VANCOUVER, B.C. - Whitecaps FC wanted to protect the house, but unfortunately they left the front door open as Bob Bradley's expansion side, Los Angeles FC scored a pair of second half goals to win 2-0 in front of a disappointed crowd of 22,120 spectators.
Carlos Vela and Diego Rossi each scored their fourth goals of the season Goalkeeper Tyler Miller, made two saves to earn his second clean-sheet of the season. Los Angeles FC improve to 3-2-0 on the season. After dropping two matches in a row, Vancouver Whitecaps FC see their record slip to 3-3-1 on the season.
"I won’t fault the effort of the players." Coach Carl Robinson said post-match. "I thought the work rate was there. We weren’t good enough on the day, and that’s my fault, that’s my responsibility. I maybe got the team wrong. We dealt with a couple of injury blows yesterday, and it seemed to affect us. But at times during the season, we’re going to have to ask players to step up. Today we did, but we were beaten by a better team. So you have to accept that.”
Match breakdown
As Whitecaps FC returned home they faced an interesting challenge, in terms of stepping on the pedal and running at the LAFC back-line. The Caps instead took a cautious approach and waited to attack on LAFC mistakes via the counter.
Los Angeles FC weren't interested in committing any turnovers, they were the team on the hunt for the opening goal. The best chance of the first half came in the 28' minute off a Benny Feilhaber free kick. The former Sporting Kansas City man found a streaking Walker Zimmerman who headed the ball off the Vancouver crossbar.
It was a first half with little, and next to nothing in terms of flare, offensive scoring chances, and champagne football. The match resembled the dreary whether outside B.C. Place. LAFC failed in the final third, while Vancouver couldn't muster any offence.
“It’s not ideal," Robinson said. "We’re going to go through periods this year where you don’t create a number of chances, and we’ve had them in two consecutive games. We’ve just got to go back to the drawing board and try and do it again. Whether it’s trying a different formation, whether it’s a tweak in personnel."
Designated players earn the big bucks because they deliver in the crunch. Carlos Vela has scored everywhere he has played, and that includes his new home. The Mexican international scored a worldie in the 59' minute. Marco Urena found Vela, who had all sorts of time and space to send a brilliant shot top corner to make it 1-0 Los Angeles FC.
“I think it was a big game for us." Carlos Vela said post-match. "We talked about this week, and how we had to change something. We did something wrong in the past. We talked about having to defend better. We have to be a team. Up front, we have the players, we had to take chances, and we did it. It was nice.”
Whitecaps FC's defensive posture took another hit in the 70' minute as LAFC capitalized on an error between Stefan Marinovic and captain Kendall Waston. The Caps keeper appeared to have the ball, until it was knocked out of his hands by Waston. In the confusion, Diego Rossi was in perfect position to smash the ball home to make it 2-0.
LAFC came into Vancouver and they stole all three points with masterclass quality from Vela, Rossi, and Urena. The visitors smashed and grabbed while Whitecaps FC struggled to create chances in the final third.
Man of the Match
Carlos Vela is a magician with the ball. Footballers like Vela don't need many chances to score goals, and they're often able to make something from nothing. Vela set the tone with his match opener and his presence provided confidence for LAFC.
"We worked hard to press, play easy." Vela said. "We played as a team. When you play on the road, you have to be a strong team, tough team. And we did it. It was a good win.”
Vancouver Whitecaps FC Starting XI: Stefan Marinovic; Marcel de Jong, 70 (Brek Shea) Kendall Waston(C), Jose Aja, Jake Nerwinski; Russell Teibert, 65 (Yordy Reyna); Alphonso Davies, Efrain Juarez, Felipe, Cristian Techera; Erik Hurtado, 78 (Nicolas Mezquida). 4-1-4-1
Los Angeles FC Starting XI: Tyler Miller; Laurent Ciman(C), Walker Zimmerman, Dejan Jakovic; Jordan Harvey, 86 (Eduard Atuesta) Marc-Anthony Kaye, Benny Feilhaber, Steven Beitashour; Carlos Vela, Marco Urena, 81 (Omar Gaber), Diego Rossi, 75 (Latif Blessing); 3-5-2
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