VANCOUVER, B.C - It was a tasty Canadian Championship semifinal first leg battle between Vancouver Whitecaps FC and the Montreal Impact. The hosts looked to deliver the first punch, while Montreal wanted to scored a key away goal. Vancouver was the better team on the day, and held on for a crucial 2-1 1st leg victory in front of 16,831 spectators at B.C. Place.
Young prodigy, Alphonso Davies opened the scoring, and added an assist in the first half. Nicolas Mezquida scored the second goal for Vancouver. David Choiniere cut the lead in half for Montreal, and Spencer Richey turned aside a Patrice Bernier second half penalty.
“I’m really proud of them", said Carl Robinson. "You make eleven changes to a squad, it’s always going to be difficult. But I thought they were really, really focused. (In) the first half, some excellent football, wonderful football, two goals. Two halves are never the same, you know that in football. So we were prepared, and they dealt with it very well after conceding. They’re a good team, they’ve got good players, they’ve got players who played over the weekend. Some of these guys stepped up today and give me some nice issues."
Montreal won't have a match at the weekend, while Vancouver will entertain DC United at B.C. Place on Saturday, before traveling to Montreal. Mauro Biello will hope to have Nacho Piatti, and Marco Donadel available for selection vs Vancouver.
“It was a terrible first half, bad defending, very nonchalant," admitted Biello. "When we had the ball we didn’t decide to play, and in the second half we decided to play and we created chances, dominated. (We) should have actually won the game with the chances we made. The keeper makes two good saves, we had an open net. In the end we got the away goal, and now we need to win in Montreal."
Whitecaps FC will look to close out the Impact in the return leg on Tuesday, May 30 at Stade Saputo in Montreal. In the other semifinal, Ottawa Fury FC scored a pair of second half goals to take a 2-1 advantage over Toronto FC. The second leg of that semifinal will take place at BMO Field on Wednesday, May 31. Vancouver and Ottawa are in the driver's seat, as the Amway Canadian Championship semifinals moves to Ontario.
Russell Teibert made his all-time leading 18th Canadian Cup appearance. The Whitecaps skipper shared his thoughts on the match, and what's still to come next Tuesday.
"Yeah the first one is in the books," said Russell Teibert. "It's nice to get a win, especially in front of the home fans, and keep our form rolling. The job isn't done, we have a lot of work left to do. We need to go there, and get a result. We'll be happy, but not content."
Montreal will have the home crowd supporting them, and that crucial away goal. All Montreal have to do is keep a clean sheet, and they will advance. The Impact may not have played to their potential, but they have every opportunity to rebound.
"It’s not ideal," said Chris Duvall. "I think getting the away goal definitely gives us a leg up. You know, we’ve been focusing on giving away less goals and being a little safer at the back so when we come home, if we can keep a shutout, we know that we’ll probably win. So getting the road goal and performing a little bit better in the second half is very important for us."
The Opening 45
Whitecaps FC wonder kid, Alphonso Davies opened the scoring in the 12' minute after a beautiful dummy from Nicolas Mezquida. Brek Shea played the ball into the Montreal box, and Mezquida let it go. Davies was left all alone in front of Impact keeper, Maxime Crepeau and he slotted the ball home to give Vancouver an early lead.
Vancouver looked ever so dangerous after Davies scored. The 16 year-old was easily the best player on the pitch in the opening forty-five. He had all sorts of energy, and pace and his teammates were feeding him the ball looking for him to add another big goal.
Nicolas Mezquida doubled the Vancouver advantage in the 33' minute. Davies did all the work taking on a pair of defenders including Impact skipper, Laurent Ciman. Davies momentarily lost the ball, and Mezquida waltzed in and rifled the ball past Crepeau. Vancouver was in full control early, and Montreal had no immediate answers.
Heading into the interval Montreal held a 55% - 45% possession advantage, with nothing to show for it as Vancouver held firm with a 2-0 lead on the scoreboard.
