Caps rain on Portland’s parade
Vancouver ends Timbers’ win streak, inch closer to final Western Conference playoff spot
The Vancouver Whitecaps aren’t done and buried just yet.
The Caps travelled down the I-5 for a Cascadia rivalry game with the Portland Timbers on Saturday, and shocked the world with a 2-1 win against a team on a team-record unbeaten streak.
Kei Kamara and Cristian Techera scored for Vancouver (9-9-6), while Diego Valeri replied for Portland (10-8-3). The Timbers were undefeated in a team-record 15 games, and were unbeaten at Providence Park, but they found themselves trailing before the first half had ended.
The second half saw wave after wave of white-clad Timbers crash upon the Whitecaps defence — clearances were 54-7 for Vancouver, holding just 30 per cent possession — and Portland’s broadside outgunned the Caps to the tune of a 26-13 shots advantage. Goalkeeper Stefan Marinovic, limping and hobbled after making a second-half save, came up with a raft of big saves, seven in total, but all with a high degree of difficulty.
The win ties the Cascadia Cup at one win each for all three Pacific Northwest teams, but also pulled the Caps to within one point of Real Salt Lake — who drew 1-1 with Montreal Saturday — for the final playoff berth in the Western Conference. Here’s what we learned:
SET PIECE SHOWS UP
The Whitecaps were the best in the MLS at scoring off of set pieces last season, topping the charts with 18 goals, and Kamara predicted they would be the “most dangerous team in the league” coming into the season.
But, with two goals off of set pieces heading into Saturday, the Caps were tied for deadlast with Minnesota United.
Well, they’re second-last now.
Waston put a long free kick from centre to the top of the box, where Kamara — benefiting from poor timing by onrushing Portland keeper Jeff Atinella — beat centreback Larrys Mabilia to the ball and put a loping header into the empty net for a stunning opening goal in the 14th minute.
BORIS THE BULLET DODGER
Waston’s 40th-minute foul on Diego Valeri was unquestionably a penalty, and the big Costa Rican knew it, sinking to his knees with his hand above his head.
But Valeri pulled it wide past the left post, squandering a chance to pull the home side even, and the Caps made them pay with Techera’s goal three minutes later.
He did get a second chance from the spot and converted a penalty in the 70th minute to pull his team back to within one, going the same direction, but this time a yard to the right and inside the post.
LET’S GET IN FORMATION
Missing Alphonso Davies, the Whitecaps tweaked their formation, coming out in a 4-2-3-1.
It worked well as they won the battle in the middle of the park. Aly Ghazal and Felipe paired well up the centre, with the Egyptian disrupting play with his Go Go Gadget legs and Felipe handling the distribution.
The Caps shot chart reflected it, with the bulk of their efforts uncharacteristically, at least for the 2018 squad, coming in the middle. Eight of their nine first-half attempts came from inside the boundaries of the half-circle.
The Whitecaps’ second goal, however, was a straight system score. A punt from Stefan Marinovic reached just over half, where Kamara flicked it on to Brek Shea on a run down the flank. His cross to the middle of the pitch found the head of Techera, who banged it home despite being the shortest player on the pitch. It was the second straight MLS game Shea recorded an assist, both coming on crosses from the deep wing.
The goal made it 2-0, the first time since March 10 the Timbers have trailed by two in a game — a 4-0 loss to New York Red Bulls in Game 2 of 2018.