Report and Reaction: Rampant and relentless Whitecaps rout Minnesota to lead MLS

Don’t poke the bear. That’s perhaps what we can take from Vancouver Whitecaps’ two matches over the past four days.

After a heavy defeat in Champions Cup action against Seattle on Thursday night, the Whitecaps were keen to make a point. Head coach Jesper Sorensen had noted that they were a good team before that game and nothing had changed. Anyone who has watched this team under the Dane’s tutelage over the past 14 months would have doubted that, for any lingering thoughts of that ilk that may have existed, the ‘Caps set the record straight in some style putting half a dozen goals past an overwhelmed Minnesota United side at BC Place on Sunday afternoon.

Another Brian White brace led the way for the Whitecaps with Sebastian Berhalter, Mathias Laborda, Emmanuel Sabbi, and a first goal for the club from Cheikh Sabaly adding to the damage. Two goals in the 6-0 victory came from the penalty spot, and Berhalter tallied a pair of assists in a Man of the Match performance, asthe ‘Caps were in an undeniable mood and Minnesota had no answer for the relentless wave of attacks.

The victory saw Vancouver move to the top of the MLS standings leading both the Supporters Shield and the Western Conference. With four wins out of four to start the league season and with 16 goals scored and just the one against, the ‘Caps have hit the ground running and will now move on to Wednesday’s Champions Cup second leg full of confidence that they can stage what would be a stunning comeback.

On form like this, you wouldn’t bet against them.

Sorensen rang the changes from that midweek loss to Seattle, six in total with Andres Cubas coming back into the midfield double pivot after suspension. His presence was immense. Tristan Blackmon missed out following his calf injury midweek, while Thomas Müller was rested and started on the bench. Mihail Gherasimencov got his first MLS start after impressing as a late sub on his league debut last week in Portland, while Jeevan Badwal took on the number 10 role behind White.

AZ Jackson blasted over three minutes in as the ‘Caps started on the front foot, having survived an early Minnesota scare from kick off.

Vancouver got the early breakthrough they were looking for in the 8th minute when Berhalter blasted home from the spot after Badwal had been bundled over in the box by Kyle Duncan.

It was the perfect start for Vancouver and better was to come just five minutes later when the Whitecaps doubled their lead.

Berhalter played the ball through for Sabbi and the winger kept the ball in on the byeline, cutting it back perfectly for White to fire home from the edge of the six yard box to make it four goals in three MLS matches for him, and he wasn’t done yet.

Two up and cruising, the ‘Caps wanted more and Berhalter had a curler from the edge of the box that didn’t miss by much.

The ‘Caps came even closer to grabbing their third in the 21st minute when Badwal ran onto a perfectly-weighted long through ball, leaving two defenders in his wake, but his delicate chip past the keeper crashed off the right post and Minnesota survived, but not for long.

A now rampant Whitecaps got their third moments later.

AZ was bundled over for a free kick, which Berhalter whipped in dangerously to the near post. Laborda stuck out a foot as the ball ran through before it rebounded off a defender onto the back of the Uruguayan’s leg and into the back of the net for three.

The action eased a bit after that, but Badwal brought a save out of Drake Callender in the 36th minute.

Minnesota had their best chance of the match two minutes later when Nectarios Triantis crashed a fierce shot off the left post, with Yohei Takaoka rooted.

Vancouver weren’t taking their foot off the gas and made their pressure pay with a fourth in the 43rd minute.

Cubas forced a turnover in the middle of the Minnesota half, allowing Berhalter to play in Sabbi, who made no mistake and slotted it past Callender.

To their credit, Minnesota kept fighting and should have pulled one back in first half stoppage time when Devin Padelford was played in on goal. The left back made the mistake of looking up to see if he onside and it killed his momentum, resulting in a weak shot and an easy save for Takaoka.

If Minnesota thought that Vancouver were going to take it easy on them in the second half, they were soon to realise that wasn’t to be.

