Top of the league: Vancouver Whitecaps vs Colorado Rapids Post-Match Reaction
- Jarvis Ng
- Apr 7
- 4 min read
If there was ever a time when the franchise was in complete turmoil, this season so far has been the complete opposite. Imagine speaking to a diehard ‘Caps fan at the end of last season—what would their reaction be when you tell them about the promising beginning this Whitecaps team has shown? It would most likely be filled with exhilaration and happiness, maintaining more structured thoughts about what caused the sudden success.
The Whitecaps once again dominate the match and defeat the Colorado Rapids. It was a match in which Vancouver asserted dominance from start to finish, limiting Colorado's attack to absolutely nothing generated over the 90 minutes. This match cemented Vancouver as not a fluke, but truly legitimate. After dropping points in two straight MLS matches—losing against Chicago and frustratingly drawing against Toronto FC—this was the perfect way to return to winning ways. The Whitecaps played in front of a crowd just south of 18,000, and they delivered them a treat of full entertainment and control throughout the entire match.
Vancouver started off slightly sluggish, likely due to schedule congestion, having played their last match on Wednesday in a CONCACAF Champions Cup quarter-finals matchup against Pumas UNAM.
Through a difficult start with no real opportunities generated, Vancouver found their breakthrough—who else but Brian White? His clinical right-foot finish, from a ball whipped in by Johnson, then the header down by Berhalter, was slotted perfectly into the bottom-left corner. This was Johnson's first career assist, because of MLS counting secondary assists similarly to hockey.
That goal from Brian White opened up the game and got the supporters rallying. Vancouver were not affected by the fatigue, as they maintained dictating play and not letting the Rapids get anything going.
Following the Whitecaps being able to lock down defensively while primarily controlling the tempo of the game, it was well-deserved that they got another goal—this time from Emmanuel Sabbi. This goal marked the American’s first Major League Soccer goal and his first Vancouver Whitecaps goal. His nice left-foot shot past Steffen, following a superb through ball by Ali Ahmed, doubled Vancouver's lead and created memories for Emmanuel Sabbi, as his celebration spoke for itself.
The halftime whistle soon blew, and the Whitecaps were on cruise control to win this Western Conference clash. It soon seemed like the match was clinched after Vite scored a scorcher; however, the play was deemed offside before Vite’s powerful effort.
Subsequently, after Vite’s disallowed goal, he had two more opportunities. Both were hit cleanly—one with extreme power with his left, just a bit off target, and the other with technique on his right—but neither got past Steffen.
Despite Vite’s streak of excitement and near-goals, the Whitecaps didn't let Colorado have a sniff in this game. No close chances for the Rapids, as the ‘Caps completely shut the door—resulting in a convincing 2-0 victory, where Yohei Takaoka gets his fifth clean sheet in all competitions, and his second consecutive clean sheet in MLS action.
This win is made even more impressive due to Colorado's 3-1-2 (W-L-D) start to Major League Soccer, ranking fifth in the Western Conference before this fixture. Furthermore, the Whitecaps were missing four regular starters and had little to no defensive depth available. Utvik, Halbouni, and Laborda were all unavailable for this match, with O’Neill (called up from Whitecaps FC 2) being the lone center-back substitute. Gauld, Adekugbe, Nelson, and Laborda are primarily starters for the ‘Caps—they were out with injuries. Meanwhile, key depth pieces like Halbouni (illness), Utvik, and MacKenzie were also out with their respective injuries.
Not only that, as mentioned before, they showed no regard for the Rapids. They completely obliterated them in a mean manner. If you were a Colorado supporter, you would be snoozing because your team is struggling immensely to generate any opportunities at all. Vancouver had an answer to everything Colorado tried to throw at them, while Colorado didn't have the same success attempting to contain Vancouver.
This win sparks Vancouver to the top of the league, placing them first in the Supporters’ Shield standings. The Whitecaps have gained 16 out of 21 possible points so far this MLS season. The focus has to continue for the Whitecaps to sustain this kind of success. But with complete performances like that, it is entirely possible the Whitecaps could classify as one of the main challengers in MLS. This 5-1-1 record to begin the MLS campaign has also earned them their franchise-best start to a season after seven games. Now they just have to keep pushing to potentially challenge their franchise-best 53 points, which is entirely achievable—especially under Sørensen.
Numerous interesting facts or statistics occurred in this match, which include:
Second MLS game with no shots on goal allowed
Twelve players have now already scored a goal this season
Eight players have already had an assist this season
Sebastian Berhalter has started all of Vancouver’s games this season, being the only one on the team to start all 11 games
The ‘Caps outshot the Rapids 16-7
The ‘Caps had seven more shots on goal compared to the Rapids (7-0)
The ‘Caps had an expected goals advantage of 1.84–0.41
After the match, Jesper Sørensen commented, “I think we played well. I think we were up against a team that press up high and also did that today. I think we kept cool and played out of that pressure well. Maybe it was a little bit more of a counter-attacking play, a little more direct play, but we also showed that we could manage that type of game. I was quite happy with the performance overall. I think we created a lot of opportunities and chances.”
The Whitecaps now look to carry this newfound momentum spurt to Mexico as they aim to book themselves a semi-finals spot against Pumas at Estadio Olímpico Universitario on Wednesday. After that big Mexican clash, Vancouver returns home to play third-place in the West, Austin FC. This should be an exciting week for the Whitecaps, and let's see how they fare in both these fixtures this upcoming week.
Comments