Report and Reaction: Valiant Valour stun Vancouver Whitecaps in battling Canadian Championship draw

(Photo Credit: ValourFootball/x.com – CPL Photos

Vancouver Whitecaps started their quest for a Canadian Championship fourpeat with a somewhat lackluster performance in Winnipeg against a Valour FC side that put in one of their best team performances for a long time and were very deserving of the 2-2 scoreline at the final whistle.

Sam Adekugbe got Vancouver of to the perfect start, but goals either side of half time from Rocco Romeo and Bruno Figueiredo put Valour ahead on the night in this quarter-final first leg battle, before Ali Ahmed’s late strike spared Whitecaps blushes.

It was a Whitecaps performance that clearly frustrated head coach Jesper Sorensen, who felt his team had moved away from their gameplan and playing style, trying to do too much on the ball and being punished for it. In a match where some players had a chance to show their coach they deserved to be a big part of the upcoming CONCACAF Champions Cup final, there weren’t many who came away from the game with pass marks and that in itself will be a concern for the ‘Caps with less than two weeks till the big showdown in Mexico City.

Sorensen was always going to field a rotated line-up for this match and the Dane made 10 changes from the team that started down in Austin on Saturday, with Emmanuel Sabbi being the only made to get the start in both. It was still a strong line-up and also a Canadian-heavy one, with six starting. It was hard to say if Phillip Dos Santos started his strongest 11, so has been their up and down season so far, but he certainly put out a team ready for the fight.

The Whitecaps dominated the possession and the play from the start and it was no surprise when the early breakthrough came six minutes in.

Having won a free kick for a tough challenge on Jeevan Badwal by Xavier Venancio, which was quickly taken by Jayden Nelson, Ralph Priso was played in, but his shot was blocked by Valour goalkeeper Eleias Himaras. The rebound fell to Adekugbe just inside the box and the Canadian rifled a shot in off the bar to give the ‘Caps the early lead.

For all their possession, the ‘Caps couldn’t really create any clear cut goalscoring opportunities and they allowed Valour to come more into the match.

Sabbi had a great opportunity to double the ‘Caps’ lead as the half hour mark approached, but wildly fired his shot over from the edge of the box.

The home side had their best chance of the game so far in the 35th minute when Kris Twardek ran into the box, cutting the ball back dangerously for Jevontae Layne, but just as the Valour forward was poised to strike, Priso nipped in and put the ball behind for a corner.

Valour saw their pressure pay off in the 38th minute when Romeo rose superbly to powerfully head home a Themi Antonoglu corner in from the right and somehow this one was all tied up.

Whitecaps goalkeeper Isaac Boehmer was furious that a foul was not called from Twardek impeding him as the corner came in, and picked up a yellow card from referee Yusri Rudolf for his protestations.

The ‘Caps pushed to get back in front as the half wound down, but the Valour defence was resolute and the teams headed in level.

Valour came out strong to start the second half, creating a couple of chances in and around the box, but it was a long range strike that put the Winnipeggers into a shock lead in the 51st minute.

Zachary Fernandez was given time and space to pick out a pass along the top of the box to Figueiredo and the Portuguese midfielder blasted home from 20 yards out, sparking jubilant scenes amongst the Manitoban crowd.

Was this the kick up the ass that the Whitecaps needed? Well it certainly forced Sorensen’s hand and he turned to his bench to bring on some of the more regular starters.

One of those was leading scorer Brian White, who was played in on goal from a neat J.C. Ngando through ball, but Himaras stood tall to deny the striker in the 71st minute.

The Whitecaps turned up the heat and it felt like an equaliser was coming. They had to wait until the 80th minute to get it, but when it came it was another cracker, on a night of great goals.

Substitute Sebastian Berhalter whipped in one of his trademark corners from the left. Valour couldn’t fully clear and the ball broke to fellow sub Ahmed, who took a nice spinning touch inside to make room for the shot, which he duly rifled home and we were all tied up once again.

That should have been the goal that saw the ‘Caps push on and get the win on the night, but they stuttered and it was Valour who almost grabbed a lead to take into July’s second leg when Figueiredo crashed another long range effort off the left post, with Boehmer left rooted.

It was a fantastic performance from Valour, who were given a tough time by League1 BC side TSS Rovers to even get to this game, and building on the back of their first CPL win at the weekend, there is a lot for Dos Santos to move forward with from his group. Have they finally turned a corner or did they just rise to the occasion? We’ll get some kind of answer this coming weekend.