After a concerted spell of pressure, the Minnesota defence buckled once again when DJ Taylor brought down Jackson in the box. Upstepped White this time and he drilled home from to spot to make it five for Vancouver and give White his 100th goal contribution as a Whitecap.

Still trying to attack, the visitors forced a superb double save from Takaoka in the 59th minute.

The Whitecaps made a triple substitution in the 65th minute to get some guys some rest for Wednesday, with Minnesota bringing on Colombian star James Rodriguez for his club and MLS debut.

Takaoka comfortably saved a Kelvin Yeboah header before Cheikh Sabaly was denied his first Whitecaps goal from a superb Callender save after being unselfishly set up by Badwal.

The Senegalese forward was not to be denied that first goal, however, and it came in the 74th minute. Laborda set him up with a beautiful outside of the foot pass and Sabaly brought it down superbly, dragging it inside, and firing home with a little bit of help from Jefferson Diaz, who tried everything to keep it out.

Takaoka produced a superb diving save to deny a Diaz header off a free kick in the 88th minute.

The Whitecaps couldn’t find a seventh to match last year’s demolition of Philadelphia, but it was certainly six of the best with a lot of positives to take from the performance and result.

This was a dominant and almost complete performance from Vancouver and they did it without Müller being on the pitch for most of the match. Those players coming in all did well and it got important first team minutes for Gherasimencov and Sebastian Schonlau. The likes of Kenji Cabrera and Tate Johnson, who we would expect to see start on Wednesday got full rest, and Sabbi looked more like the phenom that terrorised defences last season.

Whatever now happens in Spokane midweek, the Whitecaps will head their full of confidence and belief now. In terms of league play, this was a performance that should have the rest of the West concerned. We talked about making BC Place a fortress in this first part of the season and with three home wins at home and another six to come, they are doing just that.

Bring on the Sounders.

FINAL SCORE: Vancouver Whitecaps 6 – 0 Minnesota United

ATT: 23,885

VANCOUVER: 1.Yohei Takaoka; 18.Édier Ocampo (15.Sebastian Schonlau 65’), 2.Mathías Laborda, 6.Ralph Priso, 29.Mihail Gherasimencov; 16.Sebastian Berhalter (8.Oliver Larraz 65’), 20.Andrés Cubas; 11.Emmanuel Sabbi (7.Cheikh Sabaly 65’), 59.Jeevan Badwal, 22.AZ (13.Thomas Müller 77’); 24.Brian White (19.Rayan Elloumi 77’) [Substitutes not used: 32.Isaac Boehmer, 17.Kenji Cabrera, 28.Tate Johnson, 41.Nikola Djordjevic]

MINNESOTA: 12.Drake Callender; 28.Jefferson Diaz, 67.Carlos Harvey (27.DJ Taylor 46′), 23.Morris Duggan, 2.Devin Padelford (13.Anthony Markanich 82’); 20.Wil Trapp, 25.Nectarios Triantis (30.Owen Gene 65’), 26.Joaquín Pereyra; 3.Kyle Duncan (21.Bongokuhle Hlongwane 46′), 9.Kelvin Yeboah, 8.Tomás Chancalay (10.James Rodríguez 64’) [Substitutes not used: 1.Alec Smir, 5.Nicolás Romero, 24.Julian Gressel, 29.Mamadou Dieng]

SCORING SUMMARY:
8’ – VAN – Sebastian Berhalter (penalty kick)
13’ – VAN – Brian White (Emmanuel Sabbi, Sebastian Berhalter)
22’ – VAN – Mathías Laborda
43’ – VAN – Emmanuel Sabbi (Sebastian Berhalter)
54’ – VAN – Brian White (penalty kick)
74’ – VAN – Cheikh Sabaly (Mathías Laborda)

