VANCOUVER, B.C - The Vancouver Whitecaps had an opportunity to turn their poor home record around with a date against the San Jose Earthquakes. Dominic's Kinnear's team has been on the wrong side of the playoff pictures in the western conference for much of the season. Carl Robinson was hoping a visit from the Quakes would be a tonic for the Caps at home. Mauro Rosales, Kendall Waston, and Octavio Rivero all scored as the Whitecaps won 3-1 in front of 20,298 fans.
Mauro Rosales was the straw that got things going for Vancouver. Rosales scored his first goal as a Vancouver Whitecaps player and also added an assist. This was the first time Rosales has had a goal and assist since May 11, 2013 also against the San Jose Earthquakes.
Chris Wondolowki was a surprise inclusion for San Jose. The leading scorer for the visitors played 60 minutes for Team USA at the Gold Cup third place match against Panama on Saturday afternoon. Wondolowski flew from Philadelphia and landed in Vancouver early on Sunday morning. Running on what must have been pure adrenaline, Wondo managed to play 70 minutes.
The Opening 45
The Whitecaps came out flying with energy and pace. The home side quickly pounced on San Jose with counter-attacks bursts that left San Jose a step behind. The early momentum from Vancouver resulted in a goal 5 minutes in. Kekuta Manneh lost the ball which went right towards Mauro Rosales. The Argentine midfielder calmly found his shot and put the ball behind David Bingham. For Rosales, this was his first goal with the Whitecaps since joining the team last August.
San Jose was forced to make an early substitution in the 13' minute. Veteran centre-back Clarence Goodson was forced to exit the match with an injury and 28 year-old Paulo Renato entered the match and looked to provide stability on the back-line.
"Finally, I did it. It’s a nice feeling. Most important thing was that we won today. Now we are in second place also so that is good for the club. We know that set pieces are very important for us. We have a lot of big players so we have to take more advantage of it.”
Kendall Waston
Vancouver and San Jose settled in and played at a more normal speed for the duration of the first half. Vancouver looked like the far better team and with more of a game plan they could actually execute. The Quakes had trouble shutting down the flanks and keeping possession of the ball. David Ousted was not tested and had little if not any work in the opening forty-five.
The Whitecaps were not content with a one goal lead. The Caps kept coming and San Jose could do little to stop them. Mauro Rosales was playing like an ageless wonder-kid. The midfielder magician delivered a beautiful corner into the San Jose box that found Kendall Waston. The Costa Rican centre-back out jumped Victor Bernandez and smashed home a headed goal.
The crowd erupted as Vancouver was well in control of the match. The Caps took a 2-0 lead into the interval and held a possession advantage of 56% - 44%. San Jose never looked dangerous in the attacking third and Vancouver was all systems go.
The Second Half
The Vancouver Whitecaps continued to apply pressure to the beleaguered back-four of the Earthquakes and mounted continuous offensive forays. Kekuta Manneh sent in Octavio Rivero as he looked to bump his scoring slump. Rivero sent his shot wide as the turf seemed to gobble up his latest scoring chance.
Vancouver kept coming and moments later earned a penalty in the 56' minute. Octavio Rivero was knocked over in the San Jose box by Paulo Renato. The Portuguese defender argued the decision to no avail with referee Edvin Jurisevic. It looked as if Nicolas Mezquida would step up and take the penalty, but it would be Rivero who converted with a solid shot past Bingham.
"Mauro Rosales was super surprised. I know he sets up a lot each year. His goal record isn’t probably what he would expect but it was nice for him to make a great finish. The second goal is a great set piece. It’s nice to finally do that. Octavio Rivero is a young player and I said to the guys on the bench, ‘Young players go through spells and confidence spurts.’ Nico was like an energizer bunny today, he wanted to take the penalty, and rightly so because he scores them every day in training. I wanted Octavio to get back on the trail again and that’s why it was an important penalty for him.”
Carl Robinson
Pedro Morales made his long-awaited return to the pitch as a substitution in the 68' minute. The Caps skipper had missed the previous 5-matches with a left calf tear. Morales only returned to full training with the team on Friday afternoon. The Whitecaps will look to bring along Morales slowly as he works to regain his full fitness and match form.
