Whitecaps Shock Toronto FC – 3-0 Victory

Vancouver Whitecaps FC have claimed all six points from their opening two MLS regular season matches with thanks to the Vancouver Whitecaps for the press release. 

The Blue and White ran roughshod over Toronto FC, with a clinical 3-0 victory in the Maple Leaf Matchup at BC Place on Saturday.

Thanks to a Thomas Müller brace, along with a historic Brian White goal, Whitecaps FC continued their unbeaten streak against Toronto FC.

That streak has now extended to nine straight meetings across all competitions since 2020.

Whitecaps FC head coach Jesper Sørensen made four changes to his starters from the home leg of Concacaf Champions Cup Round One against C.S. Cartaginés on Wednesday.

Against TFC, Sørensen inserted Mathías Laborda for Tate Johnson at left back, Andrés Cubas returned to the starting XI for Oliver Larraz, AZ took over from Emmanuel Sabbi on the left wing, and Thomas Müller started in place of Kenji Cabrera.

In the 12th minute, Sebastian Berhalter made a pretty flick-on for onrushing striker Brian White. After slipping past his marker, White cracked a low 16-yard shot that TFC ’keeper Luka Gavran stretched out to deny.

Müller came four feet from opening the scoring after he chipped back across goal to Berhalter. From the top of the box, Berhalter whipped a low pass that connected with Raumdeuter’s left boot, but the subsequent deflection swerved wide of the far post.

Whitecaps FC played beautiful football to set up their first goal. After a mesmerizing breakout from their own box, White went skyward to nod a ball down the left wing to AZ. 

At full flight, he juked to his right, and was tripped by Walker Zimmerman for a Blue and White penalty kick.

From the spot, Müller cooly slotted home his first goal of the season. He sent Gavran the wrong way with a powerful drive into the left corner in the 25th minute.

The boys from the Village of Vancouver added an insurance marker before the half.

Off a Berhalter corner kick that dipped to the far post, left back Mathías Laborda headed the ball across goal for Müller, who deflected in his second of the match.

In barely half-a-season of matches, the German superstar has already covered himself in glory. With 11 goals scored in his first 17 matches across all competitions, Müller has notched the most goals for Whitecaps FC in the MLS era in that span.

In first-half stoppage time, another Berhalter banger from the flag deflected off TFC defenders and found White, who tapped in past Gavran. 

The American moved up to second place on the all-time scoring list for Whitecaps FC, with a total of 80 goals across all competitions. 

Now, White only trails the late Dominic Mobilio, who scored a prolific total of 170 goals with the club.

Takaoka was grateful to his back line. For the opening 45 minutes, the ’keeper faced no TFC shots on target, along with zero attempts. 

Come the end of the match, he was tested five times before collecting the clean sheet.

In the second half, Müller almost collected a hat trick with a 21-yard smash that streaked past Gavran – and barely cleared the crossbar.

With 20 minutes left, Sørensen put in new forward Cheikh Sabaly for his Whitecaps FC debut. The Senegalese international signed three weeks ago after being transferred from French Ligue 1 side FC Metz. The 26-year-old also won last year’s Africa Cup of Nations with Senegal.

Next up, Whitecaps FC will continue in MLS regular season play for a Cascadia Cup clash south of the border in Portland versus the Timbers on Saturday, March 7, at 7:30 p.m. PT. The match will be live on TSN and Apple TV, as well as 730 CKNW. 

The Blue and White will then return home to lace up against their other Cascadia rival, Seattle Sounders FC, in the Round of 16 of the Concacaf Champions Cup. 

The home leg at BC Place is set for Thursday, March 12, at 7 p.m. PT. 

That match will be quickly followed by a Sunday, March 15 home match against Minnesota United FC at BC Place, with a 1:30 p.m. PT kickoff.

For ticket information, visit whitecapsfc.com/tickets.

MATCH DETAILS

Referee: Fotis Bazakos,          Attendance: 24,533

Scoring Summary

25’ – VAN – Thomas Müller (penalty kick)

37’ – VAN – Thomas Müller (Mathías Laborda, Sebastian Berhalter)

45’+2 – VAN – Brian White

Caution

66’ – VAN – Édier Ocampo

Statistics

Possession: VAN 58% – TFC 42%,     Shots: VAN 14 – TFC 5

Shots on Goal: VAN 5 – TFC 3,          Saves: VAN 3 – TFC 2

Fouls: VAN 14 – TFC 15,                   Offsides: VAN 1 – TFC 6

Corners: VAN 5 – TFC 1