Report and Reaction: Ten-man Whitecaps stay top despite late loss in Houston

A last-gasp Guilherme goal handed ten-man Vancouver Whitecaps their first road loss of the season on Saturday night, going down to a 1-0 defeat at Houston Dynamo in a match that just seemed to get away from them.

Yohei Takaoka’s 64th minute sending off for a tackle outside of his box proved costly, as the Whitecaps went from an attacking unit to one looking to try and preserve the point, eventually succumbing to a deflected strike from the dangerous Brazilian that Isaac Boehmer should have dealt with better in the ‘Caps goal.

A disappointing end to Vancouver’s two-game Texas road trip, but results elsewhere see the ‘Caps still remain top of the Western Conference standings with one game to go before the World Cup break.

Jesper Sorensen made three changes from the team that started against Dallas midweek, with Thomas Müller coming back in for his first start after illness. Jeevan Badwal moved to the right wing and Kenji Cabrera came in on the left, with Emmanuel Sabbi out with injury and Cheikh Sabaly dropping to the bench. Oliver Larraz came in to the midfield double pivot, with Andres Cubas on the bench after his injury scare on Wednesday.

After giving up the first goal in their last three away matches, Vancouver looked to change that narrative quickly and almost got on the scoreboard just 10 seconds in when Brian White knocked down a long ball from Sebastian Berhalter and Edier Ocampo fired his shot off the left post.

Vancouver controlled the play, as we’ve now come to expect, and thought that pressure had produced the opening goal in the 17th minute when White deflected in a Berhalter shot from 20 yards out, but the striker was just offside as the ball hit him and the goal was chalked off.

A scary injury to Houston’s Diadié Samassékou in the 22nd minute, after he rose for a challenge with Tristan Blackmon, saw a 12 minute delay and the Mali international leave in an ambulance. He was later released and is recovering at home.

The ‘Caps got straight back into action after that restart and Berhalter fired over in the 37th minute from the edge of the box.

The Dynamo responded two minutes later with a quick counter that saw a stretching Yohei Takaoka turn away a low Guilherme shot. Larraz had pulled up in the build up to that move with an apparent hip injury and had to be replaced by Cubas.

As the game moved into a lengthy first half stoppage time, Mathias Laborda had a shot saved from the edge of the box after some nice interplay from the ‘Caps, while Agustín Bouzat had a chance for Houston after another quick breakaway from Guilherme, but he pulled his shot wide.

The first half finally ended after 16 minutes of stoppage time with a curling free kick from Berhalter, which was a few yards over, but despite controlling a lot of the play, the ‘Caps struggled to provide service in the final third and only managed one shot on target in the first 45 minutes.

It was quite a stop-start affair after the restart, with neither team able to establish too much of a flow.

Takaoka kept out an Ezequiel Ponce effort on the hour mark, after another quick Houston counter in the first real action of the second half.

Two minutes later, Cubas found himself in the book for a clumsy challenge and will now be suspended for next week’s match in San Diego. A big loss for the ‘Caps, but not the only one as the game-turning moment was quickly to follow when Takaoka was sent off after bringing down Mateusz Bogusz with a mistimed tackle outside his area.

It felt a harsh red for denying a clear goalscoring opportunity, with Bogusz going away from goal and three Whitecaps defenders also back there, but after a lengthy look in the VAR booth, the call on the pitch stood and Vancouver would have to play the last 26 minutes and stoppage time a man down. Isaac Boehmer came on between the sticks, in what was to prove to be a challenging night for the ‘Caps back-up keeper.

Houston thought they’d gone ahead in the 70th minute when Ponce put away a Bogusz cutback after some hesitation from Boehmer to come out and cut out the long ball forward, but the initial pass saw the Pole caught just offside and the Whitecaps breathed a sigh of relief.

Vancouver responded with a low shot from Müller from outside the box that Jonathan Bond tipped around the post.

Guilherme and Felipe Andrade came close for the home side, as it looked like the ‘Caps were going to hold on for a well-deserved point, but deep into stoppage time, Houston found the winner when Artur played the ball to Guilherme, who cut inside of AZ Jackson and his shot deflected off the back of White towards goal. Boehmer got down to it, but fumbled it on the goalline and it went under the ‘Caps keeper and in for the dramatic late winner.

