Report and Reaction: Last-gasp Müller magic sees Whitecaps take control at the top of MLS West

(Photo courtesy of: @WhitecapsFC/x.com)

Thomas Müller has really embraced North American culture since coming to Vancouver and Major League Soccer. The German legend has gotten out and about exploring local nature, while also taking in NHL and NBA games in the city. Now he seems to have embraced a North American television staple, as Müller and the Whitecaps produced their own late, late show down in Florida on Saturday evening, coming away with a last-gasp 2-1 win over Orlando City to move them to the top of the Western Conference standings.

It was not to be missed TV by the ‘Caps. You certainly don’t want to switch them off early. Vancouver had dominated the first half possession and shot count, but saw Orlando get the breakthrough on one of their rare forays forward, with Dagur Dan Thorhallsson finishing off a lovely counter attack to give the home side the lead at the half.

Orlando were penned deep in the second half as Vancouver pushed for the equaliser. They held their lines superbly and the Whitecaps were having trouble breaking them down, so it was perhaps unsurprising that it was eventually a piece of very happy fortune that saw the ‘Caps get their leveler in the 81st minute when the ball ricocheted off Nelson Pierre’s hip and into the home side’s goal.

Buoyed by this, the Whitecaps pushed for the late winner and they should have got it when Sebastian Berhalter’s shot sneaked in at Pedro Gallese’s near post in stoppage time. The goal wasn’t given on the pitch, and despite pictures showing the ball over the line, the video review did not come. This looked set to be the controversial talking point coming out of the match, before Müller spared everyone that with a superb solo goal seven minutes into time added on to secure an absolutely huge victory for Vancouver.

With both sides missing an incredible 12 players through injuries and international duty, it was an opportunity for players all round to stand up and show they deserve more minutes come playoff time. Jesper Sorensen had four changes to make from the absences and the team that started last week’s comfortable win over San Jose, putting out a strong line-up all things considered, with Ryan Gauld once again on the bench as he continues his managed return from injury. Oscar Pareja also made four changes from his team that drew the previous weekend at home to Columbus.

The Whitecaps headed into the match knowing a win would see them control their own destiny on Decision Day in the battle to be the Best in the MLS West. Orlando knew playoff positioning was very much in play for them, along with the chance to guarantee avoiding the Wild Card game, and it was the home side who came out on the front foot.

The best chance in the early going fell to Orlando, with a curler from Adrian Marian getting deflected narrowly wide four minutes in.

The Whitecaps had their first chance in the 10th minute, when Gallese got down well to turn away a Müller shot from the edge of the box.

Orlando lost Robin Jansson to an injury a few minutes later, which caused some reorganising for the home side’s already heavily depleted line-up, but Vancouver couldn’t capitalise on it, with a long range Berhalter shot being spilled by Gallese before being cleared.

It was defensive calamities of their own that cost the ‘Caps, as Orlando found the breakthrough in the 24th minute.

As Mathias Laborda and Belal Halbouni collided just inside the ‘Caps’ half, it allowed Orlando to find lots of space on a quick counter attack. Martin Ojeda seized the opportunity, powering forward and picking out a wide open Duncan McGuire to his right. The sub, who had come on for Jansson, headed it first time into the path of Thorhallsson, who tucked it away past Yohei Takaoka for a lovely team goal.

Vancouver dominated the play after falling behind, with Edier Ocampo firing past the far post in the 37th minute, the closest they came to finding a leveler.

Tate Johnson got a shot through a crowd of bodies in the Orlando box four minutes into first half stoppage time, but Gallese saved on his line and Vancouver had to head in a goal down and with a lot of work to do. The pleasing aspect was that it felt like they could still come out and get the big three points.

Vancouver continued their domination of possession to start the second half, but Orlando were doing an excellent job of shutting up shop and not allowing any space or goalscoring opportunities for the ‘Caps. Even with Gauld coming on midway through the second half, the Whitecaps just couldn’t breach the barricades.

An Ocampo cross was almost sliced into his own net by Marin in the 70th minute, but Gallese produced a superb point blank save to turn it onto the crossbar. As Vancouver kept the pressure on, Müller tried an acrobatic overhead kick but it went well wide with the goal gaping.

Orlando were offering next to nothing in attack, but almost got a chance when Ojeda looked to have been played in three minutes later, but a horrible first touch saw it come to nothing.

