Match Report:

By Simon Fudge/whitecapsfc.com

Vancouver Whitecaps FC men's team opened their 2008 USL First Division season with a 1-0 home victory over Canadian rivals Montreal Impact on Saturday evening.

Eduardo Sebrango's fine first-half strike against his old club gave the Whitecaps their first home win against Montreal since August 21, 1996. Though they had to deal with some heavy Impact pressure at times, Vancouver held on for a morale-boosting win in their season opener at Swangard Stadium. The result also extends the Whitecaps unbeaten run in their home opening games to seven years, with their last defeat coming back in 2001.

In his first competitive game as Whitecaps head coach, Teitur Thordarson gave goalkeeper Srdjan Djekanovic his first-ever competitive start for his hometown club after returning to the Whitecaps from Major League Soccer side Toronto FC in the off-season. New signing Omar Jarun - who was recovering from a preseason injury - had to settle for a place on the substitutes' bench, as Jeff Clarke partnered Adrian Cann in the centre of defence, while new signings Nicholas Addlery, Vicente Arze, and Takashi Hirano all made the starting XI for the home side in a 4-4-2 formation.

Impact head coach Nick De Santis, meanwhile, gave three former Whitecaps players in midfielders Joey Gjertsen and David Testo, as well as striker Charles Gbeke a start against their former club. Also making Montreal's starting XI is defender Adam Braz at right fullback, who like Djekanovic, returned to the Impact this season after spending 2007 with Toronto FC.

On a beautiful spring night on the Lower Mainland, a sold-out Swangard Stadium crowd of 5,288 saw the Whitecaps dawn their traditional all-white home uniforms, while the Impact dressed in their away colours of all black.

The fans were treated to some early chances, with Sebrango forcing Impact goalkeeper Matt Jordan to save his low header at the near post after Arze played in a cross from the right. Five minutes later, the Impact had a great chance to open the scoring through Leonardo Di Lorenzo, but the Argentine midfielder's header flew wide of the far post after he was found unmarked in front of Djekanovic's goal by Gbeke, with the Montreal striker making a dangerous byline cross after initially beating Vancouver's offside trap.

The first part of the opening 45 minutes saw plenty of untidy play from both clubs, with possession given away on a regular basis. There was also a painful moment for Steve Kindel, who came off in not the best shape when he blocked a Patrick Leduc clearance in the Montreal defensive third of the pitch.

Both Arze and Hirano were showing some promising displays of their talents, with the pair forcing an important Montreal clearance for a corner, while at the other end, Djekanovic needed to make a first-class save to stop Roberto Brown from giving the Impact the lead on 27 minutes after he took advantage of a Lyle Martin slip in front of the Whitecaps goal. "Before tonight, I've had to watch us play with a hot dog up in the stands," Djekanovic said of his first Whitecaps spell to whitecapsfc.com. "That first-half save that I made was the only real chance that I thought they had in the game. They're a great team and put us under a lot of pressure, but I thought we were good defensively. It's a great confidence booster and we now have two weeks to prepare for the next game, so hopefully, we can keep it going."

The home side then pressed for the first goal, and after Arze caused more problems in the Montreal box, the Whitecaps took the lead in somewhat controversial circumstances on 33 minutes.

Sebrango took a pass from Kindel, and as the Cuban striker collided and knocked over Impact defender Nevio Pizzolitto, referee Steve De Perio allowed play to carry on. The veteran hitman worked his way into the box before unleashing an unstoppable right-foot shot into the low corner of Jordan's goal. It was the Whitecaps first goal at home against Montreal since June 4, 1998. "When I collided with their defender, I just kept going," Sebrango said. "They were backing down as I ran at goal and I had enough space to put the ball in the far corner. Our style of play is still in development, and we are still learning about each other, but we are professionals and we did a good job. It was a good learning experience for the next game and it’s always good to win."

Vancouver then had the ball in the back of Montreal's net again late in the half, but Gabriel Gervais' own-goal was called back after Addlery was deemed to be offside in front of Jordan's goal. At the other end, Djekanovic made an assured save from Gbeke's far-post header after Simon Gatti played in a fine cross from the left, as the Whitecaps took a one-goal lead into the halftime break.

The opening quarter hour after the restart was competitive and scrappy from both sides, with the Whitecaps continuing to press their Quebec visitors. Hirano made a fine run down his left flank to the Montreal byline before forcing Jordan to save his low-hit cross.

