Report and Reaction: Berhalter earns Whitecaps a point in top of the table clash in San Jose

(Photo Courtesy: @WhitecapsFC/X.com)

The top two teams in Major League Soccer battled it out to a 1-1 draw on Saturday evening as San Jose Earthquakes and Vancouver Whitecaps left everything on the pitch in their second meeting of the season.

Preston Judd had San Jose off and running early, finishing off a quick free-flowing break just four minutes in. Vancouver dominated possession but came up against a San Jose side who barely gave them an inch of room to work with and kept their visitors to the edge of their penalty box for much of the match.

A deflection that fell for Sebastian Berhalter to bury with 14 minutes to go finally got the Whitecaps back on level terms, but neither team could produce the quality to grab a late match winner and had to settle for a share of the points, with neither losing ground at the top of the Western Conference standings.

Jesper Sorensen made one change to his starting line-up from the team that drew at LA Galaxy last weekend, with Bruno Caicedo coming in for Emmanuel Sabbi and Cheikh Sabaly moving to the right wing. Thomas Müller hadn’t trained all week and didn’t make the gameday squad, with his German compatriot Timo Werner one of those missing for San Jose.

The Quakes got off to a fast start and grabbed the first goal of the game just four minutes in.

San Jose broke through Vancouver lines to spring Paul Marie on the right and his pass played in Judd, who make no mistake in drilling the ball past Yohei Takaoka.

Not the start Sorensen would have drawn up, and only the third time this season the Whitecaps had fallen behind in a MLS match. One of those other two occasions was that March loss at home to San Jose.

Vancouver took over the match, controlling the ball, but failing to get much space or looks on goal as San Jose’s defence shut them out and man-marked superbly.

As the half wore on the ‘Caps started to create some chances, without ever really troubling Daniel in the Quakes goal. There were too many high balls into the box that a big San Jose backline were mopping up with ease.

The ‘Caps best chance of the first half came in the 28th minute when Jeevan Badwal tried to get onto a Sabaly knock down, but Daniel denied him at point blank range. The Earthquakes went straight up the pitch, and Takaoka produced a full length save to turn away a Judd cross with Jamar Ricketts poised to pounce.

Neither team was able to create much for the rest of the half and while Vancouver dominated with 68% possession, they only had one shot on target to show for it. As did San Jose, but they had made theirs count.

Sorensen brought Sabbi on for Sabaly at the break, as the ‘Caps tried to find the spark that could find a way through the resolute Quakes defence, but San Jose had the first look on goal in the 51st minute when Judd broke through but fired straight at Takaoka under pressure.

Vancouver responded and Daniel turned away a fierce Andres Cubas shot three minutes later and he was soon called into action again with a double save to first take a Caicedo header away from Brian White and then block the rebound shot from Badwal.

Kenji Cabrera and AZ Jackson came on for the ‘Caps around the midway point of the second half to try and find that spark to unlock the Earthquakes. Vancouver finally got their reward for their constant pressure in the 76th minute, albeit with some good fortune helping along the way.

San Jose should have had a throw in, but the decision went the way of Vancouver, and it was to prove a costly error for the home side. The ball came to Sabbi in the box, but his shot was blocked as he was surrounded by Quakes players, breaking to a wide open Berhalter, who showed composure to fire past Daniel and level things up.

It had been hard to find the way through, but the Whitecaps finally found a way and now looked the team more likely to push on for all three points.

They just couldn’t find the end product and were let down by some poor crosses, overhit passes, and misplays, while San Jose just didn’t allow them any space in the box to thread anything through to the likes of White.

A point apiece certainly isn’t the worst result to take from a top of the table clash, but for the second week running Vancouver dominated proceedings, fought back after falling behind, but couldn’t find the killer touch to take all three points. Cubas was immense tonight, particularly with his recovery play and winning the ball back, but the attack just isn’t fully clicking, with White invisible at times, and needs to find a way to deal with the low block opponents.

Next up is a two-game trip to Texas where Dallas and Houston await. Both will be tough match-ups for a tired looking team, but it’s matches you need to be looking at them taking at least four points from.

FINAL SCORE: San Jose Earthquakes 1 – 1 Vancouver Whitecaps

ATT: 18,000

SAN JOSE: 42.Daniel; 28.Benji Kikanovic, 5.Daniel Munie, 18.Reid Roberts, 4.Dave Romney; 14.Ronaldo Vieira, 34.Beau Leroux; 3.Paul Marie (6.Ian Harkes 62’), 7.Ousseni Bouda (16.Jack Skahan 72’), 2.Jamar Ricketts (17.Jack Jasinski 89′); 19.Preston Judd (32.Nonso Adimabua 89′) [Substitutes not used: 22.Nathan Crockford, 20.Nick Fernandez, 21.Noel Buck, 25.Max Floriani, 40.Jonathan González]

VANCOUVER: 1.Yohei Takaoka; 18.Édier Ocampo, 33.Tristan Blackmon, 2.Mathías Laborda, 28.Tate Johnson; 16.Sebastian Berhalter, 20.Andrés Cubas; 7.Cheikh Sabaly (11.Emmanuel Sabbi HT), 59.Jeevan Badwal (17.Kenji Cabrera 63’), 14.Bruno Caicedo (22.AZ 70’); 24.Brian White [Substitutes not used: 32.Isaac Boehmer, 4.Ranko Veselinović, 8.Oliver Larraz, 19.Rayan Elloumi, 26.JC Ngando, 29.Mihail Gherasimencov]

SCORING SUMMARY:
4’ – SJ – Preston Judd (Paul Marie, Ronaldo Vieira)
76’ – VAN – Sebastian Berhalter

