Report and Reaction: Whitecaps hit summit as unbeaten start to MLS season continues against Montreal

Vancouver Whitecaps dominated from start to finish in their all-Canadian clash with CF Montreal at BC Place on Saturday evening. A first half goal from Mathias Laborda finally broke the deadlock in the 32nd minute, and although the visitors showed signs of life before half time, an early second half goal from Tate Johnson on his MLS debut gave the ‘Caps a 2-0 victory and sent them to the top of the Western Conference standings.

But it could be a victory that comes with a heavy cost for the ‘Caps with captain Ryan Gauld being forced off in the 23rd minute with a left knee injury after landing heavily on the turf following a header, the latest in a long line of injuries to have hit Vancouver hard to start the season.

Jesper Sorensen made two enforced changes from the starting 11 that beat LA Galaxy on Sunday, with Sam Adekugbe and Jayden Nelson both missing out through injury, replaced by draft pick Johnson and Ali Ahmed.

The ‘Caps controlled the early play as expected, with Montreal continuing their grueling start to the season on the road and happy to just give up possession and try and force something on the counter.

The breakthrough for Vancouver felt like just a matter of time, but they were dealt a blow just before the midway point of the half when Gauld rose unchallenged to try and get his head on a clearance in the middle of the Montreal half, but seemed to land awkwardly, twisting his knee as he planted. The concern was immediate and the Scot was helped off by two Whitecaps staff, unable to put much weight on his left leg. Although Gauld felt it wasn’t as bad as it first looked, further tests will reveal the extent of the damage and just how much time the talismanic Cap will miss.

It was another game, another injury for the snakebitten ‘Caps, but unlike last week’s to Adekugbe, this time the life wasn’t sucked out of the team and they continued to take the game to the visitors, forcing several chances.

Laborda tired an audacious overhead kick from just inside the box, that Jonathan Sirois got down to hold, before the Montreal keeper had to stretch to deal with a passback, and Luca Petrasso thumped the loose ball behind for a Whitecaps corner.

Vancouver kept the pressure on and as the ball was chipped into the danger zone. It bounced around before falling to Laborda who shaped up to blast the ball home, but instead produced a deft finish to hit it low under a sprawling Sirois and give the ‘Caps the lead their play deserved.

VAMOOOOS!!! Laborda opens his account for the 2025 season 😤

📺 https://t.co/POuE7YjRQO #VWFC | #VANvMTL pic.twitter.com/7fexD0zxqE

— Vancouver Whitecaps FC (@WhitecapsFC) March 9, 2025

The goal finally spurred Montreal into life and Yohei Takaoka turned away a Aleksandr Guboglo head off a free kick in the 36th minute before Ranko Veselinovic cleared a Guboglo effort off the line.

The Whitecaps came out strong to start the second half and they added to their tally in the 49th minute.

Pedro Vite drove forward, playing the ball to Ahmed, who sent the ball into the box to a wide open Johnson to fire home his first MLS goal in his first appearance in the league.

To the first of many for our @MLS SuperDraft selected & Generation Adidas defender Tate Johnson! 🔥

Assisted by Ali Ahmed 🍎

📺 https://t.co/POuE7YjRQO #VWFC | #VANvMTL pic.twitter.com/sZyZ7qXt8S

— Vancouver Whitecaps FC (@WhitecapsFC) March 9, 2025

The ‘Caps pushed to put the game to bed with Vite seeing a fierce volley turned away by Sirois in the 53rd minute before the keeper denied him again just past the hour mark after good work by J.C. Ngando.

Ngando himself was next to try his luck with a shot which Sirois spilled.

Montreal had one last real attempt to get on the scoresheet, but Takaoka denied Owusu with a leg save and Vancouver held on for a comfortable three points.

It’s been quite the start for the ‘Caps under Sorensen. They currently sit atop the MLS Western Conference and second in the Supporters Shield standings by one goal. They’re playing a nice brand of football, look solid defensively, and the goals are coming from all over the park. Eight players have found the back of the net across all competitions, with defenders heavily involved.

There’s a lot of positives, but the injury specter hangs over this team. It’s forcing the depth to step up early and to their immense credit they’ve responded. If they can keep getting the results, while dealing with this injury crisis to key personnel, then they could very well be real contenders this season. Exciting times!

