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Posted by
Harjeet Johal,
October 7, 2017 |
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@HarJournalist
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VANCOUVER, B.C - Vancouver Whitecaps FC visited Harrison, New Jersey to take on the New York Red Bulls with both teams looking for October momentum with the playoffs right around the corner. The Red Bulls came to play and they picked up a thunderous 3-0 win over Vancouver, in front of 25,219 spectators at Red Bull Arena.
New York improves to 13-12-7 this season. The Red Bulls win locks up the final MLS eastern conference playoff spot, thus eliminating Montreal, New England, Orlando, and Philadelphia from the MLS playoffs.
Daniel Royer opened the scoring in the first half. Bradley Wright-Phillips, and Felipe scored in the second half. Sascha Kljestan earned his MLS leading 16th, and 17th assists, and Tyler Adams also had a pair of assists. Luis Robles made 1 save to pick up his 9th clean sheet.
"Yeah, it was disappointing, said Manager Carl Robinson. "We knew it was going to be a difficult game. We didn't have enough energy, we weren't sharp enough from the first whistle. We gave three bad goals away. We aren't a team that's good enough to just show up."
Vancouver drops to 15-11-6 on the season as they fall short of obtaining at least a home MLS playoff match. Whitecaps FC will take on San Jose on Sunday, October 15th in the final match of the season at B.C. Place. A home playoff date will be on the line, again.
"No excuse, we were beaten by the better team today," said Robinson.
The Opening 45
The international break brought an intriguing starting eleven from Carl Robinson. With Kendall Waston, Christian Bolanos, Yordy Reyna, and Stefan Marinovic all unavailable Vancouver elected to start in a 3-5-2 formation with Marcel de Jong, Tim Parker, and Aaron Maund at the back, and Erik Hurtado, and Fredy Montero up top.
New York opened the scoring in the 33' minute after a slick counter-attack following a rare Vancouver attack. Skipper, Sascha Kljestan sent Daniel Royer through into the Vancouver box. The Austrian international chipped his shot over a falling David Ousted for his 12th MLS goal of the campaign.
Vancouver did not hit the target in the opening forty-five, while New York carried the play and dominated possession at times with a 59% - 41% margin. The lone occasion when Whitecaps FC did get forward, it came back to bite them in the backside.
The Second Half
Carl Robinson switched up his formation to a 4-4-1-1 before the second half kicked off. Alphonso Davies moved behind to support Montero, and Hurtado moved to the righ flank.
The tactical switch did not prove to be the tonic for the Whitecaps FC offence. New York was in a goal-scoring state of mind, and they doubled their lead in the 58' minute.
Tyler Adams sent a beautiful long ball across the pitch to a streaking Bradley Wright-Phillips. He out raced Long Island native, Tim Parker and broke in 1v1 against Ousted. The 32 year-old striker chipped the ball over the top of the Caps keeper for his 17th goal and a 2-0 advantage.
New York Red Bulls quickly added a third tally in the 72' minute after some lapse defensive work from Vancouver. Sascha Kljestan found Felipe outside of the Whitecaps FC box and he blasted a rocket top corner past Ousted to put New York ahead 3-0.
The Red Bulls needed a win to secure the last playoff spot in the eastern conference and they played with playoff hunger. Vancouver lacked organization, and offered nothing going forward in front of goal. New York was switched on from the first whistle and they had no problems taking all three points from Whitecaps FC.
Man of the Match
Sascha Kljestan played the role of playmaker and he did the trick setting up a pair of New York Red Bulls goals. Whitecaps FC never really had a settled defensive front, and Kljestan picked the Caps apart with his terrific vision, and his creativity.
Vancouver Whitecaps FC Starting XI: David Ousted; Marcel de Jong, 55 (Nicolas Mezquida), Tim Parker(C), Aaron Maund; Jordan Harvey, Alphonso Davies, 65 (Brek Shea), Aly Ghazal, Tony Tchani, Jake Nerwinski; Erik Hurtado, 65 (Bernie Ibini), Fredy Montero. 3-5-2
New York Red Bulls Starting XI: Luis Robles; Damien Perrinelle, Aaron Long, Kemar Lawrence; Connor Lade, Felipe, Tyler Adams; Daniel Royer, 69 (Gonzalo Veron), Sascha Kljestan(C), Sean Davies 59 (Alex Muyl); Bradley Wright Phillips, 80 (Vincent Bezecourt). 3-3-3-1
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