Whitecaps FC 1 – CF Montréal 1: Second leg set for September 16 at Stade Saputo

• The decisive second leg will be played in two weeks on Wednesday, September 16 at Stade Saputo in Montréal. The advancing team will host the final on Wednesday, October 21 against the winner of Forge FC against FC Supra du Québec
• Ryan Gauld scored his third goal of the season across all competitions (3G). The captain also became the club’s all-time leading scorer in the Canadian Championship (7G), breaking a tie with Brian White. The Scotsman is now one goal away from becoming the first player in the club’s MLS era with 50 or more goals (49G) and 50 or more assists (53A)
• Bruno Caicedo recorded his fourth assist of the season across all competitions, and seventh goal contribution (3G, 4A)

VANCOUVER, BC – In a long-standing rivalry that kicked off in 1993, Vancouver Whitecaps FC wrote another chapter with a defiant 1-1 draw with CF Montréal in the first leg of their TELUS Canadian championship semifinal.

CF Montréal midfielder Dani Pereira scored on an effort from distance before Whitecaps FC captain Ryan Gauld answered with an equalizer in the second half. The clubs are level on aggregate heading into the second semifinal leg away at CF Montréal on Wednesday, September 16, at 4 p.m. PT. Cheer on the ’Caps by watching on OneSoccer (including FuboTV Canada and TELUS Optik channel 980) or TSN.

After the curtain lifted, a stretch of possession left Whitecaps FC’s Jeevan Badwal on the right side of the box. He juked wide to flash a low ball for oncoming striker Brian White, who spun for a point-blank test on CF Montréal goalkeeper Sebastian Breza, but Breza made the stop.

CF Montréal went ahead at the quarter-hour off an intercepted pass. As he crossed over the centre line, midfielder Dani Pereira cracked a high looper under the crossbar for 1-0.

Montréal thought they had scored a second goal late in the first half, but it was called back offside. 

Before the half, Whitecaps FC came two feet from glory. Gauld’s cross led to an Ocampo drive beyond Breza’s outstretched left glove before the ball rattled the woodwork.

After play resumed, Whitecaps FC manager Jesper Sørensen sent on Andrés Cubas, Mihail Gherasimencov, and Thomas Müller.

Following another CF Montréal goal recalled for offside, Whitecaps FC struck gold. Substitute Bruno Caicedo was sprung loose by Müller down the left wing into an acre of open space. His sublime cross found his captain – Gauld drove it in for 1-1.

Through his seventh strike, Gauld became the club’s all-time goal leader in TELUS Canadian Championship play.

Again, Caicedo was causing havoc, making a 40-yard dash that was only broken up by a sliding Breza challenge. Not long after, Müller set up Badwal for a 15-yard smash that Breza denied.

At the death, Caicedo fired a 20-yard crack that just refused to bend in. The two sides will now play in a winner-take-all match to reach the final.

Next up, the Blue and White return to MLS regular season play with three straight matches at home. Whitecaps FC will host St. Louis City SC at BC Place this Saturday, September 5, at 7:30 p.m. PT. To secure seats, visit whitecapsfc.com/tickets.

MATCH DETAILS

Referee: Renzo Villanueva
Attendance: 18,437

Scoring Summary
16’ – CFM – Dani Pereira
72’ – VAN – Ryan Gauld (Bruno Caicedo)

Statistics
Possession: VAN 65% – MTL 35%
Shots: VAN 18 – MTL 5
Shots on Goal: VAN 6 – MTL 1
Saves: VAN 0 – MTL 5
Fouls: VAN 19 – MTL 17
Offsides: VAN 0 – MTL 2
Corners: VAN 9 – MTL 2

Cautions
30 – MTL – Daniel Ríos
43’ – MTL – Dani Pereira
66’ – VAN – Jeevan Badwal
73’ – MTL – Brayan Ceballos
90+1’ – VAN – Tristan Blackmon
90+6’ – MTL – Hennadii Synchuk

Vancouver Whitecaps FC
32.Isaac Boehmer; 18.Édier Ocampo (29.Mihail Gherasimencov HT), 2.Mathías Laborda, 33.Tristan Blackmon, 3.Sam Adekugbe (28.Tate Johnson 76’); 8.Oliver Larraz (20.Andrés Cubas HT), 59.Jeevan Badwal; 7.Cheikh Sabaly (13.Thomas Müller HT), 25.Ryan Gauld, 11.Emmanuel Sabbi (14.Bruno Caicedo 66’); 24.Brian White (19.Rayan Elloumi 83’)

Substitutes not used
1.Yohei Takaoka, 23.Aleksa Cvetković, 41.Nikola Djordjevic

CF Montréal
1.Sebastian Breza; 3.Brayan Ceballos, 2.Jalen Neal, 5.Brandan Craig, 13.Luca Petrasso (27.Dawid Bugaj 88’); 22.Victor Loturi, 7.Dani Pereira (6.Samuel Piette 89’), 21.Fabian Herbers (8.Matty Longstaff 57’); 17.Dante Sealy (18.Hennadii Synchuk 70’), 9.Prince Owusu, 14.Daniel Ríos (10.Alexis Sánchez 57’)

Substitutes not used
33.Emil Gazdov, 16.Wiki Carmona, 35.Owen Graham-Roache, 41.Samsy Keita