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Posted by
Har Journalist,
April 12, 2014 |
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VANCOUVER, B.C - The blue and silver clad Whitecaps faced a daunting challenge as they visited the StubHub Center to play the LA Galaxy on Saturday night. Vancouver had an 0-5-0 MLS record playing away to the Galaxy. Bruce Arena's squad has always given the Caps a difficult match and Vancouver was hoping a youthful lineup would be the remedy to capture a win on the road against the Galaxy. Unfortunately, Carl Robinson's side came up short in a 1-0 loss to the Galaxy. Robbie Keane scored a second half goal just before a crowd of 20,847 spectators settled in for the final forty-five. The Caps have yet to earn a point in six matches against the Galaxy in Carson, California.
Carl Robinson elected to sit Kenny Miller, and Nigel Reo-Coker to start the match. Kekuta Manneh made his first MLS start of the season on the left flank as Robinson elected to go with a 4-2-3-1 formation. Manneh, Morales, and Fernandez were all tasked with creating the offense and setting up lone striker Darren Mattocks. David Ousted started in net, and the back-four remained the same with O'Brien and DeMerit providing stability in front of the keeper.
The Opening 45
LA got off to a fast start and the Whitecaps looked slower than the home side in the first 15' minutes. David Ousted made a point-blank save off of Robbie Keane in the 8' of play after the Irishman had worked a nice give and go with Baggio Husidic. Moments later Landon Donovan had his attempt punched away by Ousted in the 11'. The LA Galaxy were swarming the Caps in the early stages of the match and Ousted was up for the task of keeping the Galaxy at bay.
The Whitecaps created a flurry of chances off a corner in the 18'. Pedro Morales played the ball in and an unlikely playmaker in Andy O'Brien sent in a beautiful cross inside the LA box. Jordan Harvey was unable to get his shot off as his attempt was blocked. The ball found an unmarked Morales and he rifled the ball well over the crossbar.
Galaxy keeper Jaime Penedo was alert and ready in the 20', when a streaking Darren Mattocks tried to cut past Galaxy defenders for a shot. Mattocks looked as if he was going to fall but he regained control and looked to catch Penedo leaning to his right. The Panamanian keeper was able to make a key save.
The Galaxy's best chance to find a marker came from the head of Landon Donovan in the 39'. Dan Gargan sent a cross into the Vancouver area that Donovan looked to direct on net. He was able to out leap Andy O'Brien only to have his header go wide as he looked for that elusive all-time leading 135th MLS goal.
Manneh had the best opportunity to open the scoring for Vancouver in the 31'. He cut into the LA Galaxy box and played the ball to Morales. The Chilean maestro gave the ball back to Manneh and he fired a shot that was destined to find a goal, but Penedo dove to his left to make a fantastic save.
Determined to find a goal for his side before the interval, Kekuta Manneh had another spectacular chance to put the Whitecaps in the good. Manneh used his speed to get to a loose ball as LA were caught sleeping for a moment. Manneh used his pace to get around a slow Dan Gargan to put himself in position for a shot on target. Penedo came out of his net to challenge Manneh and he was able to stop Kekuta in the 44'.
The LA Galaxy held a 64-36 possession advantage in the opening half, but it was Vancouver who had a three to one shots on target advantage. The Caps also held an advantage with five corners to the Galaxy's two. Both sides had terrific opportunities to break the deadlock however the keepers were solid and the score remained 0-0.
The Second Half
Bruce Arena's speech at the half must have been worthy of an Oscar because whatever he said certainly motivated his team to score a quickl goal.
Swedish international Stefan Ishizaki sent in a delightful cross that connected with the left foot of Robbie Keane in the 47'. The 33-year-old striker converted with ease as he had all sorts of time and space to find his goal. Keane was left unmarked as both Andy O'Brien, and Gershon Koffie could not decide who should mark Keane. Following the match Keane talked about how Ishizaki has adapted to life with the Galaxy and what that translates to on the pitch.
"The last few weeks, he has definitely been getting stronger,” Keane said.” Physically, you can see his fitness is certainly getting better. I knew that with space, the more I make, he’s going to find me, and that was the case."
Jay DeMerit did his best to cut down Ishizaki as he sent in a cross but a frozen Ousted and a happy-go-lucky Robbie Keane were too much for the Caps defense to handle. Keane did his trademark cart-wheel as the went up 1-0.
