TORONTO—The Vancouver Whitecaps’ season has been a rollercoaster, but it is now peaking. The Caps have won three games in eight days—the last one, a 4–3 barnburner at BMO Field against Toronto FC on Saturday. Vancouver proved it possesses a deep squad with character and the weapons to upset the league’s best defenses.
“It could have ended up 7–7,” said Whitecaps head coach Carl Robinson. “It’s great for the fans watching a 4–3 game; I don’t like that. I prefer to win 1–0.”
Given the parity in MLS, one win—let alone three—can make a difference in the standings. Last year, Vancouver finished second in the West, just two points ahead of sixth-place Kansas City. Vancouver moved from fifth to third with the win over TFC.
It’s a far cry from where the Caps were earlier this year. Vancouver went 374 minutes without scoring, seven games without a goal from open play, and through a six-game stretch with one win.
“The league is very funny, you can go through three, four, or five games without getting a result and everyone says you’re in a crisis,” Robinson said. “Or you can win three games in a week and people are predicting you to go and win MLS. That’s how crazy it is and way off it is.”
The Whitecaps were big underdogs with key players missing, in the midst of a busy schedule, and on the road. Their win demonstrated that what’s on paper does not translate to what takes place on the pitch.
Robinson praised his team’s character. “Everything was against us, we know that. We weren’t going to use that as an excuse,” he said.
Speed Kills
Given Vancouver’s scoring troubles—injured strikers Octavio Rivero, with one goal in 10 appearances and Masato Kudo (broken jaw), and veteran striker Blas Pérez starting on the bench—it was time for 21-year-old Kekuta Manneh to step up.
The Gambian winger doubled his season’s goal total and made the league’s second-best defense look like last year’s—worst in the league. His electrifying speed and excellent technique were the difference.
Manneh had been struggling in 2016 with one goal in 11 appearances prior to facing TFC. With a precocious young talent like Manneh, Robinson felt the player needs his freedom on the pitch.
