Report and Reaction: Lady Luck and magic Maurer leaves undermanned Whitecaps exasperated in Dallas draw

Report and Reaction: Lady Luck and magic Maurer leaves undermanned Whitecaps exasperated in Dallas draw

Posted on September 8, 2024 by in MLS, VANCOUVER WHITECAPS with 0 Comments

(Photo Credit: @FCDallas/X.com)

Whatever way Vancouver Whitecaps’ players want to unwind after their match with FC Dallas on Saturday evening, let’s hope they give the casino next door a wide berth because Lady Luck clearly decided to take a weekend break.

The Whitecaps pummeled Dallas, hitting the woodwork three times, seeing efforts cleared off the line, and denied by some great goalkeeping as they simply couldn’t find the breakthrough and had to settle for a single point in a 0-0 draw.

Severely undermanned, a draw isn’t the worst result many feared, but it was two more points dropped at home, and they lost a little bit of ground in the playoffs standings, although they still have at least one game in hand on four of the five teams above them. A lot still to play for, but it’s results like this that can be highlighted come season end as crucial to where things finish up.

With five players away on international duty and two unavailable due to injury, it was a bare bones Whitecaps squad that took to the pitch at BC Place. Vanni Sartini handed first Whitecaps MLS starts to centre back Belal Halbouni and midfielder Ralph Priso, with Levonte Johnston and Damir Kreilach leading the line in a 3-5-2 formation.

The first half saw the gods of fortune both giveth and taketh away for the Whitecaps, in a game that took a little bit of time to warm up. Once it did, it was the ‘Caps who carved out the best chances.

Alessandro Schopf saw a curling effort crash off the right post in the 24th minute with, with Dallas goalkeeper Jimmy Maurer rooted. The rebound fell to Matias Laborda, playing in a wingback role, but he drove his shot past the far post.

Vancouver came close again in the 33rd minute. Ryan Raposo, who was causing the visitors a lot of problems, sent in a cross to the back post which was met by Laborda. His looping header was weakly punched away by Maurer and with the ball flying over his head, Sebastian Ibeagha was on hand to head it off the line and the danger was cleared.

Sebastian Berhalter was next to try his luck and his curling free kick in the 35th minute had Maurer scrambling to turn it away. The ‘Caps kept the pressure on, and Raposo chipped another ball into the back post, this time for Kreilach, who could only look on agonizingly as his header came back off the right post.

Dallas should have gone into the break with the lead. As the visitors broke through the Vancouver lines, Paul Arriola played the ball outside to Petar Musa. His cross into the box was casually flicked into the air by Ranko Veselinovic, straight to Arriola, who had continued his run. The American’s shot was palmed away by Yohei Takaoka, but he couldn’t get a strong enough hand on it and it fell to Tsiki Ntsabeleng inches from goal, who somehow whiffed at his shot and the ball ran wide. A huge escape for Vancouver.

Vancouver were the better team, outshooting Dallas 11-2 in the first half, but the only stat that mattered was whether they could convert those opportunities into goals in the second half. They weren’t.

Musa was played in for Dallas five minutes after the restart, but ended up poking his shot well wide from a good position, before Vancouver took the game back over, forcing a string of corners, but no saves from Maurer.

Dallas had the ball in the net in the 66th minute when Arriola’s low long ranger cannoned off the left post, straight to Musa, who guided the ball past Takaoka, but the Croatian forward was offside.

As the substitutions came apace, Vancouver made a double Colombian substitution in the 73rd minute, handing Edier Ocampo his MLS debut and welcoming Deiber Caicedo back into the ‘Caps fold.

The woodwork was to deny the Whitecaps for a third time on the night in the 75th minute when Tristan Blackmon got onto Berhalter’s free kick into the box, but as his header flew up into the air, it came back off the crossbar and Dallas cleared the danger.

As the minutes ticked down and the chance of a goalless encounter grew ever more likely, Caicedo was played in on goal in the 83rd minute. As the forward tried to round the onrushing Maurer, the Dallas keeper did enough to knock the ball away and the ‘Caps couldn’t capitalize on another good opportunity to take the lead.

It was another great play from Maurer, who was playing his first competitive game in over a year.

Stuart Armstrong came on for his Whitecaps debut a minute later, and with a couple of slips, it may take him a little bit of time to find his feet on the turf.

The Whitecaps had two fantastic chances to win it in stoppage time.

Five minutes in, Sam Adekugbe played a lovely cross into the back for Nicolas Fleuriau Chateau, but with the ball taking a clip on the way through, it didn’t fall well for the WFC2 call-up and he flashed his shot high and over.

Seconds later and the ‘Caps had another great opportunity to win it at the death. Adekugbe again sent in a great cross from the left, Laborda headed into the danger six yard box and the ball eventually ran through to Caicedo yards from goal, but Maurer somehow managed to pull off a stunning save on his line to turn it away and earn his team a crucial point.

Disappointment and frustration at the end for the ‘Caps. They outshot Dallas 20-6, but only getting a quarter of those shots on target was the tale of the game. A point going into this game, missing so many players, wouldn’t have been considered too bad a result, but with how the match played out, it very much feels like two big points lost.

With Seattle’s win at Columbus, Vancouver now drop to 6th in the standings. They move within two of 4th place, with a game in hand, and remain eight points above Dallas who sit in 10th.

There’s positives to take. Ocampo and Armstrong made their MLS debuts, Caicedo got back onto the pitch in a ‘Caps jersey, and there were some promising performances from the likes of Halbouni and Laborda. But they need to take these full points at home. Another two dropped is simply not good enough.