For the Whitecaps, there’s a lot to think about and some concerning issues to iron out with the final against Cruz Azul on the horizon. They will certainly need to play far better than anything they’ve shown in their last two games to make history. Let’s hope they’re just getting the poor performances out of the way now.

The second leg of this tie goes at BC Place on July 9. A ridiculously long wait between legs again, but you would expect the ‘Caps to get the job done fairly easily and advance. This is cup football though and they’ve just given Valour all the belief they needed that they can go on and bring the cupset.

FINAL SCORE: Valour FC 2 -2 Vancouver Whitecaps

ATT: 3,476

VALOUR: 1.Eleias Himaras; 13.Zachary Fernandez, 3.Rocco Romero, 23.Gianfranco Facchineri, 30.Themi Antonoglou; 27.Raphael Ohin (64.Safwane Mlah 75’), 28.Bruno Figueiredo; 11.Kris Twardek (7.Kian Williams 76’), 20. Xavier Venâncio (17.Jordan Faria 64’), 8. Diogo Ressurreição (5.Kelsey Egwu 90+5′); 19.Jevontae Layne (10.Shaan Hundal 64’) [Substitutes not used: 50.Jonathan Viscosi, 2.Roberto Alarcón, 12.Wesley Wandje, 21.Myles Morgan]

VANCOUVER: 32.Isaac Boehmer; 2.Mathías Laborda, 12.Belal Halbouni (4.Ranko Veselinović 54’), 15.Bjørn Inge Utvik, 3.Sam Adekugbe (27.Giuseppe Bovalina 64’); 26.J.C. Ngando, 13.Ralph Priso, 59.Jeevan Badwal (16.Sebastian Berhalter 76’); 7.Jayden Nelson (22.Ali Ahmed 65’), 19.Damir Kreilach (24.Brian White 64’), 11.Emmanuel Sabbi [Substitutes not used: 30.Adrían Zendejas, 18.Édier Ocampo, 45.Pedro Vite, 54.Daniel Russo]

SCORING SUMMARY:

6’ – VAN – Sam Adekugbe
38’ – VAL – Rocco Romeo (Themi Antonoglou)
51’ – VAL – Bruno Figueiredo (Zachary Fernandez)
80’ – VAN – Ali Ahmed

STATS:
Possession: VAN 68% – VAL 32%
Shots: VAN 11 – VAL 12
Shots on Goal: VAN 4 – VAL 5
Saves: VAN 3 – VAL 2
Fouls: VAN 11 – VAL 17
Offsides: VAN 1 – VAL 2
Corners: VAN 8 – VAL 7

CARDS (ALL YELLOW):
7’ – VAL – Bruno Figueiredo
26’ – VAN – Jeevan Badwal
38’ – VAN – Isaac Boehmer
56’ – VAL – Rocco Romeo
67’ – VAL – Kris Twardek
73’ – VAL – Gianfranco Facchineri
89’ – VAL – Kian Williams

REACTION:

VANCOUVER WHITECAPS

JESPER SORENSEN

On the performance:

“I think it was a typical away Cup game where we came off to a good start and controlled the game well, and then, it was like we got played behind a couple of times, and [Valour FC] got some, I think, maybe confidence out of some set pieces. They scored on one as well. I think that they, of course, brought all the physicality that they could and also should do in a home game like this. I think it’s a normal thing that you end up in a scrappy game like this, where your opponents are doing very well, also maybe they play with a little bit more freedom than normal in the competition. So yeah, we were not able to play fast enough to play out of the duels and behind them so that caused us a lot of trouble.”

On squad rotation:

“It’s good. People get valuable minutes. I think I was quite happy with Jeevan’s [Badwal] performance today. I think that he looked very good. He hasn’t been playing that much and played very well. Also, it’s a while since we started both Mathías [Laborda] and Sam [Adekugbe] so it was good for them as well. I think I was quite happy with what we got out of the game. Of course, I would have loved to win. I would have loved that we played a little better with better connection, but we didn’t. But that’s sometimes how it is. Also, credit for Valour for playing a very good game, also tactically against us.”

FORWARD ALI AHMED

On the match and what the team expected from Valour FC:

“I think we came out with the right mindset. Scored one, score the first goal and then, I think maybe took our foot off the pedal and I think their quality showed. I think it was an equal game, for a bit, and then, second half, after tying it up I think, we’re pushing for a third, but they were as advertised. Nothing unexpected.”

On scoring his first of the season:

“Yeah, it’s good for me to score my first goal, get that weight off my shoulders. Most importantly, [I] helped the team tie it up 2-2, keep the score real close so, when we’re back at BC Place, we can take care of business and move on to the next round.”