Two road games. Two road wins.
Say, these Vancouver Whitecaps may have something.
The Whitecaps burst into Toyota Stadium, hitting three goals in the first half over FC Dallas to keep a hold on their undefeated season.
It’s been Vancouver’s best three-match start to a season since 2012.
“We were a little bit disappointed we only got one point against Charlotte at home, but at the end of the day, we have well made up for it with two away wins. And they’re always difficult, especially away wins within the conference,” assistant coach Michael D’Agostino said, who was behind the bench once again for the suspended Vanni Sartini.
Sartini and D’Agostino made a few changes to his lineup, opting to bring back Ryan Raposo and Alessandro Schöpf as wingbacks.
Fafà Picault was also rewarded with his first start of the season, having come off the bench in the previous two MLS matches.
With Picault in the lineup, Brian White could play more centrally, a position that worked well for him last season as it facilitated a better potential link-up between himself and Whitecaps’ captain, Ryan Gauld.
A much different start than the previous match against the San Jose Earthquakes, Vancouver dominated possession in the opening 10 minutes and found themselves playing more expressive.
Dallas did manage to play themselves slowly into the match, but it was the Whitecaps who hit first.
Mathías Laborda started the play with a smart ball in behind for White. But the defender carried on his run into the 18-yard box, receiving the ball back from the striker.
It was a simple, yet elegant, pass into the bottom left corner to put the Whitecaps up by one in the 25th minute.
The Whitecaps added another only four minutes later. Picault attacked down the left as several players waited in the 18-yard box. Picault’s cross found the head of White, and the striker headed the ball just beyond the hand of Dallas goalkeeper Maarten Paes for their second of the half and his first of the season.
“I think a big piece of being a striker in any league is confidence,” D’Agostino said. “And I think [White] contributed so well to every point that we’ve gotten so far this season. But it’s always different when you score as a striker.”
However, FC Dallas was not out of the match. Sebastian Lletget headed the ball beyond Yohei Takaoka’s outstretched hand off a free kick given in a dangerous position.
And only a couple minutes later, just before the end of the first half, the Whitecaps would grab their insurance goal back.
Picault scored against his former club as he got up high in the 18-yard box for the excellent cross from the right by Raposo. The Haitian national headed the ball to the floor, and it bounced beyond Paes.
Throughout the first half, the Whitecaps were dangerous, playing with the idea of attacking the space, switching the ball from side to side to quickly pull Dallas out of position and throwing every ball possible into their opponent’s box.
In comparison, Dallas did manage a goal off a set piece, but their open play was lacking.
“It was part of the game plan. We thought that we could exploit them early,” D’Agostino said. “This game, the tactic kind of worked early. And we were able to exploit them in the ways that we worked on all week.”
But the Dallas team that came out after the half was an entirely different team. In the first 10 minutes, the home side had three separate opportunities, including a hard smash off the post from Petar Musa.
Luís Martins and Sebastian Berhalter came on around the hour mark and combined for an opportunity minutes later. Martins crossed an excellent ball from the left into the path of Berhalter. The American’s header was mere inches wide of the post.
Dallas continued to push forward, but errant crosses from Jesus Ferreira and poor finishing from Musa made any sort of positivity difficult.
“I think it’s about continuing to do the things that you do every week,” D’Agostino said. “You can’t expect that it’s going to happen all the time, but if you work in the same way and you get the same results, you got to try to do the same things.”
Vancouver held on for the 3-1 win, their second road win in as many games and continued their undefeated start to the MLS season.
The creative spark of Picault
It was the first start for the new Whitecaps player, and he displayed exactly what he could offer.
“Fafà’s an exciting player,” D’Agostino said. “H’s a guy that can go at guys 1v1. Felt that their fullback in the first half was quite aware of him. I don’t want to say scared of him, but at the end of the day, he was giving [Picault] some space. And Fafà was able to cut inside and make some crosses. And when he came in tighter to him, [Picault] was able to go down the line.”
Picault said he “likes to think most defenders in the league are scared.”
The attacker has enjoy his start to his Whitecaps’ career and was rewarded with a goal and an assist for his efforts tonight.
“I think overall, we were on the front foot at all times. And you combine that with being efficient in front of the goal, it leads to goals. It’s pretty simple, but that the same time, it takes a full group effort of guys fighting for each other and doing small things that maybe don’t get all the praise. But we notice it between each other, and that’s what is important.”
Next up
The Whitecaps head back to B.C. Place for their second home match of the season where they will take on Real Salt Lake. Kickoff is on Saturday, Mar. 23 at 4:30 p.m.