FINAL SCORE: Vancouver Whitecaps 0 – 0 FC Dallas

ATT: 23,188

SCORING SUMMARY:
None

STATS:
Possession: VAN 51.5% – DAL 48.5%
Shots: VAN 20 – DAL 6
Shots on Goal: VAN 5 – DAL 2
Saves: VAN 2 – DAL 5
Fouls: VAN 11 – DAL 7
Offsides: VAN 2 – DAL 2
Corners: VAN 7 – DAL 1

BOOKINGS:
83’ – VAN – Nicolas Fleuriau Chateau
87’ – FCD – Marco Farfan

VANCOUVER: Yohei Takaoka; Belal Halbouni (Édier Ocampo 73’), Ranko Veselinović, Tristan Blackmon; Mathías Laborda, Sebastian Berhalter, Ralph Priso (Stuart Armstrong 84’), Alessandro Schöpf, Ryan Raposo (Sam Adekugbe 62’); Damir Kreilach (Nicolas Fleuriau Chateau 63’), Levonte Johnson (Déiber Caicedo 73’) [Substitutes not used: Isaac Boehmer, Bjørn Inge Utvik, Giuseppe Bovalina, Jeevan Badwal

DALLAS:

REACTION:

VANCOUVER WHITECAPS

VANNI SARTINI

On the performance:

“I think we played very well. I think it was really good, but I’m not satisfied because we deserved to win. I think we played better than them. We had a lot of chances, some of them were very close, like the two at the end. But, I am extremely proud of the team. Everyone played really well, A lot of players that didn’t start a game for so much time, some of them were a little tired at the end because they didn’t have the 90 minutes, since they normally play maybe 20-25 minutes. They came in and, I think, did a good job. It was a good job, and this tie is, if we do a great job next Saturday [against San Jose], it makes next Saturday’s win four points instead of three, so that’s beautiful. That’s beautiful. The future is beautiful.”

On his team’s strength in depth and the pressure that comes with it:

“Having good players is never a problem. We have 20 starters. That’s pretty simple. The guys that started today – we missed like six players, plus Bjørn [Inge Utvik] that was on the bench almost as support because he had a bit of a problem during the week. So we missed seven players and we dominated them. We dominated them, that’s what happened. You know, we’re doing really well, so it’s more than a headache, a little bit of pressure, to be honest. I feel now a little bit of pressure because we need to deliver. We cannot hide anymore. We go in there and we want to be in the top four, maybe even more. That’s because of the quality of this team.”

MIDFIELDER STUART ARMSTRONG

On making his debut:

“I enjoyed it. It would have been nicer if we won, but a good start. The atmosphere was good. I think the team played well and we were unfortunate not to win. As debuts go, it was pretty good.”

On being a DP and getting fully match fit:

“I think getting up to speed as quickly as I can will help the team. I just want to come here and give my best football. Of course, the different style of the DPs, and everything that involves, of course that adds a little bit of pressure. I think throughout my career, there’s always been pressure when you play. So that’s part of the culture, part of playing football. And I just need to perform at my best every week.”

DEFENDER RANKO VESELINOVIC

On the match:

“I think we controlled, especially, the first half. We had so many chances. We just missed that little something, that finishing touch to put the ball into the net. But that happens in a game. I would rather have those games than have zero shots. So I think it’s a positive game for us, but we’re all going to think of the chances we made.”

On the stretch run:

“I just hope that we’re all healthy, because we have a great group. I think that we have an amazing team. We have a lot of games at home, and we need to be really good at home. We need to win games.”

On the first MLS home match since July 20:

“The fans were great, the atmosphere was good. Especially later in the second half, they were pushing us as you could see we created chances. The next game we hope to see even more people because we’re going to need them. Seven games, it’s like a final until the end of the season.”

FC DALLAS

INTERIM HEAD COACH PETER LUCCIN

Takeaways from tonights match:

“The first half was bad. Our press was too passive and we lacked aggressiveness and we did not press our opponent nor did we go forward. In the second half we changed our shape and did a better job of not letting them get the ball. Tonight was not good enough. We have a squad full of potential on the field, but we did not do enough offensively tonight.”

Thoughts on Jimmy Maurer’s first start of the season:

“Top. We tied tonight’s match because of Jimmy (Maurer). He is a player with a lot of experience and quality. I am very happy with his performance.”

On building for the next match:

“What we lacked today is what was working for us previously. We scored goals and tonight we did not do that. We need to have more offensive volume, play more balls from behind. We were too passive tonight so we have to work on this and get back to scoring.”

JIMMY MAURER

Takeaways from the result:

“A little disappointed because we’re at a point in the season where there’s not a lot of margin for error. We need points so we’re going to be disappointed by that and I don’t think that we played sharp. But a point on the road, we’ll take it and move on but we’ve got to start picking up all three.”

On keeping a shutout on his first appearance of the season:

“It felt great. Credit to all my teammates and the staff. Drew (Keeshan, FC Dallas goalkeeper coach) has been keeping me sharp all year, games or not. I feel the support from everybody, from the staff to the players. I felt great and just happy to do my part for the team.”

On what the team can improve on ahead of the next game:

“Just a lot of details, a lot of sharpness, decision making and shifting at the same time. A lot of things where we were disjointed tonight, a little half second behind and it cost us.”

      
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Authored by: Michael McColl

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