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Chivas USA 2 – 1 Vancouver Whitecaps
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The Prelude to Battle
While the Whitecaps were looking to bounce back from a disappointing defeat to the Houston Dynamo, Chivas were on the rise, staying undefeated in three straight matches. Many people wrote them off against the Caps going into this match, mainly because of past results between the two sides. The Whitecaps were yet to lose in their two-season MLS existence and they were looking to keep that record going this time around.
Whitecaps skipper Kenny Miller finally returned from international duty with Scotland prior to the match. He was very much missed in the Caps defeat to the Dynamo in the previous week. Martin Rennie and the fans hoped this would be the key to get the Whitecaps back to their winning ways. With a win, the Caps could jump out into second place in the Western Conference, only slightly trailing behind FC Dallas in first.
The First Half
The Whitecaps started with a 4-3-3 formation and surprisingly, with no Kenny Miller in the starting eleven. The Goats fielded a very attacking starting eleven in a 3-1-4-2 set up.
Early on, in the 11th minute, Chivas took the lead with a goal from Carlos Alvarez. He took the ball in down the left side of the 18 yard box, cut in and fired away. To his luck, the ball took a hefty deflection off of Whitecaps midfielder Jun Marques Davidson's shoulder. This caught Joe Cannon completely wrong-footed and the ball skipped into the net as the Caps' keeper was unable to react quick enough to reach it.
The Rojiblancos continued to press following this goal and the Whitecaps were forced to be stuck in their own side of half for a lot of the first 45. Although, in the 23rd minute, the Caps had an absolutely golden chance to score. Alain Rochat took a low, skipping strike from distance which Dan Kennedy parried but still left a juicy rebound about six yards out. Daigo Kobayashi was first to the ball but was unable to get his foot over the bouncing ball and skied it. That was easily, the best scoring opportunity of the half for the Whitecaps.
The Second Half
Only 10 minutes after the ref blew to start the second half, Chivas doubled their lead. After some shotty defending and marking in the box, Eric Avila scored via a full volley off of a cross from outside the box. Avila for some reason was left unmarked at the back post. This goal was the spark the Caps needed to try and make up the deficit.
Shortly after Chivas' 2-0 goal, the Whitecaps got one back in the 63rd minute from who other than Kenny Miller. Rookie Erik Hurtado came streaking in with the ball and fired a shot which Dan Kennedy pushed aside, right to the gracious head of Miller. It was a very smart play from the Scotsman as he realized he had to put some power behind the header in order for Kennedy not to save it.
The Whitecaps continued to press after this goal, determined to tie the match up at two. Some notable chances came from Darren Mattocks and especially from Kekuta Manneh when he was sent in on a break away. His first touch let him down and he was unable to get a decent shot away, without a doubt the best opportunity of the game.
The match finished with a score of 2-1 in favour of Chivas.
The Final Word: Whitecaps struggle with finishing and defending set pieces
The number one issue in this match for the Whitecaps was defending against crosses and set-pieces. It was a problem against the Dynamo last week and it carried over into this match. That is definitely something that needs to be worked on profusely in training or it will continue to occur in games. Another problem still lingering is definitely finishing. Kobayashi, Mattocks and Manneh all had perfect chances to score and they failed to do so.
When you add all these problems together, it equals all these poor performances for the last two matches. If the Whitecaps want to reach the heights they desire to be at, then they must realize what the problems are, and fix them right away.
So far, none of these big issues which are causing them to lose have been fixed.
Vancouver Whitecaps Lineup
1.Joe Cannon
12.Young-Pyo Lee
40.Andy O'Brien
3.Brad Rusin
4.Alain Rochat
13.Nigel Reo-Coker
27.Jun Marques Davidson (23.Kekuta Manneh 80')
28.Gershon Koffie (9.Kenny Miller, 58')
14.Daigo Kobayashi
11.Darren Mattocks
7.Camilo Sanvezzo (19.Erik Hurtado 57')
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