STATS:
Possession: VAN 52.1% – MIN 47.9%
Shots: VAN 16 – MIN 9
Shots on Goal: VAN 8 – MIN 4
Saves: VAN 4 – MIN 2
Fouls: VAN 23 – MIN 22
Offsides: VAN 1 – MIN 4
Corners: VAN 3 – MIN 7

CAUTIONS:
45’+4 – MIN – Jefferson Diaz
64’ – VAN – Andrés Cubas
73’ – MIN – DJ Taylor

REACTION:

VANCOUVER WHITECAPS

JESPER SORENSEN

On if this was the kind of bounce back performance he was looking for from Thursday:

“Yes, of course. It was more than we even hoped for. But we would like to come back strong and bounce back from what we thought was a disappointment [against Seattle]. I think that we really came out strong. Even though it was only two-and-a-half days since we played last game, I think the players looked fresh and looked really eager to come out here and push the pace, and play with great quality I have to say. It was a great game obviously, and we’re very happy.”

On hard work paying off:

“I can only say positive things about the players, really. Getting in, grinding in every duel, taking the runs, playing with intensity – running also the tough runs that you sometimes have to make as a winger or an attacker. So, to get back, we saw Rayan Elloumi when he came in, Cheikh Sabaly, how they were covering ground. Jeevan [Badwal] throughout the game, also from a high position, getting back, if needed be – so I think that’s definitely the way we want to play, and the way we want to look as a team as well.”

MIDFIELDER SEBASTIAN BERHALTER

On the response after last Thursday’s result:

“I think we just put it behind us and started fresh. It wasn’t the result we wanted [on Thursday], but we knew we were going to come out here and just play our game. It doesn’t mean we’re a bad team losing one game. For us, it’s just about doing what we do and sticking to our principles.”

On the team’s spirit and celebrating with Cheikh Sabaly:

“I think, just all around the field, guys are happy for each other. Guys are working for each other and he’s a guy that, he’s got a lot of minutes at the end of the games and it’s tough to come in 10-15 minutes to really get that rhythm. So great for him to see him score a goal. And he’s such a nice and good person. He doesn’t really speak a lot of English yet, but he’s really a good guy, so I was just super happy for him.”

MINNESOTA UNITED

HEAD COACH CAMERON KNOWLES

On his team’s defensive display:

“They put a lot of stress on a team with the way that they move and you really have to commit one way or the other. You have to, when you’re in the front half and pressing, you have to be all in on it. When you’re in your own half and you’re behind the ball and you’re defending deep, take away space, take away time on the ball and you have to fully commit to it. We just found ourselves inbetween in a lot of those situations and against a good team they just rip you apart and that’s what we saw.”

What’s his message to the team after that performance and how does he help them shake that off?:

“The message is it’s early on in a process that’s going to have its lumps and when you’re not at your best and you’re trying to do something different and at the first sight of a little bit of adversity in the game we start to have some doubt creep in and we stray away from some of those things, you end up getting punished. The message was to stick with it, to stay collective, to stay on board with the direction we want to head in. We have the solutions in the room. The players in that locker room have the solutions, so it’s a really tough result that we have to wear and certainly me, I take full responsibility for it. The failure of the team to perform is a failure of preparation for it and that’s on me.”

Does the team just forget this result?:

“No, you don’t want to shed from it, you want to learn from it. I think the important thing for us is diving into it and learning from it. We’re in a transition as a team, we’ve got new players that have come in to the club, we have new staff that’s working with the club. This isn’t going to be easy. Now we’re trying to have growth and with that, there isn’t comfort and if there is we’re probably doing something wrong. There’s going to be difficult moments and that’s really the message to the guys. That’s when it really matters most that we stick together and we’re in this together because it’s easy to react to something that’s happened short term, especially something as dramatic as this. Certainly there’s things we need to react to and there’s real immediacy in some of that. But in the grand scheme of things, we have to remember there’s 30 more games to go, there’s a game coming this weekend, we have to learn and continue to learn to develop what we’re doing and continue to move forward.”