Whitecaps storm out of L.A with a Round Of 32 Ticket! Post-Game Reaction

What happens now?

The Whitecaps are not saying bye to this tournament yet, with a bizarre and deranged win in Los Angeles to book their ticket to the knockout stages. On August 4th the time is to be determined, the Caps will look to even further advance in this tournament against the Tigres UANL in Mexico at BC Place in the Round Of 32. As for the Galaxy stay at Los Angeles, because there's no reason for you to travel until MLS continues. On the other hand, Vancouver will at least play one more game in the 1st ever Leagues Cup with all the Major League Soccer and Liga MX.

Build off from this

Can the Whitecaps build off from this phenomenal and astonishing win. You got a win with the help of a bit of luck, something that hasn't really been on the Whitecaps side this season but this game was a different story. You can always build on wins especially the late winners to win the game. Where you feel the most excitement as the game is whining down this game and a goal is scored, that happened and you can build off as it was late in the match. The Caps might not be happy with the performance, I expect Vanni to be satisfied with the result. Next game in the start of the match the momentum may bring over to the game against Tigres. From late in the match to a start of another in a few days it might feel like your team scored a few minutes ago. I think they might have the mindset of let's put in a good performance and result instead of only one of those things. You can build on wins every game, but this one feels like a very good one to build off of.

Reflection on the decisions that Vanni made/ stats and analytics

When the lineup was initially posted the Caps were playing a 3-5-2. But it looked like a 4 at the back with the switch right before the match which was Laborda in for Martins which was activated due to a tightness in the left calf for Martins, so it seems like it was a back 4 of Raposo, Blackmon, Vesilinovic and Laborda. It played like a 4-3-3 or a 4-3-1-2 after the first 10 minutes. It was interesting to start Ngando over Vite and Berhalter as it feels like when Vite came on LA Galaxy had the momentum, but when Vite came on the momentum for LA Galaxy has vanished. Subbing in Karifa Yao because of a injury for Ranko Vesilinovic was intriguing, as Javain Brown was available even though he hasn't played since the Gold Cup. Now we have to talk about the insane decision by Vanni to play Isaac Boemher instead of the Japanese goalkeeper Yohei Takaoka, did it work out? The answer is kinda, it wasn't like last time where Vanni decided not to play Takaoka, last time against St Louis, Thomas Hasal played in goal and had a absolute disasterclass. But Boehmer did make a solid save to prevent the Galaxy to regain the advantage. Boemher made 2 saves in total while conceding a goal to Riqui Puig. Boemher had an alright game, the communication feels like it was worse, but the saves were good. The expected goals was towards Vancouver the Whitecaps had a 1.73XG, the Galaxy had a 1.35XG. Possession was 62% for the Galaxy and 38% for the Whitecaps, this feels low for the Galaxy as they were dominating the first 70 minutes. Shots on goal was 3 each. Shots were 16-11 for L.A.

Game Recap

It feels like a knockout game as a win or a shootout win would make Vancouver go through to the Round Of 32 and it was the same scenario for Los Angeles.

It was the 16th minute where Puig plays the pass down the right and the Galaxy player cuts it back for Riqui Puig who precisely places it down the bottom left corner and he beats the reach of Whitecaps young goalkeeper Isaac Boemher.

In the second half the Galaxy was very close to extending the lead asTyler Bond for the Galaxy places it inches wide.

It was the 81st minute where the ball bounces back out for the Gauldfather who places the ball into the box for various Vancouver players attacking it and the last touch was off the Galaxy player Lucas Calegari and it slowly goes past Micovic.

Jovelijc goes on a run and shoots one on target but Isaac Boemher comes up huge for the Whitecaps.

Now it's stoppage time ref announced 3 minutes of stoppage time will it be penalties? Well Caicedo tries to place a cross it's blocked but the ball bounces to Ryan Gauld, Ryan Gauld with a miraculous effort and plays Brian White in a excellent position and he takes a touch and scores!

The final whistle blows soon and the Caps move on to the Round Of 32.

Man Of The Match

For me I think Ryan Gauld is the man of the match, even though Brian White was the deciding goal scorer Gauld was better overall. As he was the energy spark for the Caps, he was physical in this game giving this team the energy they desperately needed. He created numerous chances with the first goal started off with him putting the cross in the box. The second goal was a spectacular effort to somehow play that brilliant pass into Brian White. A fairly quiet game for the high line of pressing in this team but I think Gauld was the most impressive of the bunch. As he showed great effort and resilience at times. A common Ryan Gauld masterclass display.