Report and Reaction: Valiant Valour push Whitecaps all the way in dramatic Canadian Championship quarter-final

It wasn’t pretty, cup ties where one team is a massive underdog rarely are, but Vancouver Whitecaps did just enough at BC Place on Wednesday evening to squeak their way past Canadian Premier League side Valour and keep their defence of the Canadian Championship alive.

Heading into the second leg all tied up at two apiece from the first game a ridiculous seven weeks ago, Valour fought and scrapped and pushed the Whitecaps till the very last whistle and although they’ll head back east disappointed at how close they came to pulling off a major upset, they should do so very proud of their performance over the 180 minutes.

The Winnipeggers came to defend and try and hit on the counter whenever they could. Vancouver had to try and find a way to break them down and despite dominating the possession and shot stats, it took them until the 79th minute before a fantastic strike from Emmanuel Sabbi did just that.

To be honest, that should have been that, but Valour refused to give up and Jevontae Layne headed home a corner with four minutes remaining to make a penalty shootout a real possibility. The ‘Caps showed their class though and found the way to win that champions do when last year’s shootout hero from the final, Bjorn Inge Utvik, rose to head home the winner in the 90th minute and Vancouver’s quest for the fourpeat was kept alive.

The Whitecaps had put a strong line-up out for this one, looking to avoid any potential banana skin, with Brian White returning to lead the line after returning from US national team duty at the Gold Cup. But the closest they came to scoring in the first half was a shot from Daniel Rios in the 10th minute that whizzed past the far post.

The ‘Caps upped the tempo in the second half against a visibly tiring Valour side that was having to defend attack after attack.

Jayden Nelson had a couple of good chances to break the deadlock just past the hour mark, before Valour keeper Eleias Himaras produced a stunning diving save to keep out a goalbound Sebastian Berhalter header in the 77th minute.

Two minutes later, however, and the ‘Caps found that elusive breakthrough when Valour failed to fully clear the lines and Ranko Veselinovic played a short pass inside to Sabbi and the substitute fired home a beauty into the top left corner, celebrating in acrobatic fashion.

It that was meant to finally break Valour’s resolve, it didn’t and they finally found their attacking chops, equalising with four minutes of the match remaining with their first shot on target of the game.

Roberto Alarcon sent in a pinpoint corner from the left and Layne rose to meet it well, his goalbound header was met by an off-balance Sabbi on the goalline and he couldn’t recover his footing to keep the ball out and from nowhere, the CPL side had their unlikely equaliser, sparking huge celebrations in the corner.

Full credit to Valour for finding some fight, but as they tried to see out the rest of the match and take the game to penalties they Whitecaps found another gear and broke Winnipeg hearts in the 90th minute.

Keen to avoid the lottery of a shootout, the ‘Caps were pressing hard for the winner and Nelson whipped in a lovely cross from the left and Utvik rose above everyone to head it past Himaras and Vancouver were safely through.

It was a hard fought victory and it was a lot harder than it probably should have been with the gulf in quality on the pitch. But that’s what cup tie football brings, as Valour themselves found out when they just squeezed past League1 BC side TSS Rovers in the first round.

Anyone that’s watched Valour this season will be surprised at how they elevated their play in the two matches against the ‘Caps. The issue for Phil Dos Santos now is to try and get them to do that in league play. They deserve so much credit for how they went toe to toe with one of the best teams in MLS this year over two ties. They now need to build on that.

For the Whitecaps, they survived their scare and they know the challenge they face against another CPL side in the semi-finals, Forge FC, will be a lot tougher. The Hamilton side will fancy they can pull off another shock after knocking out CF Montreal with two very good performances and are a class act. That should be a cracker.

The ‘Caps also need to try and get some of their mojo back. Maybe they rode their luck a little bit at times in the first half of the season, but their fighting spirit carried them through, as it did again against Valour. The quality, however, feels like it’s dipped. Having players back from international duty, and hopefully soon from injury, should help, as will a couple of new faces. But this does feel a very different Whitecaps team from six to eight weeks ago. Hopefully that is just a blip.

Now’s the time for the real Whitecaps to stand up.

