Report and Reaction: Late Dynamo wonder strike dampens Whitecaps’ Müller party

After one of the most pivotal weeks in Vancouver Whitecaps’ 50 plus year history, the storybook ending to cap it all off to perfection wasn’t quite written the way everyone of a blue and white persuasion had hoped for.

Brian White’s sixth minute penalty had given the ‘Caps an early lead, but a failure to turn chances into a second goal was to prove costly. Thomas Müller made his debut just past the hour mark and within two minutes he had buried a thunderbolt of a strike that saw the stadium erupt in a cacophony of noise. But it was to be shortlived joy, with the goal chalked off for offside on White in the build up.

With the minutes ticking down, it looked like one goal was going to be enough, but Houston had other ideas and it was a long range effort of their own from Artur in second half stoppage time that spoiled the party and saw Vancouver drop two very important points.

A sold out lower bowl crowd was in attendance to see Müller start on the bench for his first game in Vancouver, with ‘Caps coach Jesper Sørensen making two changes from the team that went down to the controversial loss in San Jose last Saturday. Centre back Belal Halbouni came into the defence for Bjorn Inge Utvik, after the Norwegian’s tough out in the Canadian Championship midweek, with Jeevan Badwal replacing J.C. Ngando in the midfield.

When these two teams met in Houston a month ago the Whitecaps got an early breakthrough just four minutes in. That game saw their pace out wide cause serious problems for the Dynamo defence and it was the same again in Vancouver when Jeevan Badwal played a nice ball for Jayden Nelson to run on to in the 5th minute.

Nelson’s speed took him away from Griffin Dorsey and the Dynamo defender tried to chase down the Canadian international but clipped his heel in the box and referee Jon Freemon had the easy decision to point to the spot. White stepped up to take the penalty, sending Jonathan Bond the wrong way and the ‘Caps had the early breakthrough they were looking for.

Houston had their best chance in the early going in the 12th minute when Jack McGlynn’s cross in from the right went over the heads of everybody before ricocheting off the leg of Whitecaps defender Mathias Laborda towards goal, forcing ‘Caps keeper Yohei Takaoka into a leg save and the danger was cleared.

The Dynamo came close again in the 24th minute when Dorsey whipped in a low cross from the right which Ezequiel Ponce turned towards goal, but Takaoka stood tall again to deny the visitors.

The Whitecaps had fallen out of the game as an attacking threat, but they found some offensive chops to end the half, coming within the width of the post off adding a second in the 45th minute when Nelson connected on an Edier Ocampo cross but was denied by the woodwork.

Emmanuel Sabbi had the last chance of the half three minutes into stoppage time, blasting inches over after White’s initial shot was turned away by bond.

So a narrow lead for Vancouver going into the break, and the ‘Caps were forced into a half time change, with Utvik coming on for Tristan Blackmon in the centre of the defence after the stalwart felt some mild knee pain.

The ‘Caps came out on the front foot again after the restart, with Sabbi’s shot blocked in front of goal in the 49th minute before Sebastian Berhalter saw a shot parried away at the near post.

Vancouver kept the pressure on with Sabbi firing over again, before some sublime footwork from Nelson just before the hour mark deserved a goal but only earned a corner.

Then, in the 61st minute, the Thomas Müller era in Vancouver officially began, with the German legend taking to the pitch along with the welcome return of Ali Ahmed from injury.

And it only took Müller two minutes to show the Whitecaps fans, and those watching around the league, what we can expect from him in blue and white, rifling home a 20-yard strike to seemingly give the ‘Caps a 2-0 lead. Except, it wasn’t the dream debut, at least not yet, with the linesman’s flag going up for offside on White in the build up. Personally, I blame Tim Ford.

Laborda sent a header from an Ahmed cross inches over in the 76th minute, as the ‘Caps pushed for the killer second to finally put the tie to bed.

Müller played a lovely through ball for Ahmed in the 88th minute, but Bond was quickly off his line to smother the danger.

Vancouver still hadn’t killed off the match and they were made to pay for that as the match ticked into second half stoppage time when Artur fired home a long range strike and from nowhere, Houston had levelled things up.

