Vancouver Whitecaps captain Ryan Gauld experienced an emotional boost on Wednesday, marking a goal to celebrate his return from an absence of almost seven months due to a knee injury.
Gauld aims to make another advanced on Sunday when Vancouver (16-6-9, 57 points) welcomes the earthquakes of San Jose (10-14-8, 38 points).
Freshly out of the bench, Gauld had an immediate impact by converting from the top of the penalty area to help the Whitecaps secure their fourth consecutive Canadian championship with a 4-2 victory against the Vancouver FC.
“He has been the team’s captain for some time now, and he is one of the best players in this club since his arrival,” said Whitecaps head coach Jesper Sorensen. “He is an important player for us, and he hears a lot. He brings a lot on the field, but also out of the field.”
Ali Ahmed counted twice on Wednesday for Vancouver, who is in the running for first place in the West Conference with three games to play.
San Jose, in turn, clings to the ninth and last place in the western playoffs when entering this weekend. Earthquakes broke a scrap of three games with a 1-0 victory against San Diego FC.
“I’m sure that gives us some confidence,” said San Jose head coach Bruce Arena, about beating a high-level team in the West. “We are going against another good team Sunday in Vancouver, a difficult place to play, but I think we are going to go with great confidence that we can win the match.”
Josef Martinez scored in the 14th minute of this match and converted a penalty kick during the 2-1 victory in San Jose on a short-term Whitecaps club on August 9. The Venezuelan has five goals in four career games against Vancouver.
Martinez’s 13 goals did it equal for the team’s head with Cristian “Chicho” Arango.
Brian White, who scored during the previous meeting with San Jose, increased his total goal at the top of the team to 16 by totaling in four consecutive games for the Whitecaps.
– field level media
