Failing to capitalize on some early chances came back to haunt the Vancouver Whitecaps on Wednesday as they dropped a 2-0 decision to Pumas UNAM, eliminating the Canadian squad from the Leagues Cup.
Pumas forward Cesar Huerta scored in the first half then helped set up midfielder Jorge Ruvalcaba’s goal in the 56th minute, taking advantage of some Whitecaps defensive errors while goalkeeper Julio Gonzalez frustrated Vancouver with several strong saves.
“Goals change games,” said Vancouver striker Brian White, who was denied a chance early in the second half. “We had a couple of opportunities in the first half. We put those away and we’re looking at a different game.”
Whitecaps coach Vanni Sartini said Vancouver was the better team in the first half but became “a little too frantic” at times.
“Today is a lesson,” Sartini said. “We need to be in perfect shape.
“We need to be more clinical when we finish. We have to have the awareness we play good football. We need to be better in those decisive moments.”
The Whitecaps had advanced to the tournament’s round of 32 with a 3-1 win over Club Tijuana Saturday to finish first in the West 7 group with five points.
Pumas UNAM, a top-tier Liga MX team based in Mexico City, finished second in the West 1 group after defeating CF Monterrey in a shootout after a 1-1 draw.
The Mexican side will now face either LA Galaxy or Seattle Sounders FC in the round of 16 Monday.
The Leagues Cup brings together the 47 clubs from Major League Soccer and Liga MX leagues. The tournament decides three qualifiers for the 2025 CONCACAF Champions Cup, and the winner of that competition will represent the region at the FIFA Club World Cup.
On Wednesday, Huerta put Pumas on the board in the 37th minute after a mistake by the Whitecaps.
The first goal came as Pumas midfielder Piero Quispe took the ball off a Vancouver defender, moved across the field then fed Huerta, who scored with a left-footed shot against traffic that found the far corner of the net.
The goal got the large group of Pumas supporters in the crowd of 9,691 at BC Place Stadium in Vancouver on their feet cheering.
Huerta went to work again in the 56th minute, manoeuvring the ball to defender Ruben Duarte who then passed to Ruvalcaba.
The Pumas midfielder then scored on a right-footed shot from the centre of the box.
Vancouver defender Ryan Raposo came close in the 77th minute, blasting a shot through traffic that Gonzalez stopped with two hands.
The Whitecaps applied some early pressure in the game when midfielder Sebastian Berhalter made a nice move around a Pumas defender and launched a shot that sailed over the net about nine minutes in.
Gonzalez made a great save in the 24th minute, when Whitecaps forward Fafa Picault fed a ball into the box that forward Levonte Johnson redirected with a right foot, a shot that Gonzalez steered wide to keep the game scoreless.
A few minutes later, Johnson got behind the Pumas defence, outracing two defenders and getting away a shot that Gonzalez stopped.
“He made some good saves,” said White, who leads the Whitecaps with 12 goals in MLS games. “There’s not much you can do if you put the shots on target and he makes the save.”
NOTES
Whitecaps striker Ryan Gauld, who has been sidelined with a knee injury, was dressed and sat on the bench … It was the first time the Whitecaps and Pumas played each other … Vanni Sartini returned to coach the Whitecaps after being suspended for Saturday’s win due to a red card he received in a July 30 tournament win over LAFC … The victory over Tijuana was Vancouver’s first win against a Liga MX team following two draws … The Pumas have won the Primera Division seven times and the CONCACAF Champions Cup three times.
UP NEXT
The Whitecaps face a busy schedule when they return to MLS action. Vancouver hosts LAFC on Aug. 24, then face Pacific FC at home Aug. 27 in the second leg of the Canadian Championship semifinals before playing Austin FC on the road Aug. 31.
Jim Morris, The Canadian Press
