Blackmon the hero - Vancouver Whitecaps beat Toronto FC to win the Canadian Championship

The Vancouver Whitecaps have won their first title since 2015. On Tuesday, the Whitecaps beat Major League Soccer rivals Toronto FC 5-3 (1-1 after regulation) on penalties in front of 24.307 spectators at sold-out BC Place to win the Canadian Championship. 

"I was confident, but I was also a little bit pissed," Whitecaps head coach Vanni Sartini said after the game to the media when asked about his side needing penalties to put Toronto FC away. After signing Lorenzo Insigne, Federico Bernardeschi, and Domenico Criscito, the Reds were huge favorites to win the Canadian Championship and qualify for the Concacaf Champions League. 

And sure, Toronto FC were the more dominant of the two teams in terms of possession and shots on goal. But, in truth, Toronto were neither efficient nor effective in their possession and shots on goal. Insigne dribbled and dribbled and tried to launch shots over the backline, but overall the Italian lacked the fitness to be effective inside what was a hot stadium against a very well-organized defense. 

Bernardeschi cross and Ricketts miss - Blackmon the hero for Vancouver

Vancouver were better in transition and more creative with the ball. Ryan Gauld's cross that found Brian White for the opener (19'), in fact, was world-class. The ball took a slight bounce just before the Scotsman put his foot through it, guiding it directly to White's head for the opener. "I have scored a similar goal before and I just headed down across the goalline and I am just happy to convert that chance," White said when asked about the goal. 

Both sides exchanged chances until finally, Lukas MacNaughton scored off a Bernardeschi cross. It was a beautiful assist, and with Toronto's possession in mind, the goal was well deserved. "They scored the goal because they have top players," Sartini said. 

This was also the point at which many felt that Vancouver would now fall apart against superior opposition. But the opposite happened, Insigne, in particular, seemed to struggle with fitness issues, and Vancouver started to push for a winner as the game came to a close, with Tosaint Ricketts (80') missing the chance to put the game away. "The Tos goal, that is a goal; he has to do better," Sartini said. "I was a little bit scared that someone just scored something out of nowhere in the 90th minute. But the gods of football were on our side. We need to get better when it comes to converting chances."

Ricketts might have missed the opportunity to put the game away. But the Whitecaps did better in the penalty shootout. Gauld, White, Julian Gressel, and Andrés Cubas all scored. Toronto were perfect with their first two, but then Jonathan Osorio missed giving Tristan Blackmon to win it. “It’s a funny feeling," Blackmon said about the walk up to the spot. "I kind of thought it would end that way when I was fifth. And it was on the plate for me to go at it. And luckily, I tucked it in."