Houston had looked the better team after going up a man and it was feeling like only a matter of time before they would find a way through. That said, to lose so late and in the manner they did as well with some lax defending and goalkeeping, certainly stings a little.

With the teams below them also dropping points, however, the defeat hasn’t proved too costly and the ‘Caps remain top of the West going into the final round of matches before a lengthy World Cup break. Next week, against a fast improving San Diego side, will test the Whitecaps depth with the suspended Cubas and Takaoka adding to those players already out through injury.

More concerning is the lack of creativity again both through the middle and on the wings. White has received very little service the last few games and the attacking spark has left them a little in the final third. They need to find a way to get past these low block teams, although next weekend’s match should be more open with two teams that like to attack.

It’s been a challenging run of matches, but with one to go before the break, the ‘Caps know they will, at worst, be second in the standings with a game in hand. Then they can rest, hopefully strengthen a couple of areas, and come back in top condition for the restart in July.

FINAL SCORE: Houston Dynamo 1 – 0 Vancouver Whitecaps

ATT: 20,114

HOUSTON: 31.Jonathan Bond; 34.Agustin Resch, 6.Artur, 3.Antônio Carlos; 11.Lawrence Ennali, 18.Diadié Samassékou (30.Agustín Bouzat 34’), 8.Jack McGlynn (16.Héctor Herrera 85’), 36.Felipe Andrade; 20.Guilherme, 19.Mateusz Bogusz (9.Ondřej Lingr 84’); 10.Ezequiel Ponce [Substitutes not used: 26.Blake Gillingham, 14.Duane Holmes, 17.Nick Markanich, 21.Franco Negri, 24.Ibrahim Aliyu, 28.Erik Sviatchenko]

VANCOUVER: 1.Yohei Takaoka; 18.Édier Ocampo (4.Ranko Veselinović 77’), 33.Tristan Blackmon, 2.Mathías Laborda, 28.Tate Johnson (32.Isaac Boehmer 67’); 16.Sebastian Berhalter, 8.Oliver Larraz (20.Andrés Cubas 40’); 59.Jeevan Badwal (19.Rayan Elloumi 85’), 13.Thomas Müller © (22.AZ 77’), 17.Kenji Cabrera (29.Mihail Gherasimencov 67’); 24.Brian White [Substitutes not used: 7.Cheikh Sabaly, 14.Bruno Caicedo, 97.Liam Mackenzie]

SCORING SUMMARY:
90+6’ – HOU – Guilherme (Artur)

STATS:
Possession: HOU 52.5% – VAN 47.5%
Shots: HOU 14 – VAN 9
Shots on Goal: HOU 7 – VAN 3
Saves: HOU 3 – VAN 6
Fouls: HOU 16 – VAN 13
Offsides: HOU 1 – VAN 2
Corners: HOU 4 – VAN 3

CAUTIONS:
11’ – VAN – Kenji Cabrera
45+11’ – VAN – Tate Johnson
48’ – VAN – Édier Ocampo
54’ – HOU – Agustin Resch
62’ – VAN – Andrés Cubas
64’ – VAN – Yohei Takaoka (straight red)

REACTION:

VANCOUVER WHITECAPS

JESPER SORENSEN

On the match:

“I think that we started the game very well and had a very good flow, and then there was this very unfortunate incident that we hope all the best for the Houston player, of course. But it broke our rhythm a little bit, we couldn’t really pick up the same rhythm as we started out with, but I think in general, the first half was okay. I was not happy with the second half, and you can lose a game, but you can lose a game in many ways, but I’m most focused not on the result, but how we did it… I’ll have to look it back, and of course, always look at how did we manage the game, and could we have done it a little bit better. Then, of course, the red card pushed us backwards, and we played for one point in the end, we didn’t have the force to get up 10 against 11, we didn’t really have the quality with the ball to get high up the pitch, even though there were some opportunities, but it’s that what it was.”

