Well, what a strange game of football that was.
The Whitecaps were probably the better team over the full ninety minutes of the 2-1 win over Austin FC, but there were times when it didn’t feel that way as the Texan visitors pushed Vancouver right to the end.
The standout moment of the game has to be Sergio Cordova’s first goal in a Whitecaps jersey.
Cordova was either the epitome of cool as he waited for the right moment to slot the ball home or he was the epitome of a man desperately hoping that the ground would open up beneath him before he had the chance to mess up the final shot.
Either way the ball went into the back of the net and we’ll see if that changes both his fortune and his form.
That doesn’t alter the fact that Vancouver are a better attacking force with Gauld, Vite and White as the front three (although White’s continuing quest to rack up expected goals over actual goals continues frustratingly apace).
Shout outs to Johnston and Berhalter who each performed well in unfamiliar wide roles with Johnston in particular continuing to look like a a promising work in progress.
A less flattering word though about Tristan Blackmon whose performance in the latter part of the second half was borderline disgraceful. There’s a time and a place for being a “footballing” central defender and this was very much not it. In the end he was incredibly lucky not to cost his team the game with defending that seemed more designed to prove how cool he was than to get the job done.
And a final word about Vanni Sartini’s antics just before the final whistle. Well three words; childish, disrespectful and counterproducitve.
Time for the Soccer Shorts player ratings!
Takaoka-5, Veselinovic, 5, Blackmon-2, Martins-5.5*, Jonston-5, Berhalter-5, Schpof-5, Cubas-5, Gauld-5.5, Vite-5, White- (Cordova-4.5)
Soccer Shorts (The Director's Cut) 