Toronto FC vs Vancouver Whitecaps Post Match Reaction: Whitecaps beats Canadian rivals Toronto

Initial Thoughts

It's another away win for Vancouver Whitecaps and the current run that they are on has been sensational, this is especially impressive since the Whitecaps I myself believe that solidified Canada and the rest of the league that they are the best in Canada. As there was a lot of analysis was not even considering Vancouver to be the best club in Canada, as people and media thought that TFC was a the team of this nation, but obviously the standings says differently. So I think after this win and back-to-back Canadian Championships, the Whitecaps has officially dethroned Toronto and Montreal to be the best team in this country.

And I've saw a lot of supporters and neutral watchers saying that there is a possibility that the Whitecaps are transforming into Road Warriors, as this is absolutely crazy if you think about it logically, as after not getting a road win in a year and slightly more, when the Whitecaps finally gotten a MLS away win against LAFC after a year, a whole 370 days were the Whitecaps haven't gotten a road win and that was pretty recent, only 3 months ago where they broke the 1 year streak. But now, you can see the transformation as a win against the LA Galaxy away in the Leagues Cup. Then since MLS resumed, a lot of supporters was worried about this 7 game road journey but now the worries are probably putten away, as 10 out of 12 points so far in this road trip, which is mad, that would be a great home stand yet alone a road trip it is a phenomenal run that the Whitecaps have been on these last 4 matches, also a statistic the Caps are the team in the MLS that has been leading away from home the most, with 31% of the time the Whitecaps are leading in the road which is a stat that kind of helps the case of Vancouver in them being a great away team, but we go back to the initial question, are Vancouver Whitecaps road warriors now? Me personally, I'm not convinced even though this form has made me change my opinion on the Caps away from home, and it makes me think that they are capable but it is kind of concerning not winning a away game in the MLS for a full calendar year, also it wasn't all fun and games away from road at the start of the season, with 7 games before their first road win of the season in the eighth game. So it certainly boosts my confidence away from home, but I don't consider them road warriors at least for now.

Vanni

This was how Vanni prepared his lineup against Toronto with Sam Adekugbe, Andres Cubas and Luis Martins unavailable for this match.

Now I think part of this is trying to consider the match against Houston on Wednesday, but it's slightly better than the Wednesday-Saturday matches, with only 2 days in between. But in the games when Saturday-Wednesday with a 3 days in between like what it is like right now, to the Houston Dynamo match on Wednesday. I think Vanni may have replaced Berhalter with the unavailable Cubas where they needed to replace the defensive presence of Andres Cubas. I would have opted for Vite instead of Ahmed maybe, but that's the only one I'm a bit considerate about. As I think Vite could've gave the Caps a better engine in the attack in the first half as it could've been more entertaining and attacking first half. But a great strategic and tactical game by Vanni Sartini.

Standings

At one point during the game, the Whitecaps were sitting in 2nd of the Western Conference, but they end the night and matchday in 4th with games in hand over St Louis and Seattle and a game in hand over LAFC. So unfortunately for the Caps, they were pretty close to finishing 2nd as they were literally in that position during a point, which I believe hasn't happened in a long time for the Whitecaps, certainly not this season or last season, probably the last time that they stood at 2nd place was 2017 then the time the Whitecaps actually finished 2nd at the end of the season was 2017. A pretty nice feeling to e in second for a moment, but being in 4th is not bad especially with a game in hand over the teams in front of you and you get home advantage for the first round of the MLS playoffs, if the Caps keep on playing this way in this road trip I can see a real possibility of them being top 2 in the Western Conference.

Stat of the match

No stat stands out entirely, but it's just a bit repetitive for the Whitecaps and it's the expected goals, below your expected goals again the Caps were expecting 2.5 goals only ended up with 2, at the end of the day it didn't matter as they still got the 3 points. Part of the reason was Toronto's expected goals being super low, but they were slightly more clinical according to the statistic of expected goals. It's a concern for me that a lot of these matches we should put to bed rather comfortably, but we just don't and the opposition just knocks on the door until the end, like White after scoring the header had 2 big chances but those were decent efforts as both of them was close and I think this just adds on to the unluckiness of Brian White this season, Ali Ahmed had a golden opportunity but it was saved by the TFC goalkeeper, so it's a slight concern for me but I think that at some point, these chances will go in but it's just a dream thinking about how ahead of the standings the Whitecaps will be in if not for them missing chances.

Game Recap

It took half an hour to get the first chance out of the way at BMO Field.

Where it was Brian White who was driving at Michael Bradley and shoots a low driven log range effort that took a diving save by the Toronto goalkeeper to his right.

A few moments after Raposo goes for goal on the left of the edge of the box and he shoots it on target but comfortably stopped by Romero.

A long distance free kick by Bernardeschi curves low around the 2 man Vancouver wall and takes a slight deflection off Veselinovic but Takaoka makes the stop.

Pressure by Gauld, crosses it in, White couldn't receive the curling cross that falls for Laryea but his shot from just inside the box was divingly caught by Romero.

It remains nil-nil at halftime.

Then TFC hits on the counter, Ranko loses the ball after trying to push up, a clearance falls for Lorenzo Insigne who plays a beautiful through ball to Deandre Kerr and he doesn't make a mistake buryin it past Takaoka.

A corner for the Whitecaps, ball goes in by Ryan Raposo, where it lands for Tristan Blackmon who heads it home!

A few moments later, Vite plays the ball wide to Raposo whose inside the 18 yard box towards the left, he takes a great shot but hits the crossbar.

Then in the 66th minute, Gauld with a run forward and crosses it into Brian White which was unmarked and his header goes into the back of the net.

Similar play to the second goal, as it was a cross my Gauld and White was unmarked again but he heads it down but it bounces over the bar.

A marvelous play by the Caps, a pass by Takaoka that gets them to the halfway line then Gauld with a touch to White, Brian White backheels one to Gauld and a one touch through ball into Brian White who is 1v1 with the keeper he gets chased by Rosted he takes a shot outside the 18 but unfortunately it was saved by Romero.

Here in the 89th minute, Laryea passes it to White who instantly plays a through ball to get Ali Ahmed a great opportunity but it was a wonderful save by Romero.

The final whistle blows and the Whitecaps win 2-1.

Man Of The Match

It was extremely difficult to decide on this one, as I believe all of Gauld, White, Raposo, Blackmon and even possibly Laryea was a shout for me to be Man Of The Match for this game. As both White and Blackmon got the goals in and Gauld and Raposo were the providers for the goals, Laryea even though no goal contributions but I still think he gave a huge impact on this game against his former team, and he didn't really get a bad reception by TFC fans mostly good reception. But my choice was Ryan Gauld here again for Man Of The Match, as he played sensational today, what's shocking is how he's doing these performances day in and day out. Gauld played 2 spectacular crosses to White which got him a assist, and he had great passes and dribbling again today, his display was sensational here, his pressing tonight was one of my favourite parts about his performance this past Saturday as I saw him pressuring his opponents and giving great effort to pressure and make life difficult for TFC. So again, another Gauld masterclass against TFC.