- Whitecaps FC have made it to the Leagues Cup Round of 32 for a second straight year, and are one of seven teams to have never lost in regulation in Leagues Cup dating back to last season (2W-0L-3D)
- The ‘Caps secured their first competitive win over a Liga MX team (1W-2L-3D) after previously playing Tigres UANL four times and Club Leon once
- Fafa Picault scored his ninth goal of the season in all competitions, and recorded his fifth assist to bring him to 14 goal contributions on the season (9 goals, 5 assists). Picault now has eight contributions (5 goals, 3 assists) in his last five appearances
- Levonte Johnson scored his third goal across all competitions, and recorded his first assist of the season
- Pedro Vite scored his first goal of the season, and his third goal contribution (1 goal, 2 assists)
- Andres Cubas recorded his fourth assist across all competitions this season
- Whitecaps FC 2 (WFC2) defender Finn Linder and midfielder Eliot Goldthorp made their official competitive debuts with the Whitecaps FC first team
VANCOUVER, BC – It was another joyous night at BC Place after Vancouver Whitecaps FC defeated Mexican side Club Tijuana 3-1 on Saturday, thanks to a second half blitz from the ‘Caps.
The 'Caps will now host Liga MX giants Pumas UNAM this coming week at BC Place. Stay tuned to whitecapsfc.com and Whitecaps FC social media channels for details and ticket information.
Saturday's match began with both sides gunning from the start. Whitecaps FC had early momentum but it was Club Tijuana that struck first in the eighth minute. Daniel Barbosa found Kevin Castañeda inside the ‘Caps’ box and fired home a volley for the opener. Takaoka was called into action shortly after, denying Tijuana a quick-fire second.
Brian White nearly levelled the match for Whitecaps FC just past the 10-minute mark, climbing high to get on the end of a Sebastian Berhalter cross from a corner, but it was kept out by a stunning Antonio Rodríguez save. Berhalter tried to replicate his goal from earlier this week against LAFC after 20 minutes, but his vicious strike took a deflection and sailed over the crossbar.
Whitecaps FC and Tijuana would go back and forth for the last 10 minutes of the first half, but the Mexican side held on to the lead as the referee whistled for the break.
The ‘Caps began the second half in hot fashion, as Picault crafted a glorious chance inside the first minute of the half. After sneaking his way into the Xolos box on the left side, he poked a ball into the six-yard box but it bounced into empty space before being cleared away. Moments later, White had a shot blocked after being found in behind the Tijuana backline.
The Blue and White then made good on their hot start to the half by equalizing through a wonderful team goal. Takaoka began the attack from his own box, pinging a pass to White straight down the middle. White the flicked it off for Levonte Johnson, who turned around and put Picault in behind for the Haitian to slot it past Rodríguez to level the affair.
Johnson nearly made it two quick goals seconds after the equalizer, being found inside the box after a deflected pass, but he fired his shot straight at Rodríguez from close range, hitting him in the face. Play was stopped as Rodríguez was carted off the field, but gave a thumbs up to the crowd on his exit.
Pedro Vite tested his luck with less than 20 minutes to go, popping a shot from just outside the box but placing it right into the path of substitute ‘keeper Jesús Corona. White then drove straight through the middle after nearly being pulled down, and curled an effort off the outside of the far post.
Whitecaps FC continued to put the pressure on Tijuana, and got their reward in the 77th minute through Johnson. Andrés Cubas won the ball back brilliantly up high, and allowed Johnson to cut inside and place a low driven shot from distance to nestle into the side netting for 2-1.
Four minutes later, Picault stole the ball and was on his way towards goal but was pulled back by Aaron Mejía, giving the referee Marco Ortiz no choice but to give the Xolos player a straight red card. The ‘Caps took full advantage of the extra man by scoring just minutes later. Picault won the ball just outside the box on the left hand side and laid it off for Vite to curl another great effort from outside the box for Whitecaps FC’s third goal of the night.
With the third goal in place and the extra man, the ‘Caps saw out the rest of the match with ease as they clinched their spot in the Round of 32 of Leagues Cup.
MATCH DETAILS
VWFC GE Appliances Player of Quality: Fafa Picault
Attendance: 18,896
Referee: Marco Ortiz
Scoring Summary
8’ – TIJ – Kevin Castañeda (Daniel Barbosa)
49’ – VAN – Fafa Picault (Levonte Johnson)
77’ – VAN – Levonte Johnson (Andrés Cubas)
83’ – VAN – Pedro Vite (Fafa Picault)
Statistics
Possession: VAN 43.3% - TIJ 56.7%
Shots: VAN 13 - TIJ 14
Shots on Goal: VAN 7 - TIJ 4
Saves: VAN 3 - TIJ 4
Fouls: VAN 10 - TIJ 13
Offsides: VAN 2 - TIJ 1
Corners: VAN 5 - TIJ 5
Cautions
25’ – TIJ – Kevin Casteñeda
75’ – TIJ – Jesús Gómez
Ejection81’ – TIJ – Aaron Mejía
Vancouver Whitecaps FC
1.Yohei Takaoka; 2.Mathías Laborda, 12.Belal Halbouni (83.Finn Linder 90’+5), 15.Bjørn Inge Utvik; 16.Sebastian Berhalter, 13.Ralph Priso (28.Levonte Johnson 45’), 20.Andrés Cubas, 8.Alessandro Schöpf (45.Pedro Vite 45’); 11.Fafa Picault (27.Giuseppe Bovalina 89’), 24.Brian White © (19.Damir Kreilach 89’), 7.Ryan Raposo (41.Eliot Goldthorp 90’+8)
Substitutes not used
17.Joe Bendik, 32.Isaac Boehmer, 4.Ranko Veselinović, 22.Ali Ahmed
Club Tijuana
2.Antonio Rodríguez (30.Jesús Corona 62’); 15.Diego Barbosa, 31.Unai Bilbao, 28.Jesús Gómez (20.Francisco Contreras 87’), 4.Nicolas Díaz; 6.Joe Corona, 18.Aaron Mejía; 11.Efrain Álvarez, 10.Kevin Castañeda (3.Rafael Fernández 50’), 16.Jesus Vega (203.Jaime Alvarez 61’); 32.Carlos González (23.Ivan Tona 87’)
Substitutes not used
8.Fernando Madrigal, 19.Eduardo Armenta, 21.Fernando Monárrez, 24.Jesús Hernández, 26.José Zuniga, 27.Domingo Blanco, 185.Geonathan Barrera