It was a fantastic strike and one that not only sucked some life out of the stadium, it dealt a huge blow to the Whitecaps’ Supporters Shield and Western Conference hopes.

Vancouver tried to muster a dramatic late winner, but Houston shut up shop and there was no way through.

Brooklyn Raines picked up a second yellow for the visitors seven minutes into stoppage time for delaying a quick Whitecaps thrown in, but there was no time for Vancouver to capitalise on it and an evening that promised so much and had ignited the fans suddenly turned sour.

It was a disappointing end for the Whitecaps. As great as it was to see Muller make his debut and score a goal that ultimately wasn’t, the most important aspect going in to this match was the need to take all three points from it and in that regard, the ‘Caps came up short. Other results this weekend have seen Vancouver lose pace at the top of the standings and also drop to third in the West in the process.

There were some exciting attacking moments in the second half that should inspire, but the chances have to be taken and with some questions at the other end of the pitch around the centre of the defence, there are also concerns.

St Louis are next up and that now is a must-win match if the ‘Caps are to make a real push to finish top of the West and get the best seeding they can and home field advantage for the playoffs to come.

FINAL SCORE: Vancouver Whitecaps 1 -1 Houston Dynamo

ATT: 26,031

VANCOUVER: 1.Yohei Takaoka; 18.Édier Ocampo, 33.Tristan Blackmon (15.Bjørn Inge Utvik HT), 12.Belal Halbouni, 2.Mathías Laborda; 16.Sebastian Berhalter, 20.Andrés Cubas, 59.Jeevan Badwal (13.Thomas Müller 61’); 11.Emmanuel Sabbi (22.Ali Ahmed 61’), 24.Brian White © (14.Daniel Ríos 76’), 7.Jayden Nelson (17.Kenji Cabrera 90’+1) [Substitutes not used: 32.Isaac Boehmer, 6.Ralph Priso, 26.J.C. Ngando, 28.Tate Johnson]

HOUSTON 31.Jonathan Bond; 25.Griffin Dorsey, 3.Antonio Carlos (4.Ethan Bartlow 64’), 22.Pablo Ortiz, 26.Felipe Andrade (30.Junior Urso 82’); 35.Brooklyn Raines, 6.Artur, 21.Jack McGlynn; 27.Sebastian Kowalczyk (8.Amine Bassi 64’), 10.Ezequiel Ponce (11.Lawrence Ennali 72’), 9.Ondrej Lingr (12.Toyosi Olusanya 82’) [Substitutes not used: 1.Jimmy Maurer, 14.Duane Holmes, 23.Michael Halliday, 24.Femi Awodesu]

SCORING SUMMARY:
6’ – VAN – Brian White (penalty kick)
90’+1 – HOU – Artur (Amine Bassi)

STATS:
Possession: VAN 50.9% – HOU 49.1%
Shots: VAN 15 – HOU 11
Shots on Goal: VAN 3 – HOU 2
Saves: VAN 1 – HOU 2
Fouls: VAN 14 – HOU 12
Offsides: VAN 2 – HOU 4
Corners: VAN 4 – HOU 4

CARDS:
26’ – VAN – Andrés Cubas
36’ – VAN – Belal Halbouni
39’ – HOU – Sebastian Kowalczyk
42’ – HOU – Pablo Ortiz
45’+1 – HOU – Brooklyn Raines
90’+7 – HOU – Brooklyn Raines (Red)

REACTION:

VANCOUVER WHITECAPS

JESPER SORENSEN

On the match:

“A game where we came off to a good start, had a breakthrough, they made the penalty, and we profited from it. After that we had a little bit of difficulties controlling the game because we were making too many mistakes on the ball with not playing fast enough, and not with the quality. But overall, it got better and better in the second half of the first half, we had some big opportunities in the end of the first half and might have been able to score to make it 2-0 and that would have given us even more confidence and a little bit extra of a line to play with, result wise. Then I think we played a very good second half where we really dominated, we played high up the pitch, we had better flow in the ball, and I think we had good movements, but we couldn’t really kill off the game. We had some opportunities that we didn’t really create what we needed out of it. But overall I was happy with the second half. Then of course, the goal they created in the end came off a turnover, but we were there where we were supposed to be and behind the ball, [but] he hit a good strike and that’s what football can be sometimes. Then you end up with a little bit of a feeling that you lost the game, even though we didn’t, but it’s just the feeling afterwards after a game where you had the feeling that you would come away with a win.”

