Any other team would probably get a pass for not being fully focused in their first game back after a big cup win.
But “not being fully focused” is so much a part of the Whitecaps DNA that this felt more like business as usual.
Simple passes weren’t completed, runs weren’t made and opponents were left to roam free and the inevitable goal was conceded.
After thirty minutes Vancouver decided that they would finally give it a go and began to creep back into the game
Gauld fired shot after shot wide and/or high, Cubas began to intercept the ball and Gressel hit first time cross after first time cross while his teammates wondered why he wasn’t taking an extra touch and passing the ball back to the player who gave it to him.
When the equalizer came it felt both inevitable and surprise.
Inevitable because Nashville invited pressure when they didn’t need to and teams that do that almost always pay the price and a surprise because Vancouver looked incapable of breaking down the that defence no matter how hard they tried.
A Javain Brown knee into the back of the net was a fitting conclusion to a game where both teams were more keen to display their weaknesses than their strengths but, for the Whitecaps, it was a perfectly satisfactory road point to keep the season trundling along.
Time for the Soccer Shorts player ratings!
Cropper-6*, Gressel-5, Raposo-4, Brown-5.5, Veselinovic-4, Blackmon-4.5, Cubas-5, Baldisimo-3, Vite-1, Gauld-5, White-3 (Owusu-4.5, Dajome-4.5)
Soccer Shorts (The Director's Cut) 