The Second Half
In an effort to get Montreal back into the match, Mauro Biello made a double substitution in the 55' minute. Adrian Arregui, and Calum Mallace made way for Patrice Bernier, and Anthony Jackson-Hamel. The Impact were looking for any sort of spark, as Vancouver weren't about to relinquish any threatening scoring opportunities.
Biello's instinct to switch up his lineup worked to perfection as Montreal broke through and scored a coveted away goal in the 62' minute. Anthony Jackson-Hamel headed the ball down to an unmarked David Choiniere. The 20 year-old scored to cut the deficit to 2-1.
Moments later Montreal had a glorious opportunity to score the equalizer. Anthony Jackson-Hamel found himself all alone 1v1 with Caps keeper, Spencer Richey. The Quebec City native, completely missed the net, and squandered a gift of a chance.
The Impact were awarded a penalty in the 72' minute. 18 year-old, Ballou Tabla raced into the Vancouver box and was tripped up by Sem de Wit. The ball subsequently struck the arm of Cole Seiler as he was also in on the tackle. Referee, Drew Fischer pointed to the spot and, Canadian international, Patrice Bernier looked to even up the score.
Bernier fired his shot to the right of a diving Spencer Richey. He was just able to get a piece of the ball as Bernier's attempt failed to hit the target. Vancouver dodged danger, as the Impact were pushing to send the first leg back to Montreal all squared up.
Spencer Richey and Whitecaps FC goalkeeper coach, Stewart Kerr were well prepared for Bernier and his penalty kick tendencies.
"Stewart (Kerr), keeper coach, kind of gave me one or two clips of his previous PK's," said Richey. "Coming into the starting eleven, we didn't really have much, but he came on and that was the guy I really knew much about. I knew he liked the stutter, and to try and get the keeper to commit one way or another. I was just trying to stay as long as I could, and not make it easy on him. Luckily I stayed long enough where once I guessed, he couldn't change his mind, so happy to make the save."
Vancouver came out ready to go, and scored a pair of lovely first half goals, while Montreal took too much time to settle into the match. The Impact did manage to bounce back with a massive away goal. The second leg is sure to be a mouth watering fixture as both teams are still in the hunt to advance to the Canadian Championship Final.
Man of the Match
Alphonso Davies
Davies was miles ahead of everyone else on the pitch. Yes, he is only 16 years-old, but he sure doesn't play like someone who is balancing family, and homework at the same time. Davies caused all sorts of trouble for the veteran Montreal back-four. They had no answer for him in the first half, and Vancouver made sure to run every bit of offence through Davies. Whitecaps FC fans should enjoy Davies whenever he plays, because he is an immense talent that is worth the price of admission.
As interest in Davies grows, Carl Robinson will have a tougher time protecting him from outside noise. It was confirmed earlier in the day that Manchester United have previously had talks contact about Davies, but nothing yet concrete.
"He’s sixteen years of age and he’s playing in the first team," said Robinson. "I’m not trying to protect him for any other reason than I want the boy to develop. And when he gets the chance to develop, and enjoy his football. I respect every job that every single one of you do in here, I really do. But when you build players up, unfortunately then there comes a time when you knock them down. And the young boy has to learn, and I want to protect him, for his own good, for Canada’s good, for everyone’s good. And at the right time, something will happen, no doubt about it."
Vancouver Whitecaps Starting XI: Spencer Richey; Marcel de Jong, Sam de Wit, Cole Seiler; Alphonso Davies, 71 (Deklan Wynne, Russell Teibert, Ben McKendry, Jake Nerwinski; Nicolas Mezquida, 71 (Marco Bustos), Mauro Rosales, 80 (Kyle Greig); Brek Shea. 3-4-2-1.
Seattle Sounders Starting XI: Maxime Crepeau; Daniel Lovitz, Hassoun Camara, 77 (Wandrile Lefevre, Laurent Ciman(C), Chris Duvall; Callum Mallace, 55 (Patrice Bernier), Hernan Bernardello, Adrian Arregui, 55 (Anthony Jackson-Hamel); David Choiniere, Dominic Oduro, Ballou Tabla. 4-3-3.
Notes: Alphonso Davies was not made available to the media following the match.
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