Vancouver steps out on the front foot
The Vancouver Whitecaps have made themselves a home at Rio Tinto.
With the canned “Boundary Road” serenading them over the loudspeakers, the Whitecaps (1-0) knocked off their Cascadia rival Portland Timbers 1-0 in the regular-season Major League Soccer opener for both teams in Sandy, Utah. The Caps have relocated there for the foreseeable future because of coronavirus border restrictions.
Lucas Cavallini continued his hot pre-season form by heading home a Cristian Gutierrez corner kick four minutes after halftime for the deciding margin, as the Caps snapped a three-game losing streak against Portland. Cavallini had scored twice in the team's exhibition game against the Chicago Fire, and another against USL side Real Monarchs. It took him six games in 2020 to score his first goal of the season.
The Whitecaps were severely short-handed and playing with one Designated Player in Cavallini, with Ali Adnan still north of the border because of visa issues. They also had two injured starters and two key bench options out with injuries.
The Caps have put a ton of focus on the first few games of the schedule, knowing they couldn't let themselves fall behind their Western Conference peers after a pre-season fraught with challenges. Portland had come into the game having beaten Honduran side CD Marathon in two straight CONCACAF Champions League games, but couldn't break down Vancouver's defence.
Here's what we learned ...
BY THE NUMBERS
It was just the third time the Whitecaps have shut out the Timbers in the MLS era, and it was a well-deserved win. Vancouver held possession from the start, holding as much as 62 per cent midway through the first half, before finishing with a 51.3 per cent advantage.
Shots were 8-6 in favour of Portland, but 2-2 on goal.
Vancouver played a solid 4-4-2 out of possession, limiting Portland's chances, though the Timbers had a first-half goal chalked off to offside, and saw Dairon Asprilla send a close-in bicycle kick just over the bar.
It looked like Cristian Dajome had scored an insurance goal with just a few minutes left in the game, but referee Allan Chapman turned to VAR to determine that Jake Nerwinski was offside on the preceding free kick.
YOUTH STILL SERVED
The Whitecaps started 2020 as the youngest team in MLS, with an average age of 24.1. This season, they're still one of the youngest in MLS.
The active roster has an average age of 24.71 (24 years and 260 days), though the starting XI was relatively longin-the-tooth at 25.69 (25 years and 252 days).
ABSENT AND AILING
Vancouver had little choice in their starting lineup, with eight first-team players missing due to a variety of reasons, leaving them with a short bench of seven players — three of whom hadn't even played a minute of MLS action.
No. 1 centre-back Erik Godoy is day-to-day with a right calf strain suffered against the Real Monarchs on April 6. The Caps are being careful with his health, although he has returned to on-field sessions with trainers. He missed all of the pre-season last year with a left calf strain that kept him out until the return to play tournament, then injured his quad, which kept him out until September.
Derek Cornelius, the other centre-back, has a right knee tibiofibular sprain that he suffered during international action against Honduras and is listed as day-to-day.
Striker Tosaint Ricketts is day-to-day with a left hamstring strain he pulled against Real Monarchs, while midfielder Leonard Owusu suffered his right hamstring strain vs. Chicago Fire FC on April 10 and is listed as weekto-week.
Designated player and leftback Ali Adnan still hasn't had his U.S. visa cleared, and remains in Vancouver training with Vanni Sartini.
Bruno Gaspar trained for the first time Saturday after clearing quarantine; Caio Alexandre cleared quarantine Sunday night and will begin training this week.