STATS:
Possession: SJ 33% – VAN 67%
Shots: SJ 6 – VAN 17
Shots on Goal: SJ 3 – VAN 5
Saves: SJ 4 – VAN 2
Fouls: SJ 14 – VAN 15
Offsides: SJ 3 – VAN 0
Corners: SJ 2 – VAN 4

CAUTIONS:
25’ – SJ – Ronaldo Vieira
36’ – SJ – Benji Kikanovic
36’ – SJ – Daniel
55’ – VAN – Sebastian Berhalter

REACTION:

VANCOUVER WHITECAPS

JESPER SORENSEN

On the match:

“It was a tough game. And after a start where they [San Jose] profit from an early opportunity they had – it was well taken, it was a good goal they scored. They caught us high up the pitch and went direct. I think we took over the game and we played very strong. We played a very strong away game. We created the chances we needed. And it was close in a couple situations; we had to wait for the equalizer. And I think we pushed them until the end. In the end, we needed to be more disciplined – we were too open and needed to still keep it tight, it opened up some spaces we didn’t need to open up. But, yeah, I think we pushed until the end. The mentality was good – the performance was good.”

On the physical challenges playing San Jose:

“Of course, of course, you have to. You have to do it, and you also have to enjoy it. That’s part of the competitiveness, that’s part of what this game is about, showing really that you want every action, you want to come out of every action, on top of the situation. It’s great. San Jose is a very strong, physical team, a very good team, very well coached and structured. On top of that, it’s a team that’s very relentless in their own way – they want to fight for every ball. They want to get into all duels with full force. I love those games.”

LEFT BACK TATE JOHNSON

On the match:

“We knew they [San Jose] were a good team. Obviously, it was a battle, top battle in the West. So, I think going into it we had a good game plan. It obviously, it’s never fun to concede an early goal like that, so battling back during the game. But I thought we did well to give ourselves opportunities – obviously able to tie it, and then opportunities to go and try to win the game.”

On his improvement in physical play:

“I thought it was a pretty physical game. It’s something that I pride myself in. And I think that’s something as a team that we’ve really gotten better at this year. And just being physical and not backing down.”

SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES

HEAD COACH BRUCE ARENA

On initial reflections from beating and drawing Vancouver Whitecaps FC over two matches:

“The good thing is we got points in both games, and especially against Vancouver, who we’re battling with right now the top of the table. We didn’t lose any ground to them. But you know, again, it’s a long season. We’re not going to spend a whole lot of time on what happened over the last two games.”

On how the team handled Vancouver’s physicality of the match:

“I think our back line held up well, physically. I thought [Benji] Kikanović was very good, but I think their back line and their midfield did a real good job. As I said, they gave a very good impression — winning second balls and being a little bit more aggressive. Give Vancouver a lot of credit. They’re a team that made it to the MLS [Cup] final last year. So, we’ve gotten four points off them in two games. We’re not ready to pack it up and go home for the year.”

On Daniel making key saves to keep the Quakes in the game:

“Daniel did well tonight. He’s been consistent this year. This is only the second year I’ve been around Daniel, and I thought he lacked consistency last year, and this year, he’s been consistent. He’s been one of the leading goalkeepers in the league, so he did a good job.”

On fighting through injuries and fatigue after playing eight matches in 28 days:

“There are a lot of games left to play. We, like a lot of teams, have periods of time where you have injuries, or you’re not playing well, and it’s going to be part of it. Nobody sails right through the season. So right now, we’re in a little bit of a tough space right now with a couple of injuries and those types of things. … We just got to hang in there.

“They’ve given a good effort. We lacked some quality tonight. We have to look at that and maybe make a few other adjustments to try to close out the month of May, and then we’ll have plenty of time to get ready when the schedule resumes in July.”

DEFENDER DANIEL MUNIE

On the team’s strong buy-in and unity this season:

“Communication was going to be a huge component in this game, and I think we did a good job overall picking up players in our space. Vancouver moves around well and makes it tough on you, but I thought we handled it really well. I also want to shout out Benji [Kikanović] for the game he had. He was rock-solid on the right side, and they kept trying to play balls in behind, but he dealt with everything. I think the whole back line did a great job defending in our box. Daniel was rock solid, Rony did great in front of us, and even the front guys worked their butts off. Really proud of the group.”

On the team’s improved game management and ability to grind out results compared to last season:

“Yeah, I mean, I feel like last year, when we gave up a goal, you could kind of see heads go down. You don’t see that this year. Even in Toronto, we found a way to get a point on the road after a long trip and a midweek game. I thought we did great tonight. We were under a lot of pressure, but we still created chances and still could’ve won the game. We always want all three points at home, especially against a team that’s right behind us, but you’ve got to be okay with some of these results sometimes, move on, not worry about it too much, and focus on the next game.”

On the back line’s chemistry and what makes the group difficult for opposing attackers to play against:

“We’ve got a lot of speed back there, and it’s a group that’s been playing together all year now, starting in preseason. I think we’ve shown all year what we’re capable of. We’ve also got one of the best goalkeepers in the league, and that’s huge for us. We’ve got each other’s backs, and we’ve shown that all year. If someone makes a mistake, the next man steps up and provides cover.”

On the team’s strong buy-in and unity this season:

“Our team has no egos. We’re just a really fun squad, and the locker room has great vibes every day. We’ve got good banter, and that starts with the coaches creating a positive environment. I think Bruce has a great eye for talent, and he’s done a great job in his second year. We’ve got a group of guys who don’t care who scores or who gets the credit, we just want to go out there and win. It’s a great group, and honestly a joy to be around every single day. Hopefully we can keep the success going.”