Vancouver looked dejected after LA went ahead. All the pace, control, and hard work the Whitecaps had shown in the first half simply vanished after Keane scored. The Caps were second to balls and they spent most of the half chasing the Galaxy to regain possession.
The Galaxy were doing a great job of controlling the play and tempo of the match as the Whitecaps looked out of sync going forward. Fernandez was not able to get any service and Pedro Morales looked slow and hobbled as he couldn't find any chemistry with Kekuta Manneh. Carl Robinson waited until the 70' minute to try to get his team going with a change from the bench.
The Welsh gaffer made an interesting double substitution bringing on Erik Hurtado, and leading scorer Kenny Miller for Sebastian Fernandez, and Pedro Morales. Robinson was hoping to catch the Galaxy with a quick country attack featuring excellent pace from Hurtado and Mattocks. Manneh was subbed off in the 77' for Nicolas Mezquida.
Soon after coming on Hurtado earned the Whitecaps a corner and a Kenny Miller header had to be knocked out of danger by Penedo as Vancouver came close to tying the game. In the 79', Bruce Arena made his own double substitution with Ishizaki, and Sarvas making way for Gyasi Zardes and Canadian striker Rob Friend.
Robbie Keane teamed up with Friend to just about finish off the Whitecaps. Omar Gonzalez played the ball up to Keane, and he delivered a cheeky little flick to an on-coming Friend. The Rosetown, Saskatchewan native got behind DeMerit and the Caps only to have his shot roll wide of the far right corner. Ousted was lucky to have Friend miss such a glorious opportunity.
Keane had another opportunity to add to his team's goal total with his own chance in the 88'. He absolutely danced Jay DeMerit, and turned him inside out. The Caps skipper fell to the ground and Keane was able to maintain possession and get his shot off. The former Wolverhampton man chipped the ball up and over the net, with it landing on the mesh netting. Robbie Keane was in top form all match and a treat to watch as he dazzled the Whitecaps.
The Vancouver Whitecaps were great to watch in the first half as they stayed competitive with the LA Galaxy. Robbie Keane's goal simply took the gas out of the Whitecaps fast paced attack and they could not recover as they fell 1-0. Vancouver are a different team when they're trailing and they had no chemistry or confidence in the second half. Carl Robinson offered up a positive perspective on his team's performance against the Galaxy.
"The boys played very well obviously,” Robinson said. “One minute of lack of concentration in the start of the second half cost us. A long straight ball, the ball got in behind us and Robbie [Keane] finished off. Disappointed with the goal but very pleased with the performance."
Stefan Ishizaki, Landon Donovan, and Robbie Keane proved to be a tricky trio all match long but the Whitecaps defense played them tough, and limited their chances to score. Vancouver will have to go back to the drawing board as they've only managed one goal in three away matches this season.
Man of the Match
Russell Teibert
Russell Teibert was the most consistent Whitecaps player on the pitch against LA. Playing in an unfamiliar defensive role, the Canadian international did a fantastic job with his new assignment. Teibert got under the skin of Robbie Keane and he played terrific in front of the back-four. With Matias Laba suspended and Nigel Reo-Coker still in the doghouse, Teibert showed he can play at both ends of the pitch. Teibert also provided a few sparks on the counter-attack in the second half when Vancouver was looking to get going on offense.
Honourable mention
Robbie Keane was worth the price of admission as he proved that he is still a top flight striker in MLS. He may not be playing for Toronto FC but he certainly was a big bloody deal in this match. Keane tangled with Teibert and O'Brien and he got the better of his fellow Irishman to score the match winner. Keane setup his teammates and showed his own ability to score. While the Whitecaps were busy with Donovan, Keane was the real threat that did them in on this night. Even at 34, Robbie Keane still has a lot to give in those boots of his.
Vancouver Whitecaps Starting Line-up: David Ousted; Steven Beitashour, Andy O'Brien, Jay DeMerit(C), Jordan Harvey; Gershon Koffie, Russell Teibert; Sebastian Fernández, Pedro Morales, Kekuta Manneh; Darren Mattocks. (4-2-3-1)
Notes: The Whitecaps next return to action on Saturday, April 19 when they host the LA Galaxy at BC Place Stadium
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