VANCOUVER, B.C - The MLS World Cup break came to an end at BC Place as the Vancouver Whitecaps hosted the Montreal Impact before a sellout crowd of 21,000 fans. The Caps had been on terrific form before the break, and they looked to continue that against the last place team in Major League Soccer, the Montreal Impact.
Vancouver and Montreal have always maintained a fierce rivalry that both organizations take quite seriously. On this occasion neither team was able to come away with all three points. The World Cup break got the better of the Whitecaps and Impact as they played to a scoreless lackluster 0-0 draw.
The Montreal Impact were pleased that they could come into Vancouver and earn a point in a tough environment. Manager Frank Klopas was quite happy with the performance his back-four provided.
“First half, we talked about being a little bit better with the ball because we were forcing too many plays, looking to hit them in transition, but then we came on the road against a very explosive team. Our back four, I thought we defended very well, everyone was committed to that part of the game. We had some very good chances to get the three points. They also did, but we found a way to get a point in a very difficult place and we have to continue."
Carl Robinson started his trio of speed demons for the first time this season. Darren Mattocks played on the right, with Kekuta Manneh on the left and Erik Hurtado as the lone striker. Carlyle Mitchell made his first start of the season as he filled in for Nigel Reo-Coker. The 30 year-old flew to New York City early on Wednesday morning to be with his wife who is expecting to give birth at anytime. Johnny Leveron started for the injured Jay DeMerit, and Pedro Morales wore the captains armband.
Despite winning the Amway Canadian Championship, the floundering Impact came into this match with a 2-7-4 record. Marco Di Vaio, and Justin Mapp did not make the trip to Vancouver as both players are dealing with injuries. The visitors started this match in a 4-2-3-1 formation with Jack McInerney as the lone striker.
The Opening 45
Vancouver and Montreal both started this match in full snooze and rust mode. Both teams looked out of sorts, and uninterested in playing football. Passes, were late, fouls were committed, and neither team showed energy or a spark that you would expect to see after a two-week break. Carl Robinson was honest with his assessment of the match when he spoke to the media following the final whistle.
"It wasn't very enjoyable watching, was it? I didn't enjoy watching it, and I don't think the players enjoyed playing in it. Bad day at the office I think we call it. We take a point, against a team that was happy for a point. They could've won it, I think we could've won it in the second half but performance levels weren't to the level we've played at all year."
Montreal controlled possession and had the better chance to score in the opening 20' minutes of the match, but nothing troubled Vancouver Whitecaps keeper David Ousted. The Caps defended well but when they looked to get forward, they weren't on the same page and individualism looked to be at the forefront.
Darren Mattocks used his best asset to burst past the Montreal defense. The Jamaican flash fired a shot on goal that hit the back of the advertisement behind the Impact net. The home crowd cheered as they thought that Mattocks has scored. Montreal was caught napping and Darren should have done better.
Vancouver started to look more interested in the match and Mattocks had another opportunity to break the deadlock in the 30'. His shot was on target, however Montreal keeper Troy Perkins was well positioned and had no problem catching the shot in his arms.
The Whitecaps had a bit of a scare in the 33' as Andres Romero raced in on goal towards an on rushing David Ousted. The Danish keeper was down on the pitch for a few moments as he appeared to get a knock in the head from Romero. The Argentine midfielder was issued a yellow card from referee Drew Fischer.
After the opening forty-five the score remained 0-0. Montreal had 56-44 possession advantage, and 2-1 shots on target advantage. The Impact also had 3 corners to the Whitecaps zero.
Whitecaps central-defender Andy O'Brien was not disappointed with the result as he focused on the positives and the eight-game unbeaten streak the Whitecaps are on.
“I think we’ll take positives from it, and I think that’s eight games unbeaten now. So I think that’s a sign of a team that can achieve anything by the end of the season. As a team if you don’t play well you have to make sure you don’t get beat and we’ll take positives from that.”
The Second Half
After a slow and sloppy first half, neither manager decided to make any changes before the second half kicked off. Choosing instead to see how their players would react after the interval and what must have been a stern halftime speech.
Whitecaps skipper Pedro Morales almost opened the scoring in the 49' minute thanks to a cheeky free kick attempt. Kekuta Manneh was muscled down by Impact defender Karl Ouimette on the right-flank and a free kick was awarded to Vancouver. Morales fired a slow rolling attempt along the pitch towards the far left post. Perkins was just about to lean-to his right, but at the last moment he was able to get a hand to the ball and push it away for a corner.
