Whitecaps Sit Second In Western Conference

Photo Credit Derek Guscott

Some say that it couldn’t be done but in a thriller of what is known as the Cascadia Clash the Vancouver Whitecaps pulled out an impressive 3-2 win over their Cascadia rivals the Portland Timbers. 

It only took a couple of minutes  with the 24,693 fans watching as Whitecaps Ryan Gauld was set up on the left side of the pitch from Ali Ahmed giving Gauld the chance to deliver one from inside the box. 

Former Caps “tender” Maxime Crépeau stopped his initial attempt; the second was destined for the back of the net giving the Whitecaps the early lead. 

A short time later Alessandro Schöpf found Gauld him in the box who sent it on net only to have it take a strange deflection managing to bounce off the bar that was quickly booted out of harm’s way for the Timbers. 

Vancouver’s aggressive attack continued with Alessandro Schöpf seeing him send another cross in the box that got deflected, rolling to Fafà Picault sending another past Crépeau giving the Caps a lead, 2-0.

The last 15 in the first half saw Portland press only to be denied by the strong solid play of the Whitecaps FC defence taking a 2 nil lead to the room at the half.

Portland continued to press at the start of the second half only to be turned aside by the strong play of the Cap’s “D” but the 52nd minute saw Timbers Evander who delivered it to the top left corner.

Pedro Vite had a chance minutes later, sending it wide from inside the box following a scramble from a cross but.Portland stuck to their game plan and despite C’s pressure, they managed to get the equalizer.

Evander delivered a cross from the left finding the head of Felipe Mora, who managed to nod it the tying goal getting the Timbers even.

The dying minutes would see the last minutes of the match saw Sam Adekugbe deliver a cross in the box that seemed to confuse the Timbers “D” and after what looked like pinball the bounce went to Picault who sent a back-heel pass to Raposo who simply tapped it in for the “W”

Whitecaps FC are back at home next Saturday, April 6 as they face Canadian rivals Toronto FC on Vaisakhi Night, featuring a performance from world-renowned bhangara artist Jazzy B. For tickets, visit whitecapsfc.com/tickets.

Thanks to the Whitecaps for the MATCH DETAILS

Attendance: 24,693,   Referee: Allen Chapman

Scoring Summary

2’ – VAN – Ryan Gauld

29’ – VAN – Fafá Picault

52’ – POR – Evander (Cristhian Paredes)

78’ – POR – Felipe Mora (Evander)

87’ – VAN – Ryan Raposo (Fafá Picault)

Statistics

Possession: VAN 43% – POR 57%,    Shots: VAN 13 – POR 11

Shots on Goal: VAN 6 – POR 4,          Saves: VAN 2 – POR 3

Fouls: VAN 13 – POR 6,                      Offsides: VAN 3 – POR 1

Corners: VAN 1 – POR 0

Cautions

51’ – VAN – Andrés Cubas,                90’ – VAN – Sam Adekugbe