it is here on fox sports 1...this will be my viewing for the rest of the evening instead of the yucky NHL

whitecaps still rolling

halftime
1-0 vwfc
0.71 xg 0.04

double the count

big and deserved 2nd goal for the whitecaps. they've looked fairly dangerous on the counter attack and finally bink one.

other than a messi free kick just outside the box, inter miami hasn't had any real dangerous scoring chances in the run of play this 2nd half. t

xg: 3.13 - 0.14

chicago (tire)fire indeed

best team in the league at it again, cruising to a 3-1 win in minnesota. even before this game i was gonna say that vite and berhalter were possibly the most improved players on a team where it seems like ~everyone improved.

and ngl i didn't know jc ngando is or where he came from (drafted #5 in 2023, hey maybe the draft does have value after all) before this season, and looking it up just now, but he's been another effective part of the rotation, particularly with star man ryan gauld still out injured.

then there's bovalina, a kid they picked up out of australia. looks to have some talent, but hasn't seen much playing time just yet. team is running insanely well right now, everything they do just seems to work out. role player or young guy gets some rare run and they produce goal contributions. starting left back gets injured and they just plug in some american kid they drafted out of usl and just keep beating everyone, including mexican teams and miami. home or away, doesn't matter.

peak rungood rn
e.g. 3-1 road win from a ~1.5-1.5xg game
feels good, man

luis suarez is in full dive mode tonight lol...dude is chomping at the bit to draw a call

well that doesn't bode well for us

probably need to find an away goal ..... don't think this will finish 1-0

regardless, get adekugbe on for johnson asap

the whitecaps have looked good both ways other than the goal they gave up when they just inexplicably switched off

obv ref riggage looms especially considering the refs shook hands with messi and messi alone while waiting in the tunnel to take the pitch. almost like..."we got u bro"

EDIT: 2 whitecaps goals have been scored since I started typing this wow

i am a golden god, as is seb berhalter apparently

miami need 4 more goals now? game could get insane

well now they need 5 goals

seb berhalter >>>>>>>>>>>>>> leo messi

there's been nothing fluky about this. inter messi looks slow & old vs. the whitecaps tbh.

2nd half inter messi have had 2 great scoring chances which involved left-footed suarez getting a clear look in the box left of goal (from the attacking left side perspective). one shot was into the left side goal netting and the other one was blast hooked across the face of goal out of bounds. idk, maybe a righty kicker would be better on that side?

no 2nd half stoppage time lol

I guess even the concacrap overlords knew this one was over any which way.

winning the final would put the whitecaps into the 2029 club world cup ... so that'd be something to look forward to lol

messi had enough, said no mas. taxi!

age catches up to everyone I guess...inter miami looked like corpses shambling around vs. the younger whitecaps all series long. no knock on inter miami...they were trying. And inter miami has gotten some wins in MLS vs. everyone else. The whitecaps just seem like a league above at this stage of the season so far.

82nd minute penalty by sepulveda puts cruz azul into the final. sucks because if the 0-0 draw held, i think it would have meant that the whitecaps hosted tigres, instead of traveling to mexico city to face cruz azul. oh well, gotta do it the hard way i guess

berhalter suspended for the final because of yellow card accumulation, but the june 1st date could mean that ryan gauld will be back and fit for it. i believe he has returned to training, but hasn't appeared in a matchday squad just yet, but can't be too far away you'd think

Pretty nice season for Montreal. They've matched the club with the highest average player market value win for win.

IMPACT!

So this is what it's like to win a match? Feels nice man

Regulation sized fields don't suit the team's strengths, need to play on a baseball field.

sorry fossilkid, montreal impact confirmed big time not back

really struggled to deal with that red card i guess lol

and speaking of struggling, i forgot to mention it last week but nyrb beat the galaxy 7-0

i get that puig is their main man, but cmon

whitecaps still undefeated in 15 games or something, but not playing that well anymore and eking out a lot of draws. goalkeeper takaoka has been good lately, saving their asses a bit. they were winning without him, but think they're at the point where they do need ryan gauld back now. thought he was back 2-4 weeks ago running around at training, so not sure what the holdup is. hopefully he's back asap

top o the table problems

Big time back to the results we've become accustomed to.

Amazingly, we beat Toronto at their place in Canadian Cup, which is the only silverware we'll have a prayer at, but probably not unless someone else upsets the Caps.

messi confirmed big time back. dude's been ripping it up lately, nice to see him recovered from that injury

but more importantly, the big game sunday night:

i'm obviously biased, but i think the whitecaps represent decent value here. cruz azul look like a formidable team and are rightfully favs at home, but vwfc have legitimately been the best team in mls this year, so it should be a close game that could go either way.

people keep saying that vancouver are the best team in the league, but then refusing to reckon with that fact. they were a solid team the last few seasons, and new manager sorensen's improvements now have them with the best defensive record in mls. least xg against, and even fewer goals because they're backstopped by a solid keeper. and they've had a lot of this success with their best player ryan gauld on the sideline, though there are rumblings that he might be available for the final. would be big in light of the suspension to midfielder seb berhalter.

anyway, should be a very interesting game featuring two teams at the top of their respective leagues, both are good in attack and defense, both had ~15 match unbeaten streaks going until recently ... maybe extra time is a good play.

/out b4 they get psg'd

was surprised vwfc's xg was so high, but i guess they mostly have been pretty good this year, and have put up a few huge xg games at home, especially. even when they're not that great they usually don't give up much, grind out low event results

and yeah i'm still wondering what's going on in la. even without puig that's complete madness for them to be by far the worst

game not on tv, so i'm like you know what, how often are the whitecaps gonna be in a continental final, lets go have some beers and watch this somewhere. called around and checked out a bunch of places and it doesn't seem like anyone in town has this stupid streaming thing that has the rights lol. jopke

no major surprises with the lineup. adekugbe fit to start at lb is good. ngando in for the suspended berhalter could be less of a factor than many think. thought there was a chance that rios or sabbi nabbed a start, butnahhh, nelson and ahmed flank white. jayden nelson's speed on the wing in particular could be a factor vs cruz azul's back 3. believe they've been emphasizing long balls to release the wingers this year, so hopefully that plays out here. whitecaps will probably need a big game from pedro vite in that attacking midfield area if they are to win, look for him shooting from distance. lfg