On Müller’s debut:

“I think it was good. There’s of course high expectations for a player like Thomas coming here to MLS, playing for Vancouver Whitecaps. First and foremost, it’s about blending in together with his teammates. I think he did very well. I think that he has a high football IQ, so he understands where to position himself and also which spaces to attack. And of course, he’s been here for three days. We just want to get him integrated into the team as fast as possible. And I think that he has done very well since he came, two training sessions. Tonight, I was very happy with what I saw, and unfortunate for him. It could have been a magic moment, with him scoring the goal just coming on the pitch, but a narrow offside, that’s what can happen in football. But I was quite happy with his performance.”

On next steps for Müller:

“Now he’ll have a good training week, and if everything goes well we’ll see him in the starting lineup pretty soon, probably next Saturday, but we have to see. That will be normal. And the position he plays? He has to play some kind of central position, maybe not in the front line, but just below, that will be his favourable position. I think there was a lot of good things today to look into, and we’ll build from there. He will need the training sessions and be ready for Saturday. I think he played more as a 10 today, where Andres [Cubas] and Sebastian [Berhalter] were below him, but I think he played more as a 10 because he needs to also have the freedom to attack in the box and the space in the box. He’s a player who can do the most difficult things in football, scoring goals and playing his teammates in the final moment. So I think that’s where we can see him.”

MIDFIELDER THOMAS MÜLLER

On his MLS debut:

“I have mixed feelings. I think the moment when I scored the [offside] goal, it was amazing. The noise in the stadium and also the reaction of my teammates. That was a great start for me. In the end, the result was a little bit disappointing. But that’s the game. I think second half we controlled them much better. We had big chances to score more goals, and if you don’t score, the door is always a little bit open. It was a good shot, it was a great shot, in the end, it was not lucky but if you follow the game, maybe he’ll score this goal once a season. In the end, we have to take the result and we have to take our game and improve it in the next couple of weeks. I’m now fresh into this team, new into the league. I need a few weeks to figure out what is right or wrong but to be honest, I feel very good after this game.”

On whether it comes naturally for him to come in and organize the team around him:

“Yes, 100 percent. Jesper [Sørensen] expected this from me. He knew before, when they brought me in, that this is natural behaviour of me. If I’m on the pitch, I try to organize my own position first, but when I see something that I think is good for the team to adapt about positioning or intensity or passing gaps, then I will communicate with my teammates directly and I think that will never change, even if it’s my first game.”

HOUSTON DYNAMO

HEAD COACH BEN OLSEN

On keeping up the fight:

“We are still finding out who we are. That is not only our groups, who is best, the partnerships, the pairings and the tactics. That is also the type of soul we have and what type of collective group we are when things are not going well. That identity is still forming. In the last two weeks, we saw some personality and some reactions that make me optimistic about the next eight games and going forward. Unfortunately, we are still figuring it out, and a lot of teams are not at this stage. The moxie that we showed over the last two weeks is an important one that you need in this league, and we are going to need if we are going to make a run at this thing.”

On Artur’s goal as captain:

“We have asked a lot of (Artur) this year, and it is nice when a guy who does all the little things for the group and cares so much about what is going on here, can get some notice from scoring a goal. It is just a good moment for him.”

MIDFIELDER ARTUR

On tonight’s result:

“It was an important result for us against a good team on the road. Of course, we need three points right now, but one point will help us as well. Now, we need to go with everything at home and keep pushing to get into the playoffs.”

On building off this result moving forward:

“Inside the locker room, we know we need to do a bit extra. We really want to be in the playoffs, and we have talked about this since the beginning. Right now, we are not where we wanted to be at this point in the season, but we believe we can climb in the standings and achieve a playoff position. Everybody needs to push because we all believe that we can be there. It does not matter where we play, we are going to keep working hard and pushing for results.”