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Posted by
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March 25, 2018 |
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VANCOUVER, B.C. - Whitecaps FC returned to B.C. Place to take on an injury riddled LA Galaxy side. The home side struggled in the final third against the depleted Galaxy, and had to settle for a lacklustre nil-nil draw in front of a disappointed crowd of 22,120 fans.
Stefan Marinovic made one save to earn his first clean sheet of the season while David Bingham wasn't overly busy either making two saves to earn his first clean sheet of the campaign.
"I firmly believe we had enough chances, or enough ball in the final third," Whitecaps FC Coach Carl Robinson said after the match. "I don’t think our quality was nowhere near good enough. I think the wide players, we know they can be electric at times, I think they hit the first man too many times because they played three big centre backs. We weren’t getting across players, which you need to get across players to score. So we weren’t good enough in the final third. So you’ve just got to be very careful when you play a team that just sits in and tries to get you on the counter attack, which we do when we go away from home sometimes. The one chance they had, it could have bitten us on the bum. But it didn’t, thank god."
Vancouver improves to 2-1-1 on the season, and LA holds firm with a 1-1-1 record.
"I felt that it was a very good performance by the team," LA Galaxy Coach Sigi Schmid said post-match. "It was a shame that we couldn’t score on our chances. Everyone was playing well, the atmosphere was great. I’m thankful for the supporters. They were great from the first minute to the end. I know they were missing a lot of players, but I’m still happy with our performance, just disappointed that we could not score."
Moments of the Match
Neither side generated a high amount of scoring opportunities in the opening forty-five. LA was content with bunkering in behind the ball, and clearing any ensuing Vancouver crosses, corners, and free kicks into the area. LA's bend but not break defensive approach seemed to frustrate Vancouver throughout the half.
The Caps came close to opening the scoring in the 36' and 38' minute respectively. Effy Juarez played a long ball cross pitch that Cristian Techera ran down. The Bug sent a curling shot that just flew over the bar. Moments later, Yordy Reyna raced down the flank, only to have his shot on target turned aside by LA goalkeeper, David Bingham.
"Obviously, he’s a great player," Bingham said of Reyna. "When the ball comes over the top, you just want him to beat you. You don’t want to give him anything. And on the second touch, his head dropped so I tried to close as much ground as I could, and I was lucky enough to stay big and make the save."
Emmanuel Boateng almost came away with all three points for LA. The 24 year-old striker raced down a ball and out muscled Caps defender Jose Aja in the 57' minute. Boating was in on Marinovic, only to have his shot attempt let him down and go wide of the frame. The Galaxy's defensive approach didn't net them nearly enough on offence.
"Those are toughest type of games for a keeper, really the toughest," Marinovic said. "You’re doing nothing for 80 minutes, then all of a sudden, I had to do something. It was a one-v-one and all of a sudden, I have to get my angles right. Those are the toughest games for me to play in, for any keeper to play in."
Kei Kamara returned to the Vancouver lineup after missing the previous match with a groin strain. The Caps leading scorer was doing his best to break the dead-lock. Kamara had a trio of slick touches as he darted around Galaxy defenders looking to find space. Bingham came out of his net to stop Kamara who watched as his shot went just wide.
"Kei will have wanted to score a goal, no doubt," Robinson told the media. "I thought he did okay. He missed a chance in the last 10 minutes. But I think the team’s disappointed in there because it’s a home game, and we wanted to win a home game, and I think we probably did enough to win the home game, but we weren’t good enough. So you have to sometimes accept that, but there’s lots of positives there. The back four were really good. Stef (Marinovic) looked really solid, didn’t look in danger at all. So if you can’t score at one end, make sure you don’t concede."
LA didn't bring the glitz and glamour that they're known for trotting out each and every week, but they still earned a massive result. Vancouver had their chances, and they didn't take them. It's not a win for either side, but it feels like points dropped for a Vancouver team that should have capitalized vs an under-strengthened opponent.
Man of the Match
Alphonso Davies vibrant youthful energy was on display. The Caps prodigy showed off his speed with terrific burst down the flank. Davies caused matchup problems for the Galaxy, and created plenty of scoring opportunities for his teammates. Davies also shifted to left-back when Marcel De Jong left the match giving Carl Robinson another option from the back.
Vancouver Whitecaps FC Starting XI: Stefan Marinovic; Marcel De Jong 75 (Brek Shea), Aaron Maund, Jose Aja, Jake Nerwinski; Felipe; Alphonso Davies, Yordy Reyna, 85 (Anthony Blondell), Efrain Juarez(C), 75 (Jordon Mutch), Cristian Techera; Kei Kamara. 4-1-4-1
Los Angeles Galaxy Starting XI: David Bingham; Daniel Steres, Jorgen Skjelvik, Tomas Hilliard-Arce; Rolf Feltscher, Perry Kitchen, Sebastian Lletget(C), 81 (Baggio Husidic), Servando Carrasco, 90+3, (Joao Pedro), David Romney; Emmanuel Boateng, Ariel Lassiter, 65 (Chris Pontius). 3-5-2
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