The Vancouver Whitecaps beat the Portland Timbers, 5-0, in Main League Soccer’s Western Convention wild-card sport to seal a spot within the postseason.
Vancouver entered the sport as the numerous underdog; it arrived at Portland’s Windfall Park with zero wins from its previous seven video games.
“Everyone must be able to step up and play the most effective sport of the season, principally,” said Vancouver coach Vanni Sartini before the game. “I believe it is all on us.”
Sartini’s males took that recommendation to coronary heart. The Whitecaps outwitted and outplayed Portland from the opening whistle, marking the Timbers’ harmful attacking trio of Evander, Jonathan Rodriguez and Felipe Mora out of the sport fully. Portland scored 65 targets over the course of the common season — greater than all however one crew within the West — nevertheless it was unable to return near the online on this do-or-die conflict with Vancouver.
It was Ryan Gauld, Vancouver’s underrated No. 10, who proved to be the sport’s goalscoring machine. He discovered the again of the online within the twentieth minute due to a defensive scramble in entrance of Portland’s aim; he doubled his tally 10 minutes later with an audacious chip from simply outdoors the field.
By the point he was subbed off within the second half, he’d scored three targets and arrange one other.
Many comparisons have been made between Vancouver’s Gauld and Portland’s Evander earlier than the match; each racked up comparable statistics within the 2024-25 common season.
“I believe there is a excessive probability that a kind of two guys would be the decisive man within the sport,” Sartini said, and he was proper.
Whereas Evander edged Gauld on regular-season statistics — he entered the sport with 34 aim contributions to Gauld’s 25 — Gauld blew him out of the water on this match. At halftime, Gauld had two targets to his identify, beating his anticipated aim contribution of 1.03. And Evander? He had zero targets to his anticipated aim contribution of 0.02.
Vancouver will transfer on to face LAFC, the highest seed within the Western Convention, in a best-of-three first spherical playoff sequence. Its first sport will happen at LAFC’s BMO Discipline on Saturday.
As soon as once more, Vancouver is the lengthy shot … however with this 5-0 drubbing in its rearview mirror, the crew will again itself to beat the chances as soon as extra.
