ORLANDO, FLORIDA – Vancouver Whitecaps FC claimed their second straight road win on Saturday night, defeating Orlando City SC 1-0 in front of a crowd of 31,072 at the Orlando Citrus Bowl.
Here are three things that stood out to me.
GRINDING IT OUT
It wasn’t pretty, but it didn’t need to be.
The ‘Caps were never going to come out and dictate the pace of this game – for a few different reasons. Weather is one (it was 28 degrees Celsius at kickoff), and travel is another. The trip to Orlando will be one of Vancouver’s longest of the season.
That in itself presents a challenge (never mind that the team missed their connecting flight on Thursday in Dallas and had to stay the night). Then, consider that this was Whitecaps FC’s second straight trip to the east. The team has travelled over 14,000 kilometres over the last 10 days.
Clearly, the game plan was to sit back and try to catch Orlando on the counter (not unlike Vancouver’s 1-0 road win over Seattle late last year). That’s why the possession stats are so lopsided – Orlando controlled 62 per cent of the ball.
You can see a noticeable difference in how the two teams were positioned below. Look at how deep Vancouver’s front four players are compared to Orlando’s.
Carl Robinson’s game plan worked to a tee in the first half, when Orlando didn’t really have a sniff at goal and Vancouver created three quality chances. Orlando came on after the break, but as Robinson put it, his team managed to “weather the storm” before grabbing a late winner.
DEFEND, DEFEND, DEFEND
Speaking of weathering the storm, if you’re going to sit back and absorb some pressure then you better be ready to defend. Good thing Vancouver’s defensive players came to play.
There was a lot of talk about Matias Laba heading into Saturday’s contest and the matchup with Kaká. And Laba didn’t disappoint, recording a game-high five tackles and five interceptions. Check out a sample of his work below.
Laba and his central midfield partner Gershon Koffie did well to limit Kaka’s time and space on the ball in the first half, which is likely why Orlando moved the star midfielder over the left in the second half.
The central defence partnership of Kendall Waston and Diego Rodriguez looked organized as well, barely putting a foot wrong. Robinson said Rodriguez was “fantastic” in his MLS regular season debut, adding that it was a very mature performance.
Of course, we can’t forget about the last line of defence, David Ousted, who made this game-saver moments before Octavio Rivero’s stoppage-time winner.
MOMENT OF MAGIC
And how about that stoppage-time winner?
The delivery by Pedro Morales was absolute quality and the Rivero header was no different.
That’s what you call a moment of magic.
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