine during these three home matches, I will take it. It is up to all of us to respond better.”

Message to the fans:

“It hurts. We are pushing for results, but it just was not good enough today for the people who came out to watch us. We did not give them the performance they deserved. But we have another chance on Saturday to redeem ourselves, and we need our fans there. That is always the message. We need them to come back out and support us this weekend because we preach with the team that we are in this together as a whole. This is not about pointing fingers. We will get out of these types of situations together, and hopefully, they will be with us in these moments. We still have belief that we can make the postseason.”

MIDFIELDER ARTUR

On tonight’s result:

“We need to be more consistent. We have had the opportunities and played some good games, but sometimes we do not perform as well as we can. We need to be a team that maintains a standard of performance and stays focused on what we want to accomplish. We need to keep working and improving to find that place. This group has the right mentality, and everybody works hard and tries their best, but we have not found that place yet.”

On the mentality of the team:

“In the locker room before the match, everybody was ready to fight and win because we knew how important the game was. We might have gotten a little surprised because they started a little bit stronger than us, but that cannot happen, especially at home. We need to start pushing teams from the beginning and be consistent about it. We have been talking about finding that place because we need to be hungry. We are not a team that be taking games off or not having the killer mentality.”

On his leadership role:

“My job is to keep everybody with the right mentality and competitiveness because we need everyone, especially with the number of games we are about to play. We need a good locker room, but we also need a competitive locker room in both training and games. That is why I want to push the guys and myself. We need players to push each other and not feel comfortable. We do not have that luxury.”