Montreal struggled to make many goalscoring opportunities before the midway point of the half, but they had strong appeals for a handball in the Whitecaps box after a crossed ball looked to have hit the arm of a Vancouver player. On 70 minutes, Gbeke was unable to get enough of Braz's cross from the right with his head, as the ball drifted wide of Djekanovic's far post. Montreal went even closer on 74 minutes, as Di Lorenzo's free kick found Pizzolitto unmarked in the Whitecaps box, but he failed to properly connect with his header at close range, as Djekanovic ended up making a simple save.

As the game entered the dying stages, Martin gave the fans something to cheer about with a blazing run down the right before Montreal dealt well with his curling cross, while Djekanovic needed to save at the other end from Gervais after he connected with substitute Pato Aguilera's high cross from the right.

The Whitecaps then had a defensive scare shortly afterwards, as Martin and Djekanovic crossed wires, with Martin's clearance falling to Impact substitute Mauro Biello. With an open goal to aim for, the midfielder's shot sailed over the crossbar – much to the relief of the home supporters.

Montreal kept pressing to find an equalizer into the three added minutes of stoppage time, but only Gervais came closest when he failed to connect with a free kick at close range. "Whenever you play away from home, and it's against a team that is playing its home opener, it's always going to be tough," said Impact head coach De Santis. "We did have a three-month preparation, but I thought tonight was a pretty even game. When you play away from home, and you get two or three chances in the first half, I think we could have scored with Di Lorenzo or Brown when it was 0-0 and that could have changed the game around. Vancouver are well disciplined defensively and we had trouble getting in behind them. However, one game doesn't tell the tale of a season."

For Thordarson, his baptism of coaching in USL-1 went as well as the Icelandic tactician could have expected. "I thought we were the better team in the first half, but that we struggled a bit in the second half," said the former Estonia manager. "We wanted the team to keep playing as we did in the first half, but they put us under a lot of pressure and we had to do a lot of defending. All in all, I'm quite happy actually because this is supposed to be one of the best teams in the league. I must give credit to my players, as they worked fantastically well for the 90 minutes, even when we were very pressed in the second half."


The Whitecaps will now have two weeks to prepare for their next game, as they host Minnesota Thunder at Swangard on Saturday, April 26. The Impact, meanwhile, will play the second of their first six league games on the road to open their USL-1 campaign, as they travel to south Florida to meet Zinho's Miami FC Blues next Saturday night.

Goal Summary:
33' – Van 1-0 - Eduardo Sebrango (Steve Kindel)
Sebrango took a pass from Kindel, and as the Cuban striker collided and knocked over Impact defender Nevio Pizzolitto, referee Steve De Perio allowed play to carry on. The veteran hitman worked his way into the box before unleashing an unstoppable right-foot shot into the low corner of Jordan's goal.

Match Stats:
Shots: Vancouver 4 – Montreal 8
Saves: Vancouver 4 – Montreal 1
Fouls: Vancouver 16 – Montreal 11
Offsides: Vancouver 4 – Montreal 5
Corners: Vancouver 6 – Montreal 5

Cautions:
Vancouver: Martin Nash 82’
Montreal: Gabriel Gervais 27’, Adam Braz 64’

Vancouver Whitecaps FC
77.Srdjan Djekanovic; 2.Jeff Clarke, 4.Adrian Cann, 22.Takashi Hirano, 24.Lyle Martin; 7.Martin Nash, 8.Steve Kindel, 9.Alfredo Valente, 23.Vicente Arze (27.Stefan Leslie 49’, 3.Nick Webb 86’); 11.Nicholas Addlery (26.Jason Jordan 73’), 16.Eduardo Sebrango

Subs not used:
1.Jay Nolly, 6.Luca Bellisomo, 15.Omar Jarun, 28.Diaz Kambere

Montreal Impact
1.Matt Jordan; 8.Gabriel Gervais, 5.Nevio Pizzolitto, 33.Adam Braz, 24.Simon Gatti (23.Antonio Ribeiro 86’); 15.Patrick Leduc, 7.David Testo (19.Pato Aguilera 80’), 18. Leonardo Di Lorenzo (20.Mauro Biello 80’), 17.Joey Gjertsen (14.Sita-Taty Matondo 84’); 10.Roberto Brown (11.Severino Jefferson 73’), 12.Charles Gbeke

Subs not used:
22.Andrew Weber, 16.Stefano Pesoli