FINAL SCORE: Vancouver Whitecaps 2 – 0 CF Montreal

ATT: 19,531

VANCOUVER: Yohei Takaoka; Mathías Laborda, Ranko Veselinović, Tristan Blackmon, Tate Johnson; Pedro Vite, Andrés Cubas, Sebastian Berhalter (Ralph Priso 74’); Ali Ahmed (Damir Kreilach 87’), Brian White (Daniel Ríos 87’), Ryan Gauld (J.C. Ngando 23’) [Substitutes not used: Isaac Boehmer, Belal Halbouni, Bjørn Inge Utvik, Giuseppe Bovalina, Nicolas Fleuriau Chateau]

MONTREAL: Jonathan Sirois, Brandan Craig, Joel Waterman, Luca Petrasso; Aleksandr Guboglo Fabian Herbers (Victor Loturi 72’), Nathan Saliba (Dominic Iankov 81’), Tom Pearce (Jahkeele Marshall-Rutty 61’); Kwadwo Opoku (Jules-Anthony Vilsaint 61’), Prince Owusu, Bryce Duke (Caden Clark 61’) [Substitutes not used: Sebastian Breza, Fernando Álvarez, Sunusi Ibrahim, Dawid Bugaj]

SCORING SUMMARY:
32’ – VAN – Mathías Laborda
49’ – VAN – Tate Johnson (Ali Ahmed, Pedro Vite)

STATS:
Possession: VAN 54.5% – MTL 45.5%
Shots: VAN 15 – MTL 10
Shots on Goal: VAN 7 – MTL 2
Saves: VAN 2 – MTL 5
Fouls: VAN 11 – MTL 15
Offsides VAN 0 – MTL 1
Corners: VAN 8 – MTL 7

CARDS (ALL YELLOW):
39’ – MTL – Luca Petrasso
41’ – MTL – Brandan Crag
90’+4 – VAN – J.C. Ngando

REACTION:

VANCOUVER WHITECAPS

JESPER SORENSEN

On the ‘Caps strong start despite a tough schedule:

“Of course, it’s been a tough first couple of weeks here, if we talk about the program we’ve had with all the matches and the significant injuries. But I think everybody hung in there. Montreal is a good team, they play in a way where it’s oftenvery difficult for the opponents to get a really good rhythm, and you have to take the opportunities that you have. But I also think the players profit from playing a lot of games right now, so they get into the rhythms that we can change pretty fast. We saw Tate [Johnson] come in and play his first MLS game, we saw J.C. [Ngando] get on the pitch pretty early, so I think they’re ready to chip in.”

On Tate’s first goal on his MLS debut:

“It’s brilliant. It’s a great story, and it’s great for him. He came onto the pitch for 45 minutes just three days ago [against Monterrey] to play his first minutes for the Whitecaps, now he started his first MLS game and played 90 minutes. Also says a lot that players have done well with physicality and getting into shape during preseason. I think it’s fantastic for Tate and everyone is happy for him. Of course we are, because you’re coming in as a young man, trying to establish himself in this league and trying to establish himself in a new team, a new country. It can be difficult but he really has been in the mix with the other guys from the start and everybody likes him. It’s just great for him and for us that he scores and he gets the start.”

DEFENDER TATE JOHNSON

On scoring his first Whitecaps FC goal:

“It feels great. Definitely happy, doing it at home and more importantly getting the win. Obviously we got a lot of games coming up, so it’s great to get that win and get that goal, but now it’s shifting focus towards our next game and looking to get another three points.”

MIDFIELDER ALI AHMED

On the hot start to the season:

“I think we’re definitely putting ourselves on the map now. You know, it’s three seasons in a row, I think we’ve been showing that we’re a team that can compete amongst the best. Right now, 3-0, I think that’s history for the ‘Caps to start in MLS. I think we’re just, honestly, not really paying too much attention to the outside noise. I’m just focusing on what we got to do. And I think that’s helping us come out every week and just put up results.”

CF MONTREAL

LAURENT COURTOIS

“There is a little bit of disappointment. Our team is waiting to be punched to react. On the ball, there are clear actions that we thought were going to put us in a good position and we hesitated to execute. The second that we did execute, we were in a good position. I’m just frustrated with the guys who waited. They either waited to react or waited for the second half. You should be like this from minute one. Aleksandr Guboglo had an impressive start for a 17-year-old. He was tracking his one-twos, making runs in behind, trying to take players on one-on-one and, in recovering, not getting caught on his back.”

JOEL WATERMAN

“Our game needs to stay the same no matter where we are. Football is the same, it’s 11v11, no matter where we are. Coach wants us to play our type of football, because we have the players to do so, and I think we’re hesitating right now. Like (Laurent Courtois) said, it comes down to that commitment and I think hesitation is just a little bit within our game, which is a tough pill to swallow, but I think we just need to commit. I think we’re in a type of place right now where we’re just hesitating on the ball and what we want to do, and maybe those spaces aren’t opening up the way we want to. I think it’s just about commitment and just making sure that we’re playing with the utmost confidence that we know we can because every guy in a locker room deserves to play and every guy in the locker room has the confidence to do what we want to do and execute what we want to do.”

CADEN CLARK

“I think that we’re too staggered sometimes, and it has to come from the players to understand where to be and when to be in that space. Being on the road shouldn’t be an excuse, half of your season is on the road. You can’t have half of your games where you’re not playing your style. We have to figure out a formula and a way to push forward. We created a couple of really big chances in the last 20 minutes, and there were a couple in the first 70 minutes. We just got to be better, finish those off and tidy up defensively.”