Vancouver Whitecaps v Orlando City – The High Fiving Story In Pictures
It Disney get any better than that heading into a bye week (one week off is NOT a World Cup break). The Lions headed into BC Place but were made to look like kittens by a rampant Vancouver Whitecaps attack. Well, at times.
Vancouver’s 5-2 win over Orlando on Saturday afternoon made it back to back wins and extended their unbeaten streak to six matches. They could have hit double that if they’d taken their chances and had the right support in the box when needed. They seemed in control for most of the match.
Yet they let in two goals while up a man, still unable to work out how to play with an “advantage”. Sloppy goals too. The kind that drives a coach and supporters mad.
That’s something to work on, and you can argue if they can score more goals than they let it, it’s not as a big a worry. Maybe they are starting to do that now. They certainly look capable of it, with an electric front four that is a match for any defence in MLS when on fire. So let’s focus on the positives for once.
Alphonso Davies was certainly on fire on Saturday. One goal, three assists, and causing so many problems to an Orlando defence that simply had no answer for him. A brace from Kei Kamara, another goal from the revitalized Yordy Reyna, and a nice strike from Nicolas Mezquida did the damage and it was high fives and broad smiles all round after this one.
Regular AFTN photographers Tom Ewasiuk (@ResidualImage)) and Caroline (@FrogPhoto) were there to capture the action before, during and after the game. Here’s their “Story In Pictures”, with a full Flickr slideshow at the end.
[Also check out Tom’s website www.residualimagephotography.com and Caroline’s Instagram for more of their photos and work].
Your Vancouver Whitecaps starting XI
After a fairly even start Brian Rowe came up with a huge save from Will Johnson to keep the scores level. A game changer? Perhaps!
Allowing the ‘Caps to break the deadlock as Alphonso Davies powered forward towards goal from the half way line in the 36th minute
Setting up Kei Kamara to refind his shooting boots and fire Vancouver into a 1-0 lead
Sacha Kljestan had a chance to put Orlando back on level terms before the break but Brian Rowe did enough to put him off
The ‘Caps started the second half strongly and Alphonso Davies pounced on a Joe Bendik parry but ended up firing over from a tight angle
Quickly followed by Kei Kamara firing into the side netting on another breakaway
Another potential game changer came in the 58th minute when Mohammed El-Munir clumsily felled Jake Nerwinski
Picking up a second yellow and a red card. But you know how the ‘Caps do against ten men…
And sure enough, six minutes later Sacha Kljestan tucked one away past Brian Rowe to tie the game up at 1-1
But fear not, the ‘Caps have The Phonz and he’s in the right place, at the right time to put away a loose ball after Joe Bendik parried a fierce Jordon Mutch shot
But wait. Was he offside? The computer said no and it was 2-1 Vancouver!
But there was more drama to come as Yordy Reyna was brought down in the box in the 82nd minute
No penalty was initially given but Jose Carlos Rivero wanted another look and pointed to the spot after a video review
Up stepped Kei Kamara
Who put away his second of the game to make it 3-1 Vancouver
And he celebrated in style in front of the Southside
But the ‘Caps kept their relentless pressure on and Alphonso Davies grabbed his second assist of the afternoon
Playing in Yordy Reyna
And the Peruvian made it three goals and three assists in his last five matches
The Trio of Terror!
And it wasn’t over yet as Alphonso Davies grabbed his third assist of the afternoon setting up Nicolas Mezquida
Who made it 5-1 and enjoyed every sound of the adulation from the crowd
Still not over as Dom Dwyer picked up a cheap consolation in stoppage time for a 5-2 final scoreline
And Kei Kamara wanted to let everyone in the stadium know how excited he was by the result!
While Brian Rowe did the Humba with Curva Collective. What an afternoon!
You can see all of Tom and Caroline’s photos from the game HERE and in our full Flickr slideshow below:
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