On what he wanted to see:

“We were up against a team that we know is passive against the ball, they are more comfortable standing a little bit lower. But they have some places where they are aggressive, and we played into those spaces way too much and we got ourselves into a lot of defensive transition moments. Houston were a better team today, and I think even though we thought that we had control of the game, we didn’t create enough. We played the ball into spaces where it’s easy for them to win the ball and run at us. It was self-inflicted, some of the problems that we saw for us today. Then of course the red card didn’t help in the end. It was a well deserved win for Houston.”

On playing away from home:

“When we play away games, it’s tough competition, of course it’s tough competition, and you play up against teams that play very different and with different styles and also under different conditions, so I think that’s normal. We also have a good home advantage when we play at home and often we profit from that, but I don’t think that it was due to the climate conditions of this game. I think that we saw in the beginning, and most parts of the first half that we were able to play at a good level. I just think that every game is different, and every game is up against opponents that are very well prepared for you, and that’s what you have to expect. We also want to prepare ourselves well to play up against our opponents, so that’s normal.”

CENTREBACK RANKO VESELINOVIC

On the match:

“It’s hurting that we lost the game, how we lost, in the last second basically. Especially after that spell, where we really defended, I think, well, they didn’t have many chances, a little bit in transition. But then we settled good, so it hurts. But they’re a good team, they exploited some flaws today in our game, and they punished us.”

On his return to the pitch:

“[I feel] very good, honestly, like I’ve been happy how I train, I’ve felt pretty good in training, and now Dallas, coming on also [into a] hard game when they pushed us a little bit, and now Houston. So I think I came in two games when we were a little bit under pressure, I would say in both games the last 20 minutes. I’m happy with how I’ve handled it, and how I physically felt. I felt like I could have played even more in this game longer, so I’m happy with that, and I’m happy with my recovery, how it went smooth.”

On the team’s resiliency:

“[The team’s resiliency] was amazing, but we know this, that our group is amazing in that aspect. We always fight for every ball, even you saw today on the transitions that they had, we really pushed, in two to three seconds we have like seven to eight guys behind the ball. So the effort is really good, and that’s I think the trademark of this group, that mentality that we always work hard, and just today it wasn’t enough.”

HOUSTON DYNAMO

HEAD COACH BEN OLSEN

On the transition game and having success with the long ball:

“They press very well, and if they are going to go with numbers at times, we have to push them back and play some longer balls. Mateusz Bogusz did a good job of that, but sometimes it is about securing it when you defend in a lower block. Can you get two or three quick passes when you win it and get out quickly? That is the challenge in the way we played tonight against a good team. We did a good job of arriving quickly and securing the ball when we won it and finding real transition moments. Against really good teams, if we are going to be in a low block like that, we have to reward ourselves in some of those transition moments. Ultimately, we got the goal, which we deserved in this game. It was just a good win, and now we have got to rest up and patch everybody up, because it is a quick turnaround.”

On the team’s defensive performance tonight and Vancouver’s red card:

“They had three shots on target. Of course, the red card certainly helped, but up until that point the game was somewhat controlled. They are definitely dangerous, and we had to absorb and defend the box at times, but you are always going to do that against them. The way they swing you side to side, they get a lot of service and a lot of numbers. Our defense held up all night long. The shutouts helped, and (Jonathan) Bond was good. He made a big save on a deflection, and everybody just did their part.”

GOALKEEPER JONATHAN BOND

On tonight’s victory:

“We are happy with the result. Vancouver is a top team and a difficult one to play against. We knew that going into this match, and now we are proving to be a very difficult team to beat as well. We have a lot to be happy about, but now we have two big games coming up before the break, so our focus turns to that.”

On the team proving themselves and the quick turnarounds:

“We are doing well in proving ourselves against top teams. We are proving that we can keep a clean sheet against these great teams. In regard to the quick turnarounds, we have had a crazy amount of matches, literally a game every two days these past few weeks with a lot of traveling. But that is the nature of the game, and we have to adapt and make changes when needed. We are aware of the big break coming up and tonight was a great way to bounce back as we go into the next two matches.”