Record Crowd as Vancouver Whitecaps FC Defeat Inter Miami CF

Inter Miami came close to the opener just shy of the 20-minute mark. A give-and-go at the edge of the box saw Lionel Messi in behind the defence, who tried to cut it back for a tap-in but it was cleared by Ranko Veselinović and Tristan Blackmon before it could find a black shirt.

The ‘Caps would not back down, and rightfully earned the lead in the 24th minute. A good passing play between Sebastian Berhalter and Vite allowed the latter to chip a beautiful cross into the box for White to thunder home a header.

Both Miami and Whitecaps FC would take some pops from distance in the next 10 minutes, with both Messi and Vite firing it into the respective ‘keepers hands. Ríos came close to getting the ‘Caps’ second off a corner kick, meeting a deep cross into the back post but his header was right at Miami ‘keeper Oscar Ustari. The rest of the half played out with Whitecaps FC holding strong and going into the break with a one-goal lead.

The second half saw both teams coming out of the gates hot, creating an end-to-end game right off the bat. Berhalter found some space on the edge of the box after a fast break from White, but his curled effort went into the hands of Ustari.

Messi then had a chance from a free kick just outside the box in the 70th minute, but his effort hit the wall before falling into Takaoka’s safe hands. Emmanuel Sabbi was then on the break moments later, cutting inside off the left before unleashing a vicious shot that was deflected wide. Another counter-attack saw Vite attack down the right, cutting back a wonderful pass for Berhalter to smash first time, but his effort went high off the mark.

With less than 10 minutes remaining, Whitecaps FC got their second of the match. In another lightning-quick attack, Sabbi found J.C. Ngando in the middle near Miami’s box. Ngando then sent a pass in behind for Jayden Nelson to latch onto and cut back for Berhalter to smash home.