VANCOUVER, B.C - The Vancouver Whitecaps and Portland Timbers kicked off from Providence Park in the first of a two-leg MLS western conference semi-final playoff matchup. Portland knocked off Sporting Kansas City 7-6 on penalties in a back and forth elimination match on Thursday night. Caleb Porter and his Timbers had all of the momentum playing against the no.2 seeded Vancouver Whitecaps. Carl Robinson and the Whitecaps looked like the tired side and managed to hold the Timbers to a 0-0 draw in front of 21,144 spectators. Vancouver will look for a result in the return leg on Sunday, November 8 at BC Place.
Following the match Carl Robinson was asked if he was happy with his team's performance and draw.
"We came into the game with a game plan. We knew what we wanted to do. I think we executed it perfectly. In the first half I thought we were very, very good up until the final third. We missed our chances. I think we should have been ahead in the first half. In the second half, as expected, they’re going to change slightly. They came out and were probably the more aggressive team. Obviously we rode our luck in the last-minute, but I think we deserve it."
With the away goals rule at play. All it would take is a Portland 1-1, 2-2, 3-3 and so forth draw to see Portland through to the conference finals. Vancouver must win. If nobody scores through 120 minutes next Sunday, penalty kicks are on the table. Who has the advantage as both teams head back up Interstate-5 to British Columbia. Carl Robinson shared his thoughts on that.
"I just think it’s just one game of football. It’s come down to final ends again. We talked about final ends today in the game whether we went ahead in the first half then they (get) it at the end. It’s which players perform on the day. (These are) two good teams. I said in that in the build up to the game. I’ll rely on my players turning out and Caleb will rely on his players turning up. It should be an exciting game."
The Vancouver centre-back duo of Kendall Waston and Tim Parker earned praise from Robinson. The Welsh gaffer was pleased with how they were able to stop the strong and aggressive attack from the Timbers as the game progressed and possession play favoured the Timbers in the second half.
“Again, I think the word is monster again. Him and Tim Parker had their hands full, we know that. Maxi (Urruti) comes on with his little movements and things like that. The back six of the team were fantastic today. As I said, you get your reward in this game if you put the work in and we certainly put a lot of work in today. We got our award in the first leg but we’re at halftime. There’s a lot to play for and it should set up nicely for next week.”
The Opening 45
The Whitecaps went with the same lineup that defeated the Houston Dynamo 3-0 on MLS decision day. Gershon Koffie started in a surprising no.10 role. Mauro Rosales and Pedro Morales both started on the bench. Caleb Porter was forced into making a shocking change to his lineup as no.1 goalkeeper and penalty kick hero Adam Kwarsasey missed the match with the flu. Goalkeeper Jake Gleeson was called on to stop the Whitecaps in his first MLS start since April 17, 2011.
Vancouver did not test Gleeson enough and let him off the hook in crucial stages of the match. The New Zealand international described how he learned that he would get the start against Vancouver.
"I got a text this morning from Adin (Brown) just saying Adam (Kwarasey) isn’t feeling the best, so just be ready. As a backup, you always have to be ready, you don’t know when you’re going to go in. Just look at (Jon) Kempin the other night. So when I was walking in, Adam gave me a call and said ‘I’m heading home. I’m not feeling well.’ He was really sick. That’s when I really, officially found out I was playing, so it was a pretty exciting morning.”
Lucas Melano had an early chance for Portland as the Whitecaps back-four switched off momentarily and allowed a dangerous pass from Rodney Wallace inside the Vancouver box. Melano was able to get a weak shot off that David Ousted had no problem saving. At the other end of the pitch, Gershon Koffie had a glorious opportunity to put Vancouver ahead. Octavio Rivero found Koffie unmarked in the Timbers box and the Ghanaian midfielder sent a half shot, half pass, harmlessly wide of the target.
The opening half was a tight midfield battle with neither side wanting to give up anything dangerous to the opposition. The pace was there, the challenges were hard, and referee Allen Chapman kept his pocket-book hidden away for the most part.
Octavio Rivero looked to be frustrated as Alavas Powell and the Timbers defenders gave him zero time and space. Kendall Waston was doing his best to locked down the Timbers leading scorer Fanendo Adi with some extremely tight man marking.
Rivero had terrific chance to pick the top corner in the 38' and really test goalkeeper Jake Gleeson. Gershon Koffie setup Rivero in front of goal and the Whitecaps striker sent his shot massively wide of the net. Rivero hit the deck in his own frustration as he probably knew that he should have done better.
A couple of yellow cards closed out the first half. Lucas Melano, and Gershon Koffie were both carded for clipping the heals of their respective opponents. Portland had a massive possession advantage of 60% - 40% as the match awaited a goal.
