VANCOUVER, B.C. - Whitecaps FC have advance to the Canadian Championship final following a 2-1 total aggregate victory against the Montreal Impact. Vancouver scored both goals in a 2-0 second leg win over the Impact in front of 19,267 fans at B.C. Place.
"Great character." Coach Carl Robinson said post-match. "Top performance by the boys. When you go through periods of a little bit of inconsistency, you find that out about yourself and your team. Someone asked me about my team’s character yesterday, and it irked me a little bit because the one thing you can never ever do is question the character of that group. We lack at certain things but not character."
Yordy Reyna opened the scoring in the first half, and Kei Kamara sealed a berth in the championship with a second half penalty. Stefan Marinovic made three saves to earn a clean sheet.
Vancouver will host Toronto FC in the first leg of the Canadian Championship final on Wednesday August 8. The return leg will take place on Wednesday August 15, at BMO Field. The winner will earn a spot on the Scotiabank CONCACAF Champions League.
"A lot's being made of their regular season this year." Russell Teibert said of Toronto FC. "You can talk a lot about them early on and the non-success they had. Teams go through certain spells, dips, highs and lows with performances. Like I said we’ve been criticized, but the core of this team is very strong and we are not a team that’s just going to fall apart. We are going to build off this performance and take it to the regular season and as well as Canadian Championship, we really want to win that trophy and be champs of Canada.”
Moments of the Match
Vancouver got a rare first half goal and quickly put Montreal under pressure thanks to a sublime delivery from Yordy Reyna. Jake Nerwinski broke down the flank and played a perfect ball into the box. Reyna rifled the ball past goalkeeper, Clement Diop in the 19' minute.
"The ball popped out to me, I won the header," Nerwinski said. "Techera played a great ball down the line. I looked up and saw Kei take away two defenders, so I decided to cut it back and I was thinking it wasn’t that great of a ball, but Yordy made it look better so it was a great finish."
The Caps were hungry for goals, and they kept the track meet going down the flank. Montreal looks slow, and tired. The visitors had trouble keeping up. Cristian Techera had a terrific opportunity to put Vancouver ahead, but his free kick struck the bar.
Without the services of Alphonso Davies, Vancouver had no problem generating offence scoring opportunities. It was Montreal who was under the cosh, and unable to push forward and challenge Marinovic.
Vancouver's hard work and determination paid off in the 60' minute with an earned penalty. Brek Shea chased down a loose ball, and found a streaking Marcel de Jong. The Canadian full-back was brought down in the box by Shamit Shome. Referee David Barrie immediately pointed to the spot. Kei Kamara stepped up and converting to Diop's left.
Whitecaps FC had a 2-1 aggregate lead, and a 2-0 lead in the second leg. Looking to turn the tide. Montreal Manager, Rémi Garde brought on Alejandro Silva, and Ignacio Piatti.
All the visitors needed was a coveted away goal to tie the leg at two goals and advance on away goals. However, it wasn't to be. On the day Davies was officially introduced in a Bayern Munich kit, Whitecaps FC showed turned up, kept a clean sheet and prevailed.
"If you don't get any goals scored on you, it's a pretty good formula for winning games." said wise Canadian Championship veteran, Russell Teibert.
Man of the Match
There was no Reyna going rogue on this night, as the Peruvian midfielder was instrumental in Vancouver securing a berth in the Canadian Championship final. With Vancouver needing an early goal, Reyna was buzzing from the opening whistle. Whitecaps FC never looked in danger vs Montreal. Reyna was a big reason why the Caps conquered the Impact and advanced to the final vs Toronto FC.
Vancouver Whitecaps FC Starting XI: Stefan Marinovic; Marcel de Jong, Doneil Henry, Kendall Waston(C), Jake Nerwinski; Cristian Techera, 87 (Nicolas Mezquida), Aly Ghazal, 75 (Effy Juarez), Russell Teibert, Brek Shea; Yordy Reyna, Kei Kamara, 79 (Anthony Blondell). 4-4-1-1
Montreal Impact Starting XI: Brad Guzan; Clement Diop; Daniel Lovitz, 64 (Alejandro Silva), Jukka Raitala, Rod Fanni, Victor Cabrera, Michael Petrasso; Saphir Taider, Samuel Piette(C), Shamir Shome, 85 (Ken Krolicki; Jeisson Vargas, Matteo Mancosu, 64 (Ignacio Piatti). 5-3-2
|