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Posted by
Har Journalist,
June 29, 2014 |
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VANCOUVER, B.C - The Whitecaps travelled to Dick's Sporting Goods Park to take on the Colorado Rapids on Saturday night. Vancouver had previously returned from their World Cup break on Wednesday and played Montreal to a scoreless draw at BC Place. The Caps were looking to rebound from a lacklustre midweek performance, but they looked even worse in the thin Colorado air. The Rapids scored a pair of first half goals in a 2-0 victory in front of 14,978 fans.
Dillon Powers opened the scoring, and Vicente Sanchez converted a perfect penalty kick, after Deshorn Brown was brought down in the area. Vancouver never looked dangerous, as they were unable to get anything going on offense for the entire match. Vancouver had trouble defending the Colorado attack in the first half and those early goals set the tone for the match. Carl Robinson talked about the pair of goals that Colorado scored after the match.
"At the end of the day if you look at both goals, the lead up to them has not been great with not right positioning. We switch off and then allow [Powers] to turn in the box and shoot through two legs. And the second goal was a penalty which I’m not complaining about. It’s a blatant penalty, but a miscommunication between Nigel [Reo-Coker] and David [Ousted]."
Vancouver made four lineup changes to the squad that started against Montreal. Nigel Reo-Coker, Russell Teibert, Nicolas Mezquida, and Sebastian Fernandez all earned themselves a starting spot. Robinson decided to sit Andy O'Brien, Gershon Koffie, Darren Mattocks, and Kekuta Manneh. The Caps went with their familiar 4-2-3-1 formation with Uruguayans, Mezquida, and Fernandez flanking Pedro Morales. Once again Erik Hurtado was the lone striker for Vancouver. Carlyle Mitchell moved back to centre-back and Reo-Coker filled in at right-back. Steven Beitashour returned to the team from his World Cup duties with Iran, but he did not see any action in this match.
In their only previous match this season, the Colorado Rapids came into Vancouver and defeated the Whitecaps 2-1 on Saturday, April 5. Jose Mari scored a brace in the second half just minutes after Matias Laba was sent off. The Rota, Spain native missed this match with a foot injury. Manager Pablo Mastroeni started his team in a 4-4-2 formation with Deshorn Brown, and Vicente Sanchez as his striker duo.
The Opening 45
Colorado had the first terrific scoring opportunity as Dillion Powers struck the crossbar with a blast in the 16' minute. Carlyle Mitchell had the ball deflect off his foot right towards the 23 year-old. His shot squarely struck the underside of the bar as Vancouver caught a momentary break.
The Plano, Texas native kept coming and he scored his third goal of the season in the 20'. Marvell Wynne came down the right flank and attempted to cross a ball into the Whitecaps box. The ball deflected to Powers, and was able to spin around before sending a low shot into the far corner past David Ousted. Carlyle Mitchell and the Caps defense got caught ball watching as Powers, and Wynne were given way too much time and space.
Rapids left-back Chris Klute was able to get away from a falling Matias Laba as he made his way inside the Whitecaps box. Klute fired a low shot on target that David Ousted was all over as he made a timely save in the 28'. Colorado had a subsequent corner that was cleared out of danger by Vancouver.
The Whitecaps looked dreadful in all areas of the pitch. The potent Vancouver offense was nowhere to be found, and the back-four were in a disastrous state. Vancouver continued to look more and more like the sluggish side that played so out of sorts against Montreal earlier in the week. The four changes that Carl Robinson made to his starting lineup did nothing to boost the Whitecaps first half performance.
To make matters worse, the Colorado Rapids doubled their lead in the 36' minute. Nigel Reo-Coker brought down Deshorn Brown inside the Vancouver box, and without question, referee Ted Unkle pointed to the spot for a Colorado penalty. Vicente Sanchez made no mistake and scored his sixth goal of the season. Reo-Coker added talked about going through spells and the ups and downs of a long season when he talked to the media post-match.
"If you look at the whole season so far we’ve lost three games out of 15. That’s not bad. We’re disappointed. Every team around the world has spells like this. Even the top teams. Manchester United, Liverpool, you name it. They go through a spell in the season where they might lose one or two games and we’re just going through it now."
After the opening forty-five Colorado led 2-0, and carried a huge 56% - 44% possession advantage. The Rapids had 5 shots on target to the Whitecaps none.
