VANCOUVER, B.C - The high-flying, charter-plane riding, and dynamic offence that is Atlanta United FC visited B.C. Place to take on the Vancouver Whitecaps FC. Manager Tata Martino brought his exciting expansion side to Vancouver, but it was the offensive abilities of Vancouver that showed up. Kendall Waston's scored a brace to help give Whitecaps FC a 3-1 win over Atlanta United FC, in front 19,816 spectators.
"I'm very happy that I can help the team to win this game," said Waston. "The most important thing is that everybody worked very hard and we did a great job today."
Greg Garza opened the scoring early, but Kendall Waston answered back with a pair of first half goals. He scored first with his foot, and then with a clutch header. Fredy Montero converted off a rebound in the second half to make it 3-1.
Vancouver improves to 6-6-1 on the season, and Atlanta drops to 5-5-3.
Carl Robinson shared his thoughts on the match and his teams ability to bounce back.
"Well, the talk is right because we know they’ve spent a lot of money, but they are top players. You know, the front forward they had today, we knew he would cause us problems and I think you saw in the first 10 minutes we were a little bit disjointed, we gave away a silly goal, a good goal on their behalf. They caught us in the transition, we didn’t recover properly and the fullback taps the ball in at the back post. I thought, character wise, from the first goal we conceded, we responded very well. We kept ourselves calm, we didn’t get caught up. You know, it’s easy when you’re at home to play ‘gung-ho’ and if you do that against them, they pick you off because they are really excellent with the ball. I thought it may come down to set pieces and I was right."
This was without a doubt the top performance for Kendall Waston in a Whitecaps kit.
"I don’t know," said Waston. "I just go to the field and try to do my best. I think just to help the team, obviously if you play good you help the team. The most important thing here is that everybody thinks collectively. We know that if every individual does their job very good, the team is going to be affected in a positive way."
Tyrone Mears liked how Atlanta started the match. In the end defending on set pieces just wasn't there and it cost Atlanta three points on a cross continent trip.
"Yeah, we started really well," said Mears. "We actually worked a lot, watching the videos on Vancouver. We know they had the aerial dominance against us, over us, and it showed a lot today. Three set pieces, three goals for them, which is disappointing for us."
Atlanta's Julian Gressel added his MLS 5th point in three matches. The MLS rookie knows his team could have had a better outcome if they had done better in their own box.
"Disappointing I think," said Gressel on the match. "Obviously, not coming out here with at least a point, I think we deserved it. It's just tough to give up three goals, with how we gave them up. Set pieces, it was something we were aware of before the game. Unfortunately it really didn't come off in the game at all. It was a tough way to lose that game that way."
The Opening 45
It didn't take long for Atlanta to open the scoring in the 7' minute. Centre-back, Greg Garza was the recipient of a beautiful build up from the midfield. Yamil Asad found, Julian Gressel on the left-flank. The German international delivered a sublime back-door pass to Garza. David Ousted did his best to go across his net, but it was too late.
Vancouver was able to find an equalizer in the 31' minute. Just as it looked like Atlanta was going to break out on the counter. Andrew Jacobson nicked the ball away, and found an unmarked Kendall Waston. The Caps skipper, controlled the ball off his chest, and half-volleyed the ball off a bounce and past Atlanta United FC keeper, Alec Kann.
It was Kendall Waston's day as the Costa Rican international scored off a Vancouver corner just before halftime. Cristian Techera sent the ball into the area, and Waston leaped above everyone on the pitch to smash home a header. It was 2-1 Whitecaps.
Vancouver started off slow, but Kendall Waston was there to pick up his team before the interval. Atlanta held a 61% - 39% possession advantage, but not much to show for it.
The Second Half
Vancouver was the superior team, and Atlanta had trouble breaking down the Whitecaps aggressive counter-punch strategy. Vancouver was brilliant off of set pieces, and they added to their tally in the 67' minute off another great display.
Off the Christian Bolanos corner, Kendall Waston headed the ball towards an unmarked Tim Parker. The Long Island, native was able to head the ball on target. Alec Kann made a terrific diving save to stop Parker. The Atlanta defence was nowhere to be found, and Fredy Montero was available to roof the ball into the top of the net.
Atlanta had an opportunity to cut the deficit by a goal moments after Montero scored. Miguel Almiron had his shot deflect off a pair of Whitecaps before hitting the near post. Kendall Waston had a goal-line clearance moments later. He was doing everything!!
The Whitecaps turned the tables on high-powered Atlanta with a trio of unanswered goals. Carl Robinson and the Whitecaps will head into the international break on a positive note. Atlanta will travel to the midwest to take on the Chicago Fire.
Man of the Match
Kendall Waston
Waston had arguably his top performance in a Vancouver Whitecaps kit. He scored his first ever MLS goal via his foot. The 'Towering Tico' was a force defensively as well. He was clearing away crosses into the Vancouver box, and made a terrific goal-line clearance as Atlanta attempted a come back. Waston was a force at both ends of the pitch. The Caps captain was instrumental in every area of the match.
"There aren’t many players like Waston in the league," said Tata Martino. "Waston is a player that causes problems for a lot of teams, not just Atlanta."
Vancouver Whitecaps Starting XI: David Ousted; Jordan Harvey, Tim Parker, Kendall Waston(C), Sheanon Williams; Matias Laba; Christian Bolanos, 90 (Marcel de Jong), Tony Tchani, Andrew Jacobson, Cristian Techera, 76 (Alphonso Davies); Fredy Montero, 81 (Brek Shea). 4-1-4-1.
Atlanta United FC Starting XI: Alec Kann; Greg Garza, Leonardo Gonzalez-Pirez, Michael Parkhurst(C), Tyrone Mears; Carlos Carmona, Jeff Larentowicz, 67 (Kenwyne Jones); Yamil Asad, Miguel Almiron, Julian Gressel, Hector Villalba. 4-2-3-1
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