What a difference a week makes! The tactically dysfunctional LA Galaxy team that narrowly lost in El Traffico metamorphosed into a juggernaut of patience and teamwork in a comprehensive 3-1 victory over the Vancouver Whitecaps at BC Place.
Whitecaps coach Vanni Sartini apparently studied El Traffico and set up his team to defend first, pressure the Galaxy in the middle, and counterattack with long balls down the flanks. Nothing in their video sessions could prepare them for the blizzard of one and two-touch passing the Galaxy unleashed in the first half. The Gs amassed an astonishing 85% possession by the twenty-minute mark, moving the ball at will: side to side, through, over, and around the Whitecaps.
Vancouver dropped deeper into a low block and only managed to venture into the Galaxy half of the field on a handful of occasions. In the twenty-eighth minute the Whitecaps showed why they hover near the top of the Western Conference table. A quick pass out of the back to Ryan Gauld in space set the Whitecaps in motion. Gauld delivered a pinpoint cross over Galaxy defender Martin Caceres and put Vancouver striker Brian White in on goal. But for a wayward shot, the Whitecaps could have taken the lead against the run of play.
The Caps began to find transition moments executing long diagonal passes to the flanks, especially to left winger Gauld, who seemed to be telepathically connected to White. But the Galaxy onslaught took its toll. The Whitecaps generally thrive on corner kicks, but they botched their only first-half opportunity, perhaps a bit weary from constant defending.
Undeterred, the Galaxy threw them back into the washer for another spin cycle, moving the ball at will. Squint for a moment, and any observer might mistake the Galaxy for a top team in an elite European league. When approaching the box, however, the Galaxy landed firmly back in North America, hesitant to make the final incisive move. Except for the lack of a final product, the Galaxy executed Vanney-ball to perfection, and the half ended 0-0.
The game opened up in the second half as Gabriel Pec rattled a thunderous header off the Vancouver crossbar after pinpoint service by left-back Julian Aude. As the home side pushed forward with more urgency to take the lead, the Galaxy found themselves under sustained pressure for the first time in the game.
In the fifty-fifth minute, the Caps Ali Ahmed turned by Aude on the right sideline and threaded a pass to Brian White alone against Galaxy goalkeeper John McCarthy. McCarthy kicked away White’s side-footer destined for the bottom left corner, a save that eventually led to a Galaxy goal.
Brugman intercepted a cutback pass and got the ball forward to Painsil, who found Riqui Puig in space on the right side. Immediately, the Ghanaian winger blazed forward on a lung-busting run up the middle. Puig drove into the space cleared by the run and found Pec cruising up the right flank. Two quick touches later, Pec fired a bullet toward the far post, forcing a smart save from Caps keeper Yohei Takaoka.
Though the commentators had hardly uttered the name of Galaxy forward Dejan Jovelic, the rebound from Pec’s shot fell kindly to his feet. The Galaxy number nine calmly deposited it into the back of the net, a gift well earned by his striker’s instinct for finding the right spot at the right time.
Four minutes later, the Whitecaps nearly leveled the score when McCarthy tarried on a clearance. White nipped the ball away and seemed destined to score, but McCarthy recovered with a point-blank save. In frustration, White dropped his mouthpiece into the signboards.
The Caps piled on the pressure and forced a corner kick on the left side, a Galaxy Achilles heel all year. Galaxy manager Greg Vanney chose to pull Pec and Brugman off to refresh the team with Diego Fagundez and Edwin Cerillo. Coaches rarely substitute before defending a corner kick because the players have little time to sort out their responsibilities. True to form, White lost his marker, dumped Fagundez on the turf, and hammered a header past McCarthy to level the score at 1-1.
What happened next may become a signature moment in Galaxy lore. The Galaxy responded to the equalizer, dropping the Caps into a blender of high-tempo possession. As the defense struggled to stay connected, Puig found himself free in the midfield.
Lurking on the left flank, Painsil saw a gaping space behind the defense and started a diagonal run. After two quick driving touches, Puig painted a masterpiece, slotting a perfectly weighted pass through the gap. What Paintsil did next defied the limits of human performance.
The following diagram reveals how the play transcended brilliance to approach near perfection. The sequence has been broken down into seconds. Each labeled arrow reveals the movement of five players from second to second.
Despite the large gap between the center-backs, the Whitecaps appear to be in good zonal marking position as the defensive midfielder advances to apply pressure to Puig. For the first two seconds, the Whitecap defense maintains good position, with one player on Paintsil and cover behind.
Just after the two-second mark, Puig releases the pass, and Paintsil accelerates. Between seconds three and four, he covers more than ten yards. To put that in perspective, ten yards per second is a 4.0 forty-yard dash, and more than ten yards per second approximates a ten-second 100-meter dash. That’s not soccer fast. That’s Olympic sprinter fast. Look at the clock. Paints accomplishes this after putting in an 80-minute shift!
Two Caps defenders simply give up the chase, and the other wanders toward the far post, hoping Takeoka can pull off the save. Only Paintsil knows what it takes to control a rolling soccer ball at sprinter speed, but he does so comfortably, clipping the ball over the flailing keeper for the finish.
It happened so quickly that many may miss the blistering pace and precision of the play. The effect of long periods of high-tempo possession cannot be overemphasized. Vancouver did not have the legs or the will to manage that kind of attack. Sartini may blame himself for his players’ mental lapses. More likely, they were simply overmatched.
Puig and Paintsil pulled it off again minutes later to finish off the Whitecaps 3-1. This time they wrote Diego Fagundez into the history books. The goal made Fagundez one of only ten players in MLS history to score seventy goals with more than seventy assists in his career.
For the first time this season, the Galaxy played a whole game on the same page. Vanney-ball prevailed over improvisation, and the Galaxy laid down a complete performance for future opponents to study. What can San Jose do to slow the Galaxy down? Tune in next week. In the meantime, Galaxy fans can bask in the glow Paintsil scorched into the plastic turf of BC Place.