(photo: @WhitecapsFC, x.com)
A victorious day for the Whitecaps in Minnesota, as they extended their lead atop the Western Conference with a 3-1 win against Minnesota United in Saint Paul, Minn., on Sunday, April 27.
Sebastian Berhalter opened the scoring with a screamer from outside the box in the 55th minute, after a VAR drama over a potential offside following an attack down the right side by Giuseppe Bovalina. The play was initially ruled offside, but the goal was allowed by referee Drew Fischer after a video review.
The Whitecaps dominated the match, adding two more goals in the 66th and 70th minutes through Pedro Vite. After coming on as a substitute in the 63rd minute, Vite made an immediate impact. He combined with Daniel Ríos and J.C. Ngando, skillfully lobbing the ball past goalkeeper Dayne St. Clair in the 66th minute. The Ecuadorian international now has eight goal contributions across all competitions this season (three goals, five assists).
Just four minutes later, in the 70th minute, Vite struck again. After a set-up from Ngando and Ali Ahmed, he fired a one-touch strike into the bottom right corner, once again beating St. Clair and showcasing the strength of the Whitecaps’ attacking front.
At the postmatch press conference, the ‘Caps’ Head Coach Jesper Sørensen talked about the performance of his players:
“When you change as much as we did for this game, I think that you don’t really have certainty what the outcome will really be… I trust the players, they have been doing well so I don’t have any reason not to trust them… in the second half, we got more flow into the game, and we came further and closer to scoring. And then, Sebastian [Berhalter], of course – him stepping onto the pitch in the second half – helped a lot… Pedro [Vite] played a great game when he came in, scoring two goals, being a decisive player for us in this victory. Him and Sebastian – you can see how much they have grown out of this period we’ve been in. They’ve got a lot of confidence, they have good belief in themselves and it’s players that want to improve and they have improved I think.”
Watch the full post match interview here:
The Whitecaps extended their unbeaten run record to five matches to begin the year (3W-0L-2D). It’s the best five-game start on the road in the club’s MLS era, setting a strong foundation heading into their next big match in Florida.
The ‘Caps will now shift focus to the highly anticipated second leg of the Concacaf Champions Cup semifinals against Inter Miami CF, set for Wednesday, April 30, at Chase Stadium in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Kickoff is scheduled for 5 p.m. PT.