The Second Half
Four Portland Timbers players entered the match already on a yellow card. Another card would mean a suspension ban due to acculturation for the return leg on November 8. Rodney Wallace was lucky to escape without a booking after clearly tripping up Kekuta Manneh in the 51'. Carl Robinson wanted to see a card given, but it was not forthcoming.
Despite playing three days early the Portland Timbers looked to be the side with more energy and jump in the early stages of the second half and that helped to create threatening scoring chances. Alvas Powell sent in a cross that caused havoc in the Whitecaps box. Tim Parker waited for David Ousted to claim the ball and he wasn't able to. With Ousted out of his net and the ball sitting idle in front of goal. Kendall Waston cleared the ball just as Diego Valeri was ready to smash it into the vacated net.
The home side kept applying pressure on the Whitecaps in search for a crucial goal to take back to Vancouver. The Timbers had corners, free kicks, and headed attempts on target, but could not find away to beat David Ousted. The best chance for Portland came off a Diego Valeri free kick in the 72'. Valeri had his shot labeled for the top left corner. David Ousted dove and made a fantastic save to keep Vancouver in the match. Despite not earning a result, Valeri was happy with how Portland played.
“We are happy with the performance but obviously not happy with the result. We deserved more, but it is what it is. We had some chances in the second half to score and we didn’t. But we’re in a good position. I think we were the better team on the field today, even if we played 120 minutes on Thursday. I’m happy with the performance. I think the team played really well.”
Carl Robinson needed to flip the script and bring more offensive opportunities for his own side to score a goal. Pedro Morales was brought into the game for his first appearance since October 3. Morales had been dealing with a trio of nagging injuries over the last month. Morales helped Vancouver hold more possession as the Whitecaps back-line remained under siege in front of Ousted. The Chilean skipper was a much-needed fresh face on the pitch and was thrilled to be able to suit up for the Caps.
“I feel very happy. I have been waiting for this moment for maybe two months and not playing too much. Today I played 50 minutes and I feel OK. It’s a great result to come back home at BC Place. We have a big chance in the house now. (We) just (need to) keep the same work in the week and just prepare for the big game next week.”
Portland almost found a goal at the death as second half substitute Maximiliano Urruti hammered the ball off the far post. Whitecaps players had their hands in the air as they looked for an offside flag. None came, and the post managed to save the Whitecaps just before stoppage time. Portland gave everything they had, but could not muster a goal at home vs Vancouver.
Kendall Waston was in prime position to see Urruti strike the post. The big Costa Rican defender breathed a sigh of relief and talked about how close Portland and what Vancouver needs to do better going forward in the return leg.
“For sure. Nobody wants to let their team score. All those things count and I think today we had a good performance. We want to do things correctly and Portland was at home with their crowd and I think they had a great game as well.”
Man of the Match
David Ousted
Without a doubt Ousted was the best player on the pitch against the Portland Timbers. The Danish shot stopper kept the Whitecaps in the match time and time again. With scoring being such a difficult task for Vancouver, Ousted had zero margin for error. He was on his top game and earned his MLS leading 14th clean sheet. Ousted came away with 3 saves, and was vital to his team holding Portland to a nil-nil draw. Ousted has been the top MLS keeper all season long and he proved his worth in leaps and bounds in a crucial semi-final Cascadian playoff battle with the green clad Portland Timbers.
Ousted would have loved to see Vancouver come away with an away goal. That wasn't to be and now his and his teammates will shift focus to bringing everything they can offer next Sunday at BC Place as the winner advances and the loser goes home.
“I thought we did well. I thought it was a professional showing of what we needed to do, be defensively sound and make sure they didn’t get that goal so we needed to chase. I thought we did well. Obviously we would have loved to get that away goal but it wasn’t to be today. Now we go back to BC Place and try and win it.”
Vancouver Whitecaps Starting XI: David Ousted(C); Steven Beitashour, Kendall Waston, Tim Parker, Jordan Harvey; Matias Laba, Russell Teibert; Cristian Techera, Gershon Koffie (Mauro Rosales 63), Kekuta Manneh (Pedro Morales 77); Octavio Rivero (Darren Mattocks 87). 4-2-3-1
Portland Timbesr Starting XI: Jake Gleeson, Alvas Powell, Nat Borchers, Liam Ridgewell(C), Jorge Villafana; Jack Jewsbury, Diego Valeri, Darlington Nagbe; Lucas Melano (Dairon Asprilla 61), Fanendo Adi (Maximiliano Urruti 71), Rodney Wallace. 4-3-3
Notes: The Vancouver Whitecaps have opened the entire lower bowl section for the November 8th match. Seating capacity will expand from 21,000 to 27,500 as Vancouver looks to add an extra home pitch advantage in their first ever home playoff match.
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