VANCOUVER — Fatigue may have been a factor for the Vancouver Whitecaps. But the home side pressed through for a 1-1 draw against Cincinnati FC in front of 16,086 fans on Saturday at B.C. Place.
Just three days after they last hit the pitch, the Whitecaps (5-5-7) extended their home unbeaten streak in Major League Soccer play to nine games while snapping the six-game winning streak of league-leading Cincinnati (12-1-4).
Ryan Gauld had the Whitecaps’ only goal, on a penalty in the 89th minute — just 16 minutes after entering the game — with a shot to the bottom right corner of the goal.
Cincinnati’s Luciano Acosta was the only other player to ripple the twine, firing a sharp-angled left-footed shot into the far upper corner of the goal in the 84th minute.
To help combat potential fatigue, Whitecaps coach Vanni Sartini changed up a number of his starters from Wednesday’s Canadian Championship victory, and opted for a 3-4-2-1 formation.
The Whitecaps started strong and the first half was evenly played, with each side logging six shots. Just past the 10-minute mark, the Whitecaps drew a roar from their fans when Luis Martins fed a long ball through to Brian White, who deked two defenders as he lobbed the ball past ‘keeper Roman Celentano, but couldn’t catch up for an empty-net tap-in in time.
The Orange and Blue quickly answered back, but Whitecaps stopper Yohei Takaoka got a piece of a close-range shot from Brandon Vazquez, then spun on his back to grab the ball off his goal line.
The Whitecaps’ only shot on goal in the first half came in the 23rd minute, when Ryan Raposo threaded a through ball to Sergio Cordova, whose right-footed attempt was foiled by Celentano.
The home side also failed to convert on an excellent opportunity as the clock wound down to halftime, when Cordova’s shot attempt went just to the right of the goal after an exquisite multiplayer passing sequence.
Early in the second half, Cincinnati’s best chance came off the left foot of Dominique Badji, who fired on target from outside the box in the 51st minute but was denied by Takaoka.
Cincinnati defender Ian Murphy received the first yellow card of the match, in the 29th minute. Vancouver’s Raposo was also shown a yellow card in the 60th minute, Cincinnati’s Yersan Masquera was cautioned in the 77th minute and Pedro Vite was also shown a yellow during stoppage time.
Substitutions for both sides began in the 66th minute, after Murphy was treated on the field for an injury and subsequently left the game.
Sunday’s match was the first-ever visit to Vancouver for Cincinnati, which joined MLS as an expansion team in 2019. The visitors are still looking for their first win against Vancouver. In the clubs’ two previous meetings at TQL Stadium, the Whitecaps earned a 2-1 win in the inaugural season and a 2-2 draw in 2022.
The Whitecaps now hit the road for three matches, beginning June 21 against the Colorado Rapids. The same night, the Orange and Blue will play host to Toronto FC.
GAME NOTES
Earlier this week, the Whitecaps won their second-straight Canadian Championship with a 2-1 win over CF Montreal on Wednesday. Ali Ahmed, who received the best young Canadian award, missed his fourth MLS match due to a concussion suffered on May 25. Midfielder Alessandro Schopf was also unavailable due to groin tightness.
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