It has been a rough start to the season for the Vancouver Whitecaps, who are still far from the desired form in the league. The team kicked off the season with a 3-2 loss against Minnesota United at BC Place. The Whitecaps than played two away games, against Real Salt Lake and Houston Dynamo, losing both of them, 1-0 and 3-2 respectively.
Vancouver won its first points in the season in a goalless draw against the Seattle Sounders, while last week the team lost 2-0 to LA Galaxy.
Only 1 point in their opening five matches was definitely a disappointing result for the Whitecaps, who were also the team with the worst offence in the conference, with only four goals on their count, all scored in two matches.
And although the team improved since the beginning of the campaign, too many points were lost, and the new coach Marc Dos Santos was fully aware that something needed to change. As soon as possible.
The offence is far from an ideal form, while Freddy Montero, who returned to the Whitecaps after a one-year stint at Sporting Lisbon, and Yordy Reyna can’t seem to produce goals so far.
Montero scored only one goal this season, a penalty against Houston back in March. Reyna had been in even worse form, with only one assist and one shot in the first five games of the current season.
Bernie Ibini-Isei (7) of Vancouver Whitecaps FC controls ball during regular MLS game against NYC FC on Yankee stadium Game ended in draw 2 – 2 – lev radin / Shutterstock.com
At Least Whitecaps Scored a Goal
The fans were hoping this run of poor results could end in Chicago when the Whitecaps take on the home team.
The Fire had only one win and two draws in their first five games of the season, and when Yordy Reyna scored for Vancouver in the 53rd minute it looked like the Whitecaps could return to British Columbia victorious.
The result stayed unchanged until the 84th minute when the referee pointed to the spot after Doneil Henry was called for a handball. Nemanja Nikolić converted the penalty and even to score.
Chicago had more possession (61% to 39%), with more shots (23, with 9 on target), but in the end, the Whitecaps needed a bit of luck to take all three points with them. Vancouver is still having a problem to create chances. The Canadian side had only two shots on goal against the Fire, or 20 combined shots on target since the beginning of the season.
Following the game at Toyota Park, the Whitecaps will return to Vancouver where they’ll face LAFC on Wednesday, before going on the road once again, to play against Orlando City on Florida next weekend.