Whitecaps keep playoff drive alive with win over LAFC

The sting of defeat has lingered for Yohei Takaoka. 

It’s been a year since the Japanese goalkeeper and his Vancouver Whitecaps were bounced from the Major League Soccer playoffs by Los Angeles FC. The memory was still fresh as the club prepared to host their rivals in a do-or-die post-season bout again on Sunday. 

“We never forgot last year. We lost against them here. We never forget. I never forget,” Takaoka said. “So that’s why I want to show our performance as a team, as a player.”

The Whitecaps exacted some revenge Sunday, beating LAFC 3-0 to level this year’s best-of-three first-round matchup at a game apiece. 

Ryan Gauld opened the scoring in the 10th minute, then provided a cross that led to an own goal from LAFC’s Ryan Hollingshead four minutes later. An own-goal from Eddie Segura sealed the score at 3-0 in the 68th minute. 

Yohei Takaoka stopped three on-target shots for Vancouver and L.A.’s Hugo Lloris made one save. 

“It’s the kind of performance and result we all felt we were capable of. So to go out and do it on the pitch was really good,” Gauld said.

LAFC took the first game 2-1 last Sunday. The decisive third bout is set for Friday in Los Angeles.

The ‘Caps finished the regular season eighth in the West and trounced the Portland Timbers 5-0 in a wild-card match to earn their spot in the first round against No. 1-seed LAFC.

The winner of Friday’s game will face Seattle in the Western Conference semifinals after the Sounders completed a two-game sweep of the Houston Dynamo earlier Sunday.

A playoff date with their regional rivals, the Sounders, would be a “fantastic” prize for winning the first round, said Whitecaps head coach Vanni Sartini. 

“The reward is enormous, but we need to climb the Everest,” he said. “We did the first part of the climbing today, and we need to do the second part, the hardest part, on Friday.”

A spell of solid passing plays put Vancouver in scoring position early on Sunday. 

Gauld dished off to Brian White deep in the penalty area and the American striker sent it back moments later. Gauld put a shot up and in over Lloris to give Vancouver a 1-0 lead in the 10th minute. 

The Scottish midfielder has 17 goals across all competition this season, and leads the playoffs in scoring with five goals and one assist.

“It’s good to have those contributions up top,” he said of the stretch. “I think overall my link up and my overall play could be better. But at least I’m helping to make the final product at the end, which is kind of the most important thing.”

Gauld struck again in the 14th minute, slicing a ball into the box where it redirected in off the foot of LAFC’s Hollingshead to give the ‘Caps a 2-0 advantage. 

L.A. controlled 51.9 per cent of the possession across the first half, but Vancouver outshot the visitors 9-3, and 2-0 in on-target shots. 

Takaoka wasn’t challenged until the 51st minute when Mateusz Bogusz fired a right-footed attempt from the centre of the box. The Japanese ‘keeper calmly plucked the ball out of mid-air for the stop. 

He had to work harder in the 60th minute when L.A.’s star offensive piece Denis Bouanga got a breakaway and sprinted toward the Vancouver net. Takaoka came up above the six-yard box to challenge and caught the shot in the left shoulder, sending it out of play. 

“I was able to expect that it was going to be one-versus-one in the moment. So I stayed patient,” he said. “It was a bit lucky. But the decision was good and I’m happy to help the team.”

LAFC pushed in the second half, outshooting the home side 14-4 over the frame.

Vancouver now has two clean sheets in three playoff games this season. 

“I think we just worked on our shape to make sure we’re a little harder to break down and not letting teams play so easily,” Gauld said of the defensive shift. “I think we were pretty good tonight, really good in Portland. … It’s something we’ve put a lot of work on in the training grounds.”

The ‘Caps added to their tally in the 68th minute when Canadian defender Sam Adekugbe threw the ball in to Gauld, who charged forward and put it into the L.A. net off Segura’s foot. 

“We said we thought we were due some good luck. And it was nice that it came tonight with a couple own goals and a couple of breaks here and there,” Gauld said of the breaks his team got on Sunday. “So hopefully the luck doesn’t run out before Friday.”