VANCOUVER, BC – So that was fun.

Vancouver Whitecaps FC and Columbus Crew SC played to an entertaining 2-2 draw on Wednesday night at BC Place. The ‘Caps conceded “two sloppy goals,” according to head coach Carl Robinson, but also looked lethal going forward.

It was one of Vancouver’s best attacking performances we’ve seen, as evidenced by the numbers below.

62.4

One of the big talking points after Vancouver’s wins over Portland, Orlando and to a lesser extent Chicago last month was the need to control more possession.

Message received.

After seeing 52 per cent of the ball last weekend against LA Galaxy, the ‘Caps enjoyed a whopping 62.4 per cent of possession on Wednesday night against Columbus – a team that led the league in possession stats coming into the game. 

That’s the most possession Whitecaps FC have had in a game this season and the fourth most they’ve had since joining MLS in 2011.

2015 WHITECAPS FC POSSESSION STATS

20

It was possession with purpose, too.

According to Opta, Whitecaps FC created 20 chances on Wednesday, which is the highest total of any team this season. Pedro Morales led the way with six chances created for his teammates, which is also the highest total for a single player this season.

98

Speaking of Morales, he also had a game-high (and season-high) 98 touches.

In my opinion, this was the Chilean’s best game of the season, which is somewhat ironic because he was held off the scoresheet after picking up assists in the previous three matches.

You could tell early on that Morales was in the zone. He sent a perfectly-weighted throughball to Darren Mattocks in the first minute, the first of many on the night, and then wowed the crowd with a spin-o-rama just a few minutes later.

That’s the maestro we’re used to seeing.

37

There was no shortage of action in this one.

The ‘Caps and Crew combined for a total of 37 shots – Vancouver had a 22-15 advantage. Mattocks, who had a goal and an assist, led the way with seven.

33

That’s how many minutes Kekuta Manneh played on Wednesday. And, boy, they were fun to watch.

The 20-year-old was absolutely buzzing (no wonder they call him "scooter"). Moments after stepping onto the pitch, he made a run down the right before picking out Morales at the top of the box.

Then Manneh switched over to the left side, wreaked all sorts of havoc, and helped create Mattocks’ equalizer (though Pa-Modou Kah deserves some credit too for that ball over the top, which was very similar to his assist on opening day). Check out the goal below. 

To me, Manneh’s distribution is a hugely underrated part of his game. He’s now averaging 2.84 chances created per 90 minutes this season, which is tied with Morales for the team-high.

This just makes him even more of a handful to defend – if he wasn’t already. 

10

Time to give some love to the “big man.”

Kendall Waston had a game-high 10 interceptions on Wednesday, which is the second highest single game total in MLS this season.

It’s also the second highest total by a Whitecaps FC player in MLS. Guess who has the highest total?

You guessed it: Kendall Waston. He racked up 13 interceptions in last year’s season finale against Colorado Rapids.

WASTON'S INTERCEPTIONS VS. COLUMBUS

69

Canadian midfielder Russell Teibert put in another strong shift on Wednesday, completing a game-high 69 passes. His passing accuracy was also a game-high 92 per cent.

Think it’s a coincidence that the ‘Caps have stepped up their possession game with Teibert as the anchor in midfield? Not me. He and Matias Laba sure are forming quite the partnership in front of the back line.

The passing graph below shows which players combined the most against the Crew. The thicker the line, the more they combined. Scroll over individual players to see their specific passing combinations.

5

Octavio Rivero now has a league-high five goals in six matches.

Enough said.

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