Carl Robinson made his first substitution in the 62'' as he took off a struggling Kekuta Manneh for Uruguayan playmaker Sebastian Fernandez. Frank Klopas waited until the 67' minute to make his first change as he brought on Eric Miller for Issey Nakajima-Farran.
Gershon Koffie broke towards the Impact box in the 71' and played a lovely ball over to Darren Mattocks. With Matteo Ferrari in-between Mattocks and the net, he was able to force a wide shot that was nowhere near the target. Mattocks had a great chance to score, but his inability to hit the net proved costly.
Following the match Matteo Ferrari took a shot at the pundits and critics who have been all over the Montreal Impact this season.
"I don't think anybody bet one dollar that we would get a victory today or even a tie. We want to give a message to everybody that for us this is a new restart right now. We changed some players and in the second part of the season, we want to do for sure better than what we did in the beginning. Today we saw on the field that we were solid."
The Montreal Impact had their best opportunity to score in the 74' when Jack McInerney setup a wide open Maxim Tissot. The Gatineau, Quebec native fired a brilliant shot that got over the Whitecaps defense, and David Ousted before squarely hitting the crossbar. The Caps no.1 keeper commented on the overall play of his defense.
"Definitely some adjusting needed to be done. Mitchell coming back with Nigel gone with the birth of his little daughter. So it was some adjusting, but I thought they did really well.”
Each team made their second substitution after the Mattocks, and Tissot scoring chances. Russell Teibert came on for Darren Mattocks in the 75' and Wandrille Lefevre made his way onto the pitch for Gorka Larrera in the 76'. Moments earlier the Spanish International was yellow carded.
The Whitecaps had a pair of glorious opportunities to score the first goal of the match in the 77' off a corner. Carlyle Mitchell had his header saved by Perkins, and the follow-up from Jordan Harvey hit the crossbar. Both teams were coming close to scoring, but nothing found its way into the back of the net.
The final subs for both teams came in the 87' and 88' minute. Omar Salgado came on for Erik Hurtado, and Santiago Gonzalez came on for Montreal skipper Patrice Bernier. No matter the substitutions this match was fit to be drawn 0-0. The effort, and overall hustle, was simply not visible for all 90' minutes from either Canadian club. The Whitecaps and Impact will have to go back to the drawing board as they looked all out of sorts during this match.
Maxim Tissot is hoping the Montreal Impact can take the positives from this match and use this result as a great first step in what will be a challenging second half of the season.
“I think we can take a lot of positives from this game. I mean, we had a break, the World Cup break, and I think we want to start the second half of the season fresh. I think that’s a good step that we took tonight, and now we have to continue in that direction.”
Man of the Match
David Ousted
Ousted had to be sharp throughout the match as the Impact pressed and looked for that all important goal. Montreal hit the crossbar on a couple of opportunities and Ousted was lucky on those plays. The Caps keeper had to be on top of his game with Vancouver making two critical changes to the back-line before this match. Carl Robinson spoke highly about his keeper following the conclusion of the match.
"I think he was excellent. Towards the end of the first half we looked a little vulnerable, and David came up big for us tonight. There's going to be points in the season where he has to, and he has already, and today I thought was an excellent performance by him, so credit to David.”
Honourable mention
Troy Perkins was on guard as Vancouver started all three of their fastest players. Mattocks, Hurtado, and Manneh all fizzled and missed opportunities to score. Morales has a free kick that almost went in, and Carlyle Mitchell had a header that was turned aside in the second half. Montreal have struggled to keep balls out of their net this season, but on this night Perkins was up for the task and he did great in earning a clean sheet.
Vancouver Whitecaps Starting XI: Vancouver Whitecaps Starting XI: David Ousted; Carlyle Mitchell, Andy O'Brien, Johnny Leverón, Jordan Harvey; Gershon Koffie, Matias Laba; Kekuta Manneh, Pedro Morales(C), Darren Mattocks; Erik Hurtado. (4-2-3-1)
Montreal Impact Starting XI: Troy Perkins; Karl Ouimette, Matteo Ferrari, Heath Pearce, Hassoun Camara; Patrice Bernier(C), Gorka Larrea; Maxim Tissot, Andres Romero, Issey Nakajima-Farran; Jack McInerney. (4-2-3-1)
Notes: Vancouver Whitecaps right-back Steven Beitashour will join the team in Colorado later this week as Iran were eliminated from the World Cup on Wednesday.
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