Thomas Müller scored a 97th-minute winner as Vancouver Whitecaps came from behind to snatch all three points at Orlando City.
Orlando took the lead midway through the first half after Dagur Thorhallsson broke free to finish. Vancouver piled pressure onto their hosts, and they eventually found their equaliser as Nelson Pierre notched his first MLS goal for the club, before Müller’s late heroics confirmed the three points would head to Canada.
With both sides suffering a plethora of absences due to respective injury crises and international callups, neither side was able to come into this clash with anything resembling a full-strength starting lineup. This saw some unusual rotation, even for the recent standards of the Whitecaps, as Jesper Sørensen was forced to start young midfielder Jeevan Badwal on the right wing after his impressive cameo from the bench against San Jose.
Having travelled the entire way across the USA, approximately 2,600 miles, to complete this clash, Vancouver started the game under pressure from their hosts. However, after they started to grow into the game, an injury to centre back Robin Jansson saw Orlando change their system up, as they replaced him with striker Duncan McGuire.
The changes paid dividends for Oscar Pareja’s side, as minutes later, they took the lead. A counterattack saw Dagur Thorhallsson go through on goal, and the Icelandic defender made no mistake to prod the ball past Takaoka and hand his team the advantage.
With their backs against the wall, the Whitecaps had to respond if they wanted to get back into the game. They almost found an equaliser as Edier Ocampo’s strike fizzed across the face of the goal, but other than that, they were unable to properly trouble Gallese in Orlando’s net before the half-time whistle.
Knowing that they needed at least a point to have a chance at controlling the top seed in the Western Conference on Decision Day, Vancouver pushed forward in search of an equaliser. However, despite generating 12 shots across the first hour, they were unable to penetrate Orlando’s stout defense.
Given the absence of tricky wingers Ali Ahmed, Jayden Nelson, and Kenji Cabrera, the Whitecaps’ lack of creativity may have been expected. That made it an even more welcome sight that Ryan Gauld came off the bench after 65 minutes in a bid to rescue the game.
The Scotland international’s presence was felt immediately, as Vancouver started to turn the screw. Gallese was forced to make a fierce save to prevent Ocampo’s cross from being turned in, before Thomas Müller fired wide after a spectacular bicycle kick attempt.
It felt inevitable that the Whitecaps would equalise after all of their pressure, and they eventually clawed their way back onto level terms in comical fashion. A strike from Sebastian Berhalter came back off the post, and after Gauld was unable to finish, substitute Nelson Pierre blocked a deflected clearance and diverted the ball into the Orlando net to make the score 1-1.
Having built up all of the momentum over the game, Vancouver continued to push forward in search of a winner. Ralph Priso had a powerful shot that was destined for the top corner blocked, while Ryan Gauld narrowly lobbed the ball over the bar after dinking Gallese, and Sebastian Berhalter had a shot saved that appeared to have crossed the line, but the goal was not given.
That decision mattered little, as on the very next attack, Müller fired the ball into the back of the net from the edge of the area to bring a very deserved three points back to Vancouver.
After this result, the Whitecaps are top of the Western Conference heading into the final matchday, knowing that a victory over FC Dallas on Decision Day would secure the top seed in the Western Conference throughout the playoffs.
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