Gallese produced a near post save to deny J.C. Ngando, as the ‘Caps turned up the heat, and they eventually got the reward their play deserved in the 81st minute.

There was a large element of good fortune in the goal, but after some other decision this year, previous and still to come, it felt fair!

Ngando did well to battle to win the ball in the Orlando box, laying it off to Berhalter, whose fierce strike crashed off the left post. As home midfielder Kyle Smith tried to clear the rebound, he only succeeded in smashing it off Pierre’s hip and into the net, and Vancouver were very deservedly level.

Pierre has waited patiently for his chance and for that first MLS goal, and while he may not have known a lot about it, he had put himself ahead of the defender to be in that position in the first place and you take that any day of the week.

With nine minutes and stoppage time left, you believed that the Whitecaps could now go and find the winner, and let’s be brutally honest, they were the only team in this one that looked anywhere near likely to. They’ve been a team all year that don’t give up and plays to the final whistle, no matter the scoreline, good or bad.

They thought they had it two minutes into stoppage time. And they really should have.

Ngando again played the ball back to Berhalter and his shot from the edge of the box appeared to have squeezed past Gallese and over the line and the Peruvian keeper fumbled to try and keep it out. With no call on the pitch, it seemed that VAR would see justice done, but no call to review came and Vancouver seemed to have been robbed once again by the officiating.

We’ve talked about this for years on the podcast. I’ve even asked MLS about it on a media call. For all the technological advancements and investment, to not have goal-line technology in this league is a disgrace. And I’d say the same thing if this was a shot from the opposition.

That said, when Gallese’s leg is fully on the line and the ball is the other side of it…

After the Tim Ford experience down in San Jose (which I’m sure St Louis fans will point to Laborda’s penalty soon after), the last thing the Whitecaps and the league needed was another controversial talking point that would have cost the ‘Caps dearly and had the potential to have a huge impact on both the Western and Eastern conference playoff positioning race. Thankfully, for everyone, Müller made sure that was avoided.

With the game seven minutes into stoppage time and in the dying embers, the Whitecaps showed incredible patience to set up the winner. Nothing was forced, they took their time, and Gauld laid the ball off to Müller, who was allowed to skip past two Orlando players then fire through another two and past Gallese from just outside the box for the most dramatic of late winners.

It was no less than Vancouver deserved and it sparked a mass pile-up on top of the World Cup winner on the pitch and jubilation on the sidelines.

This was sheer dominance from the Whitecaps. They outshot their hosts 23 to 3, and only one of Orlando’s shots troubled Vancouver, unfortunately ending up in the net and forcing the ‘Caps to grind out a comeback win. But win they did.

The magnitude of this victory cannot be understated, and neither can what a win next Saturday against Dallas on Decision Day means to the Whitecaps. Beating the Texas side would see Vancouver finish first in the MLS Western Conference for the first time in their history and guarantee home field advantage up to and including a Western Conference championship game. But it would also mean they’d finish second in the Supporters Shield standings, so any slip up from Philadelphia Union in the playoffs and the ‘Caps could be hosting a MLS Cup.

It’s already been quite the season, with so many dramatic endings to matches. The Whitecaps are now must see TV, but better still get there in person and support your hometown heroes. This could very well be an even better year to remember.

FINAL SCORE: Orlando City 1 – 2 Vancouver Whitecaps

ATT: 23,465

ORLANDO: 1.Pedro Gallese; 17.Dagur Dan Thorhallsson, 15.Rodrigo Schlegel, 6.Robin Jansson (13.Duncan McGuire 18’) (96.Zakaria Taifi 86’), 21.Adrian Marín; 11.Nicolás Rodríguez (23.Shakur Mohammad 90’+1), 24.Kyle Smith, 20.Eduard Atuesta, 77.Iván Angulo; 9.Luis Muriel, 10.Martín Ojeda [Substitutes not used: 99.Carlos Mercado, 36.Titus Sandy Jr., 68.Thomas Williams, 95.Favian Loyola]