FINAL SCORE: Vancouver Whitecaps 2 – 1 Valour FC [Whitecaps win 4-3 on aggregate]

ATT: 14,536

VANCOUVER: 32.Isaac Boehmer; 18.Édier Ocampo (2.Mathías Laborda 76’), 15.Bjørn Inge Utvik, 4.Ranko Veselinović, 28.Tate Johnson (33.Tristan Blackmon 85’); 59.Jeevan Badwal (16.Sebastian Berhalter 46′), 13.Ralph Priso, 45.Pedro Vite (26.J.C. Ngando 71’); 14.Daniel Ríos, 24.Brian White (11.Emmanuel Sabbi 71’), 7.Jayden Nelson [Substitutes not used: 1.Yohei Takaoka, 30.Adrían Zendejas, 12.Belal Halbouni, 42.Nelson Pierre]

VALOUR: 1.Eleias Himaras; 13.Zachary Fernandez (3.Rocco Romeo 73’), 5.Kelsey Egwu, 23.Gianfranco Facchineri, 30.Themi Antonoglou (2.Roberto Alarcon 73’); 20.Xavier Venancio (80.Kianz Froese 62’), 27.Raphael Ohin, 28.Bruno Figueiredo; 11.Kris Twardek, 17.Jordan Faria (21.Myles Morgan 84’), 7.Kian Williams (19.Jevontae Layne 62’) [Substitutes not used: 50.Jonathan Viscosi, 8.Diogo Ressurreiçao, 9.Erik Pop, 64.Safwane Mlah]

SCORING SUMMARY:

79’ – VAN – Emmanuel Sabbi (Ranko Veselinović)
86’ – VAL – Jevontae Layne (Roberto Alarcon)
90’ – VAN – Bjørn Inge Utvik (Jayden Nelson)

STATS:
Possession: VAN 72% – VAL 28%
Shots: VAN 16 – VAL 3
Shots on Goal: VAN 6 – VAL 1
Saves: VAN 0 – VAL 4
Fouls: VAN 11 – VAL 15
Offsides: VAN 3 – VAL 0
Corners: VAN 5 – VAL 2

CARDS:
53’ – VAL – Bruno Figueiredo
59’ – VAL – Zachary Fernandez

REACTION:

VANCOUVER WHITECAPS

JESPER SORENSEN

On the match:

On tonight’s match:

“[It was] a normal cup game, I’d say. And I think hats off to our opponents. They did everything they should, everything they’re supposed to do to make it very hard for us and play their best. And that’s how cup football is. It can be difficult at times. Of course, I think actually, in the beginning, we moved the ball very well and set them down, and they didn’t have much over the entirety of the game. We gave maybe a corner too much away in the first half, but that’s what it is. Apart from that, I though that if we could move the ball well, openings will come. We didn’t have the final touch in the first half just to make the chance big enough. And we had some decent opportunities, but they were not a lot, but they [Valour FC] had to run a lot after the ball. And in the second half, we played a very good second half, we were dangerous, we were creating some good opportunities, created some chances, but they fought and made it difficult for us. And then, after the goal we played a little bit in between, playing a little bit too much backwards when we had the opportunity to go forwards, and it’s always risky. Then they scored, and of course, that was a tough one, also a corner we shouldn’t have given away. But that’s just how it is. And then we were able to strike back, and that’s cup football. It’s back and forth and a lot of nerves because it’s decisive, and I’m very happy for the win.”

On Bjørn Inge Utvik’s performance and his first Whitecaps FC goal:

“I think Bjørn [Inge Utvik] played a very good game today. I think he had very good passes. He was on the front foot all the time, was strong in the one-on-one duels, when he won the ball, he played forward. I think that he was all the time in the right positions, and also ready to be part of the build-up. I think that he played very well, of course, for him scoring a goal, it’s special. And the way it happened today, with the second goal late, of course it’s special. And I’m very happy for him.”

FORWARD JAYDEN NELSON

On the match:

“We played well. It was difficult breaking down the back five the whole game, but we played well. With these matches, it’s a mental game. We have to come out and try to score the goal pretty early, and then kill the game. I’m happy that we were able to push – push for the win – after they [Valour FC] tied the game, and I think that’s the most important thing.”

What he learned from these two legs:

“To be honest, we kind of experienced this in the Champions League, where we tied the game, when we were down, and we had to push for a result. I think we’re an experienced group, I can’t say much, but this group [has] been together for a very long time, and I think that’s one of the reasons that we can come back in these games, we know that we’re able to bounce back… For us, this next stretch of games is very important for us. We missed out on the Champions League, and some guys missed out on the Gold Cup trophy. I think – a lot of guys – are hungry for something big this year. We want to push for the Supporters’ Shield and the MLS Cup.”