With a dagger in the 85th minute from Sebastian Berhalter, the Vancouver Whitecaps are one step closer to their first appearance in the Concacaf Champions Cup final in club history after defeating Inter Miami 2-0 in front of a record crowd of more than 53,000 fans. From the first kick, the Whitecaps were quicker to fly in on tackles and win second balls, even taking the ball off of Lionel Messi’s foot in the box in critical moments. Jesper Sorensen’s team was well prepared for the moment, and it showed even without some of their best players like Ryan Gauld.
Star striker Brian White continued his campaign to move up the United States men’s national team striker depth chart with a headed goal, latching on to Pedro Vite’s cross in the box to put Vancouver ahead only 24 minutes into the match. From there, Vancouver could’ve sat back to try and defend what they had but instead, the Whitecaps kept pushing forward, keeping pressure on Miami with their attack.
The Herons had their chances but only putting two shots on target during the entire match, Vancouver was able to dictate the terms, something that Miami manager Javier Mascherano was wary of. Despite defeating the Columbus Crew over the weekend, the warning signs were there for Inter Miami as they lost the xG battle and almost lost the game. Despite making changes in midfield like bringing in Federico Redondo, it was Pedro Vite and Berhalter who controlled the match.
There wasn’t an area of the pitch that Berhalter didn’t cover as he’s making his own name in American soccer after his father, Gregg Berhalter, represented the USMNT at the highest levels both as a player and a coach before now helping turn around the Chicago Fire. Berhalter has grown since leaving the Columbus Crew system to come to Vancouver and he’s now enjoying a breakout season under Sorensen while the Whitecaps lead the Western Conference.
Facing Miami, this was a battle of the two best teams in MLS so far this season and the Whitecaps showed that you don’t always need a globally recognized star to secure a critical win in a knockout competition. They’ll still have to be wary of the second leg of play after Inter Miami overcame a 1-0 loss in the first leg to defeat Los Angeles FC in the quarterfinals but that’s where getting the additional goal is helpful.
Away goals are still a tiebreaker in the Concacaf Champions Cup, so as things stand, only a 2-0 Miami victory at home would force extra time. If Vancouver scores in Fort Lauderdale, the Herons would then need four goals to avoid defeat, a tough feat even for a team of their talent level.
While Miami has been successful with Messi on the roster, after moving on from Tata Martino, following getting knocked out of the MLS Cup playoffs in the first round but the same questions still remain so far under Mascherano. A strong MLS regular season isn’t enough for this team and Mascherano recognized the importance of the match heading into things. Now that Miami is behind on aggregate, they’ll have to show similar fire that they did facing LAFC but unlike the Black and Gold, the Whitecaps are less likely to collapse under pressure.
With major depth players like Robert Taylor now gone and more, such as Julian Gressel, reportedly heading out too, how Mascherano balances his side will be important. Games are adding up and Miami will host FC Dallas this weekend before playing the second leg of this semifinal on April 30.
Between now and then, Mascherano will need Luis Suarez to find his finishing boots. The Uruguayan has now gone six games without a goal contribution and eight without scoring. When players like Tadeo Allende were running hot, that was something that Miami was able to overcome but in do-or-die moments, they need the player who scored 25 goals in all competitions last season. If he’s not still somewhere in there, Miami may be in trouble in the long run.
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