San Jose was simply no match for the Whitecaps as they did not belong on the same pitch with Vancouver. From start to finish it was a class display of football from the home side. The tandem of Wondolowski and Amarikwa did little to impress.
David Ousted's bid for his 8th clean sheet was not to be. Quincy Amarikwa add a goal for San Jose in the 90' minute after a beautiful setup from Shea Salinas. Amarikwa was left wide open to score his third goal since arriving over via trade from the Chicago Fire last month. It was too late for the Quakes, but an added touch for the San Jose striker.
"We can’t just say we should have won this game. Vancouver is a good team, LA is a good team, the Western Conference is stacked pretty high. We didn’t start off the game particularly well and we were punished for it. We worked hard to get back into the game but, it was too little, too late. Right now, we are playing well, but the results are going against us. We have to go back to basic stuff and just talk about it, look at our mistakes and go back to working hard.”
Dominic Kinnear
Vancouver deserved to pick up all three points at home for the first time since Saturday, May 30 vs Real Salt Lake. A 2-1 victory on that day before the Whitecaps embarked on an epic road trip during the Women's World Cup. If Vancouver can continue to play as well as they did at home vs San Jose, BC Place will become a fortress and a tough place to play.
Man of the Match
Mauro Rosales
Rosales has been playing tremendous football in the absence of Pedro Morales. The Argentine play-maker has seemingly turned back the clock and shown his still has a little bit of gas left in his 34 year-old legs. Mauro Rosales has created chance after chances for his teammates, but today was the day he was able to score one for himself. Rosales had not found the back of the net since October 9, 2013 during a 4-1 victory over Vancouver, when he was with Seattle. Rosales has been a key contributor, leader, and a voice of reason for the younger players on the team. He delivered with the match winning goal and also setup Kendall Waston. Rosales is like a fine bottle of wine, keeps getting better with age and we saw that against the San Jose Earthquakes. If Rosales can stay healthy he will provide more depth for the Caps down the stretch drivees.
They Said What?
Carl Robinson
Mauro Rosales was super surprised. I know he sets up a lot each year. His goal record isn’t probably what he would expect but it was nice for him to make a great finish. The second goal is a great set piece. It’s nice to finally do that. Octavio Rivero is a young player and I said to the guys on the bench, ‘Young players go through spells and confidence spurts.’ Nico was like an energizer bunny today, he wanted to take the penalty, and rightly so because he scores them every day in training. I wanted Octavio to get back on the trail again and that’s why it was an important penalty for him.”
Kendall Waston
"Finally, I did it. It’s a nice feeling. Most important thing was that we won today. Now we are in second place also so that is good for the club. We know that set pieces are very important for us. We have a lot of big players so we have to take more advantage of it.”
Dominic Kinnear
"We can’t just say we should have won this game. Vancouver is a good team, LA is a good team, the Western Conference is stacked pretty high. We didn’t start off the game particularly well and we were punished for it. We worked hard to get back into the game but, it was too little, too late. Right now, we are playing well, but the results are going against us. We have to go back to basic stuff and just talk about it, look at our mistakes and go back to working hard.”
Chris Wondolowski
“I wanted to get with the guys. I wanted to move on and it’s always kind of rejuvenating to get back with the group. I felt pretty good, a little tired but felt good. Obviously, it’s a little frustrating more than anything. I was up on the East Coast at 3:30 a.m.”
Vancouver Whitecaps Starting XI: David Ousted(C); Steven Beitashour, Kendall Waston, Pa-Modou Kah, Christian Dean; Matias Laba, Gershon Koffie (Russell Teibert 63); Mauro Rosales (Erik Hurtado 70), Nicolas Mezquida (Pedro Morales 68), Kekuta Manneh; Octavio Rivero. (4-2-3-1)
Sporting Kansas City Starting XI:David Bingham; Marvell Wynne (Tommy Thompson 84), Victor Bernardez, Clarence Goodson (Paulo Renato 13), Jordan Stewart, Matias Perez Garcia, Fatai Alashe, Cordell Cato; Chris Wondolowski(C) (Marc Pelosi 70) , Shea Salinas, Quincy Amarikwa. (4-1-4-1)
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