VANCOUVER, B.C. - The road warriors Whitecaps FC took on Columbus Crew SC at Mapfre Stadium. The visitors were looking to end an impressive Crew SC four-match unbeaten streak, and that's exactly what they did. Thanks to an old Columbus favourite, Whitecaps FC were able to secure a 2-1 victory over Crew SC in front of sparse crowd of 8,992 fans.
On this day, Kei Kamara played hero and villain at the same time with his match-winner. Brek Shea tied the match, after Gyasi Zardes scored his 4th goal of the season, in the first half. Whitecaps FC improve to 3-1-1 on the season, while Columbus suffer their first loss dropping them to 3-1-1.
"You always get good calls, bad calls," Carl Robinson said after the match. "I thought the way we applied ourselves in the second half. They come up trumps, because they got their reward. They kept pushing, and pushing.
I don't think either team created too many clear-cut chances. I thought we were by far the better team in the second half, and we got our reward."
Moments of the Match
As expected, Kei Kamara wasn't getting any love from Crew SC supporters. Kamara was boo'd whenever he had the ball. The outspoken striker was looking to silence his critics, and he just about did in the 20' minute. Build up from Bernie Ibini, and Brek Shea helped setup the Caps leading scorer in front of goal, only to see his shot sky well over the bar to the delight of the crowd.
The Columbus Crew caught a lucky break in the 28' minute as Whitecaps FC goalkeeper, Stefan Marinovic offered up an easter egg of a blunder. Pedro Santos sent in a long ball from distance that the Caps keeper couldn't corral. Zardes was in the right place, at the right time to pounce on the juicy rebound to make it 1-0.
The Caps came out of the halftime break, and it didn't take them long to counter with a rebound goal of their own. Ibini broke down the flank, and sent a ball across goal, Steffan dove to knock the ball away. The ball went right to a wide open Brek Shea who smashed home his second goal of the season to make it 1-1 in the 52 minute.
Whitecaps FC appeared to take the lead in the 71' thanks to a brilliant run from second half substitute, Alphonso Davies. Kamara found the teenage phenom, and in full stride he raced past a pair of Columbus defenders, and rounded Steffen. Davies scored on an open net. Unfortunately, VAR quickly determined that the ball hit Davies arm when he received the pass from Kamara. The goal was disallowed, and it remained tied 1-1.
Vancouver was not deterred as they pressed forward in search of a match winner, and who else would be the perfect player to strike. Kei Kamara delivered a sublime header off a brilliant Felipe ball into the Columbus box. Kamara rose up and found the net to give his new club a 2-1 advantage with his 3rd goal of the campaign.
"A well taken goal from none other than Kei Kamara," said Carl Robinson.
Whitecaps FC turned up in the second half and answered back with two goals to take all three points. Columbus had no offensive rhythm, and quality in the second forty-five. Vancouver created scoring opportunities and they converted when it mattered.
Man of the Match
Kei Kamara doesn't need a lot of chance to score, and he showed just that. After missing an early opportunity to open the scoring in the first half, Kamara wasn't about to pass up another chance to score against the team that drafted him. When Vancouver traded for Kamara that's exactly the type of return on investment they were expecting. Kamara is a big game player, and he stepped up and delivered in Columbus.
Vancouver Whitecaps FC Starting XI: Stefan Marinovic; Marcel de Jong, Kendall Waston(C), Jose Aja, Jake Nerwinski; Russell Teibert, Felipe, Jordon Mutch, 73 (Aly Ghazal); Brek Shea, 84 (Cristian Techera) Kei Kamara, Bernie Ibini, 67 (Alphonso Davies). 4-3-3
Columbus Crew SC Starting XI: Zach Steffan; Hector Jimenez, 67 (Milton Valenzuela) Lalas Abubakar, Jonathan Mensah, 78 (Adam Jahn), Harrison Afful; Will Trapp, Artur; Cristian Martinez, 86 (Luis Argudo), Frederico Higuaín, Pedro Santos; Gyasi Zardes. 4-2-3-1
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