Report Card: Vancouver Whitecaps vs. Montreal Impact

Well ... that was an extremely weird match to grade. Read on to see the good, the bad and the Owusu from Sunday’s 4-2 loss to Montreal.

Thomas Hasal: 4.5

It is probably to Hasal’s credit that tonight was the first game where he looked out of his depth. Not sure he had a first-half save or grab that looked totally comfortable and then to concede the penalty right before the break was the cherry on top. Settled down in the second half (even after another boot to the head). Can’t say he really could’ve done much on Montreal’s third and fourth goals. Probably one he would like to forget but that’s part of being a young’un, eh?

Ali Adnan: 3.5

On one hand, Ali Adnan didn’t do himself any favors in taking on the attacking threat posed by Rommell Quioto. On the other, he didn’t have a whole lot of help from the midfield who has played roughly a billion minutes with Adnan by now and should know he likes to get forward. I think he really wanted to get after Zachary Brault-Guillard but his young adversary was more up to the task and Adnan was not as dialed in as he was last match.

Derek Cornelius: 4

Kind of hard to say how much of Quioto owning the Caps backline was his fault. He got torched by Quioto on the first goal and the build-up to the penalty but was left a bit out to dry in both instances. Cornelius was slightly redeemed by continuing to be the target man on set pieces but the bad news? He was definitely one of Montreal’s targeted men when they were attacking.

Andy Rose: 4.5

Rose was probably the least crap of the Caps’ backline but I’m not sure that’s saying a whole lot here. Helped build out of the back some but wasn’t quite enough to offset a shoddy defensive effort across the board.

Erik Godoy: 4

Initially looked better conditioned than he did last match but by the time he came off he looked just as off the pace as he did against Toronto FC. Looked more solid in the first half in part because Montreal attacked so heavily down Adnan’s side of the pitch but when Henry flipped the switch in the second half he looked lost. I still rate Godoy but I think it might be time to figure out a better long term solution at right back.

Russell Teibert: 5.5

If you looked at the stats, you’d think Rusty had a solid enough match: high pass completion rate, a couple of chances created. If you watched how bad ZBG and Quioto torched the Caps’ left flank than you would think this rating was low.

Michael Baldisimo: 6.5

Had significantly more of a positive impact than his midfield counterparts (an admittedly low bar) but I think this was still a solid performance from Baldi. Had a lot of bite to his tackles (perhaps too much bite) and brought the switching passes that were so dangerous against Toronto on offer again tonight.

Leonard Owusu: 3

An untidy pass from Owusu directly led to the Impact’s first goal and that was sadly a pretty apt way of summing up his match—wasteful. Just an absolute clunker of a match and I was honestly surprised his pass completion was as high (58 percent) as it was. Owusu doesn’t offer a ton defensively so he needs to help recycle the ball through the midfield. He hasn’t done that for a sustainable period of time thus far in Vancouver.

David Milinkovic: 8

I wasn’t totally convinced by Milinkovic in the attacking mid role last time but I thought his skillset was potentially useful in the role. His lovely through ball to feed Theo Bair’s goal was perhaps proof of that. He was only denied a goal of his own by a great save from Clement Diop. Had a bevy of other chances created, was the Caps most efficient passing player. Didn’t give up once the Caps went down to red and was clearly the MoTM.

Lucas Cavallini: 3

Like Bair did well to penetrate the high line of Montreal and was just a hair away from being dangerous for much of the match. Obviously that isn’t really what we’re going to be talking about with Cava—the spectacular combustion in getting sent off. I’m a bit skeptical of the second yellow but the first one was completely boneheaded and given how he was getting into it with Impact players throughout the game, his expulsion and dust-up seemed inevitable. Unacceptable from your highest-paid player.

Theo Bair: 7

I know a lot of people were looking for more out of Bair … well how about a perfectly well taken goal from a tough angle? Much like his direct attack on Laurent Ciman, Bair (along with Cavallini) did well to make some nice penetrating runs behind the Impact’s high line, often to dangerous effect. Was fairly quiet after the first half hour and was subbed off but was a bit more promising from Bair and gives him some momentum to build off of.

Cristian Gutierrez: 7

Looked like the player Ali Adnan should have been tonight—dropping dimes when he went forward but didn’t find himself lost at sea when he did so.

Jake Nerwinski: 6

Stabilized things at right-back, which was exactly why he came on the pitch. An adequate match, nothing more and nothing less from Jake.

Cristian Dajome: 7

Dajome must be wanting more playtime because he offered a lot here, between tracking back (for which he was erroneously whistled). Was bright going forward and got in Maciel’s head, which resulted in Montreal being reduced to 10 men. Maybe it was being reunited with his family but he looked really focused and looked a lot more like the guy in the highlight videos who the Caps signed.

Fredy Montero: 5.5

I’m sorry but if Fredy wants to make a case to stay in Vancouver, he has to do better on chances like the ones Guitierrez dialed up for him in the second half. His link-up play, especially with Dajome, was most welcome, however and it seems likely he will see the pitch again against the Impact in the midweek with Cava suspended.

Yordy Reyna: 6

Didn’t do as much as Dajome but facilitated some really nice build up play from and worked well with Montero and Guitierrez, especially. Was mostly just pleased to see Reyna back on the pitch again and wouldn’t be surprised to see him get the start to fill the Cava vacuum.