The Second Half
Earlier in the day, Uruguay were eliminated from the 2014 FIFA World Cup thanks to a 2-0 loss to Colombia. The day would get worse for the Whitecaps Uruguayan pair, Nicolas Mezquida, and Sebastian Fernandez as they were both substituted off by Carl Robinson to begin the second half.
After not liking what he saw in the first half, Darren Mattocks, and Gershon Koffie entered the match and Vancouver switched to a 4-4-2 diamond formation. Mattocks and Hurtado were the two strikers with Pedro Morales at the top of the diamond and Matias Laba at the bottom. The second half subs could not awake the sleeping Whitecaps offense, and nothing Vancouver did formation wise, or substitution wise helped to steer the team towards the Colorado net.
In his first game back after his wife gave birth to a baby girl, Nigel Reo-Coker did not have his best showing in a Whitecaps kit. He was at fault for the Deshorn Brown penalty, and in the 54' he earned an unnecessary yellow card after clipping the leg of Vicente Sanchez. Reo-Coker looked very much like a player who would be better suited being with his wife and family in New York City as opposed to a football pitch in Commerce City, Colorado.
Colorado Rapids leading goal scorer Vicente Sanchez left the match in the 69' to a loud cheer from the home crowd. Pablo Mastroeni brought on 20 year-old 1st round 2014 MLS SuperDraft pick Marlon Hairston. The Caps made their third and final substitution one minute later as Mehdi Ballouchy made his Vancouver Whitecaps debut as he replaced Matias Laba.
Over the past two seasons, Ballouchy had been battling a string of ACL injuries and prior to this match he had not seen the pitch since August 3, 2013 when he was with the San Jose Earthquakes. The 31 year-old signed with he Whitecaps in December of 2013, and has been constantly working hard, and rehabbing in the hopes that his MLS comeback attempt could be completed. He was quite happy to be back playing the game he loves.
"Happy to be back. It’s been a long time out. Tough game though. I'm still disappointed we’ve lost and I’m looking forward to keep contributing. It’s unbelievable to be able to get in and be around a real soccer game."
Johnny Leveron fired the Whitecaps first shot on target in the 82'. Leveron's attempt came from the top of the Colorado box and Rapids keeper Clint Irwin had to be alert to make a diving save after being asleep for much of the match. The Whitecaps did not have anything else that was even close to hitting the Rapids net.
Going into the MLS World Cup break, Erik Hurtado and the high-flying Whitecaps were scoring goals like Manchester City, and Real Madrid. Fast forward to now and they've struggled just to get shots on target. Vancouver can't afford to go into another midseason slumber for the third consecutive season. The players, supporters, and Whitecaps FC organization will be hoping that Carl Robinson and his squad can prove that these pair of games are just a mild hiccup.
Man of the Match
David Ousted
The Whitecaps could have been in a much larger hole if not for David Ousted's first half performance. For the second match in a row, the Danish keeper was able to keep his team in the match when they looked sluggish, and completely all over the place. Ousted didn't get much help, but he was there when Colorado came out of the gate with a mountain of pressure, and offensive flare in the early stages 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
Vicente Sanchez was the best player on the pitch during his 69' minutes of action. He calmly converted his penalty kick to give Colorado a 2-0 lead, and moments later he almost scored an amazing bicycle kick goal. Sanchez did not look like a player returning from a knee injury. The veteran MLS striker caused havoc for the Whitecaps back line, and he was a big reason why Colorado picked up all three points against Vancouver. Dillion Powers affirmed how much of a boost Sanchez provides to the Rapids starting lineup.
"Vicente brings not just quality to the lineup but he brings a lot of confidence for everyone around him. He brings the whole team up. So stepping up for that penalty kick we knew he was going to score. It’s nice to have another guy that can unlock the game in there."
Vancouver Whitecaps Starting XI: David Ousted; Nigel Reo-Coker, Carlyle Mitchell, Johnny Leverón, Jordan Harvey; Matias Laba, Russell Teibert; Nicolas Mezquida, Pedro Morales(C), Sebastian Fernández; Erik Hurtado.
Montreal Impact Starting XI: Clint Irwin; Marvell Wynne, Drew Moor, Shane O'Neill, Chris Klute; Nick LaBrocca, Jared Watts, Dillon Powers, Kamani Hill; Deshorn Brown, Vicente Sanchez.
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