Vancouver Whitecaps 4, Central FC 1 | 2016-17 CCL Match Recap

If the Vancouver Whitecaps' dominance in CONCACAF Champions League was in any doubt before, Wednesday night they added an emphatic exclamation point to their run through group stage play with a 4-1 victory over Central FC at BC Place. 

The heroes of the game were Blas Perez and Cristian Techera, who consistently found themselves at the point of the attack. A poorly headed ball from a Central FC defender gave Perez the first good opportunity of the match, and he unleashed a shot that was saved by Jan-Michael Williams in the 9th minute keeping the game scoreless. Perez got the better of Williams two minutes later, with a tap-in right in front of goal off a Techera low cross to make it 1-0.

Perez was in the center of action in the 20th minute as well, as he was brought down in Central's box by Keion Goodridge, leading to a penalty call. Techera successfully scored the spot kick to double the hosts' lead.

Techera continued his involvement in the attack in the second half. The Whitecaps scored their third with a Masato Kudo tap-in on a quick counterattack, as Techera picked up his second assist of the night on the play. Techera completed his brace with a smash just to the left of the penalty spot for the Whitecaps' fourth goal. 

Central FC did make a game of it just before halftime, when a free kick brought them within one. Sean de Silva took the spot kick over the wall and it came down curling away from Paolo Tornaghi into the back of the net. 

Box Score

• 11' – VAN – Blas Perez (Cristian Techera, Masato Kudo)
• 22' – VAN – Cristian Techera (PK)
• 44' - CFC - Sean de Silva
• 49' - VAN - Masato Kudo (Cristian Techera, Marcel de Jong)
• 70' - VAN - Cristian Techera (Marcel de Jong)
• Full Box Score
• Stats

Three Things

1. CAN'T STOP THE BANDWAGON: With travel and depth being such an issue in CONCACAF Champions League, you might correctly imagine that the 12-point-group-stage club is quite exclusive. The last team to sweep their group stage matches? D.C. United of the 2014-15 tournament. Of course that tournament is probably better remembered in MLS circles for the Montreal Impact's run to the final.  
2. GO NORTH YOUNG MAN: Central FC's goalscorer de Silva is an island man through and through, but he does have a handful of North American ties. He spent a year with Minnesota United in 2013, and played his college ball at the College of Charleston. He did have to miss his sophomore year though, as he played in the U-20 World Cup for Trinidad and Tobago. 
3. HE SCORES WHEN HE WANTS: With his two goals on Wednesday, Techera pulls into a tie for the most goals scored in this season's Champions League with five. He's tied with Hirving Lozano of Pachuca and is the only MLS player with more than two goals in the tournament. 

Next Up

• VAN: MLS: Sunday, October 2 vs. Seattle (8:00 pm ET; FS1 | TSN2 in Canada | MLS LIVE)