Gauld’s late goal leads tired Whitecaps to draw with Cincinnati
VANCOUVER — Fatigue might have been an element for the Vancouver Whitecaps. But the house facet pressed via for a 1-1 draw towards Cincinnati FC in entrance of 16,086 followers on Saturday at B.C. Place.
Just three days after they final hit the pitch, the Whitecaps (5-5-7) prolonged their house unbeaten streak in Major League Soccer play to 9 video games whereas snapping the six-game successful streak of league-leading Cincinnati (12-1-4).
Ryan Gauld had the Whitecaps’ solely purpose, on a penalty within the 89th minute — simply 16 minutes after coming into the sport — with a shot to the underside proper nook of the purpose.
Cincinnati’s Luciano Acosta was the one different participant to ripple the twine, firing a sharp-angled left-footed shot into the far higher nook of the purpose within the 84th minute.
To assist fight potential fatigue, Whitecaps coach Vanni Sartini modified up various his starters from Wednesday’s Canadian Championship victory, and opted for a 3-4-2-1 formation.
The Whitecaps began robust and the primary half was evenly performed, with all sides logging six photographs. Just previous the 10-minute mark, the Whitecaps drew a roar from their followers when Luis Martins fed an extended ball via to Brian White, who deked two defenders as he lobbed the ball previous ‘keeper Roman Celentano, but couldn’t catch up for an empty-net tap-in in time.
The Orange and Blue rapidly answered again, however Whitecaps stopper Yohei Takaoka obtained a bit of a close-range shot from Brandon Vazquez, then spun on his again to seize the ball off his purpose line.
The Whitecaps’ solely shot on purpose within the first half got here within the twenty third minute, when Ryan Raposo threaded a via ball to Sergio Cordova, whose right-footed try was foiled by Celentano.
The house facet additionally did not convert on a superb alternative because the clock wound right down to halftime, when Cordova’s shot try went simply to the best of the purpose after an beautiful multiplayer passing sequence.
Early within the second half, Cincinnati’s greatest likelihood got here off the left foot of Dominique Badji, who fired on the right track from exterior the field within the 51st minute however was denied by Takaoka.
Cincinnati defender Ian Murphy obtained the primary yellow card of the match, within the twenty ninth minute. Vancouver’s Raposo was additionally proven a yellow card within the sixtieth minute, Cincinnati’s Yersan Masquera was cautioned within the 77th minute and Pedro Vite was additionally proven a yellow throughout stoppage time.
Substitutions for either side started within the 66th minute, after Murphy was handled on the sphere for an damage and subsequently left the sport.
Sunday’s match was the first-ever go to to Vancouver for Cincinnati, which joined MLS as an growth staff in 2019. The guests are nonetheless on the lookout for their first win towards Vancouver. In the golf equipment’ two earlier conferences at TQL Stadium, the Whitecaps earned a 2-1 win within the inaugural season and a 2-2 attract 2022.
The Whitecaps now hit the highway for 3 matches, starting June 21 towards the Colorado Rapids. The identical night time, the Orange and Blue will play host to Toronto FC.
GAME NOTES
Earlier this week, the Whitecaps gained their second-straight Canadian Championship with a 2-1 win over CF Montreal on Wednesday. Ali Ahmed, who obtained the very best younger Canadian award, missed his fourth MLS match as a consequence of a concussion suffered on May 25. Midfielder Alessandro Schopf was additionally unavailable as a consequence of groin tightness.