VANCOUVER: 1.Yohei Takaoka; 18.Édier Ocampo, 12.Belal Halbouni, 2.Mathías Laborda, 28.Tate Johnson; 16.Sebastian Berhalter, 6.Ralph Priso; 59.Jeevan Badwal (26.J.C. Ngando 74’), 13.Thomas Müller, 11.Emmanuel Sabbi (25.Ryan Gauld 66’); 14.Daniel Ríos (42.Nelson Pierre 74’) [Substitutes not used: 32.Isaac Boehmer, 50.Max Anchor, 27.Giuseppe Bovalina, 53.Mark O’Neill, 97.Liam Mackenzie]

SCORING SUMMARY:
25’ – ORL – Dagur Dan Thorhallsson
81’ – VAN – Nelson Pierre
90’+7 – VAN – Thomas Müller (Ryan Gauld)

STATS:
Possession: ORL 35.1% – VAN 64.8%
Shots: ORL 3 – VAN 23
Shots on Goal: ORL 2 – VAN 9
Saves: ORL 7 – VAN 1
Fouls: ORL 8 – VAN 13
Offsides: ORL 2 – VAN 2
Corners: ORL 1 – VAN 6

CARDS:
15’ – ORL – Rodrigo Schlegel
77’ – ORL – Iván Angulo
90’+9 – ORL – Kyle Smith

REACTION:

VANCOUVER WHITECAPS

JESPER SORENSEN

On the match:

“It was very exciting, maybe a little bit too much at times, but I think it was typical us. We keep pushing, and we play at a high pace where sometimes we get dominant the longer the game goes. I think we put ourselves in trouble. We conceded a goal where we were not that well organized in the repressing phase, and then they got a counter attack. They took it well, it was a beautiful goal for them from their side, but of course one we would like to avoid. But after that, and also before that, I think that we were strong throughout the game, and I liked the way the players react. We are not panicking, we keep pushing and we believe in ourselves. We believe we can turn things around and we’re not a perfect team, we make mistakes. But I’m happy that the players just keep playing with the right intentions.”

On Nelson Pierre and his impact tonight:

“Today, we also saw a new hero step onto the pitch, Nelson Pierre, to also get a first goal. And I think that was great. We always hope when we make substitutions that players can come in and do something. I think the players we put on the pitch today also made a difference in the second half…I loved, to be honest, the way that Nelson Pierre reacted when he scored his first goal. It’s such a relief for a young player to score his first goal. But instead of celebrating too much, he went straight in, took the ball, ran back to the middle line. Everybody knew what we were about and we wanted just to win this game.”

FORWARD NELSON PIERRE

On his goal:

“It’s all like a dream, I can’t really remember much now. I remember Gauldy trying to do like a bicycle or something on the line, and then he missed it, and then the centre back was winding up. I was like, let me just take a gamble and get in front of the man, and hopefully block the ball. And I got lucky it went in.”

On the season and his journey:

“It’s been an amazing season. For me, honestly, I feel like I’ve really come into my own. Last year, I bounced around a lot, around a lot of continents and a lot of teams. So for me, I was really able to be confident in my game and score a lot for the second team. And then, luckily, tonight it transferred over to the first team.”

On Thomas Müller:

“I mean, honestly, I’m not surprised at all. He’s an incredible player and an incredible person. He’s really brought the locker room together, and he’s made all the young guys feel important and part of the team.”

ORLANDO CITY

HEAD COACH OSCAR PAREJA

Thoughts on the match and the late loss:

“Very disappointed with all this adversity, especially that we keep losing players at this point in the season. Also, our response, particularly in the second half, where I think we could have been better. We played against a rival who, especially in that half, put a lot of people between the lines, and we couldn’t manage it. If we had sustained possession a little longer, we could have had at least some initiatives. That was a big part of the difference in the game. We couldn’t get out of that domination that [Vancouver Whitecaps] had in the second half, and that cost us. We may be sad about conceding in the final moments of the game, but it’s not just that, it’s the whole thing. I think in the second half we could have been better, and they were better than us in that half. In the first half, it was much more of a game that could go either way, but we couldn’t sustain it in the second half.”

On the Robin Jansson injury:

“Losing Robin made us change the team tactically, but it’s not an excuse. I use this adversity to develop another answer. We usually respond well to adversity, but we did not play our best in the second half.”

On the team’s overall lackluster play:

“Unfortunately, we did not play very dominant in both halves. And to the fans, as a team it pains us to lose in front of them, but we take responsibility for our actions and we will go onto the next one.”