The Vancouver Whitecaps made out like they’d been gutted by last week’s 1-nil loss at StubHub Center in Los Angeles, but let’s face it: after snatching a tie from the jaws of defeat this weekend, they were lucky to get a single point out of the possible six. A home-and-home against the most successful team in MLS history, still stacked with names like Landon Donovan and Robbie Keane, is a good recipe for an oh-fer.
Storylines begged for moral victories: case in point, the Caps managed to keep Donovan off the scoresheet for two consecutive weeks, and by doing so avoided having David Ousted’s name go down in infamy as the keeper who allowed the 135th and thus record-breaking goal of the diminutive star’s storied MLS career. Largely thanks to the defensive work of Russell Tiebert in LA and Matías Laba in Vancouver, Donovan was rendered inert; the little man had a few shots from distance, but never really threatened Ousted directly.
Also in the plus column: stretches of play in the Galaxy half of the pitch. The Caps were unlucky to score when a Pedro Morales shot ricocheted toward the far corner in the first half; Jaime Penedo made a wonderful reaction save that has rightly been tapped as an MLS Save of the Week nominee. But it was the second half, with subs Kekuta Manneh and Erik Hurtado, that saw extended forays goalward for the (mostly) young Caps squad.
Sadly, with their focus on Landovan, the blue & white were not able to shut Keane down — including the winner in LA and another at BC Place this past Saturday, the Irish forward now has goals in four straight games and “is partially made of magnesium.” (It says so on Wikipedia, so it must be true.)
Some surprises in this one: okay, the flurry of weird calls in the middle of the pitch was perhaps not shocking — to quote the ever-eloquent Chris Withers, “[head referee] Silviu Petrescu is, without exception, fucking terrible.” Andy O’Brien received a yellow card in the first minute for a decidedly cleats-down, ball-first sliding tackle on Keane in the midfield, and avoided physical conflict for the remainder of the half.
The surprise was Coach Carl Robinson subbing O’Brien off at the half. Anyone who saw #3 bolt upstairs to the press box — well, okay, he didn’t rush upstairs, exactly, but he bolted to and from the elevator — could tell the big man wasn’t happy about missing the second half. Robinson arrived late to the post-game presser, frankly admitting he’d spent the extra time speaking with O’Brien to explain his reasoning.
“I didn’t want him to be sent off, so I took him out of the match early,” said Robinson when asked about the move. “Last time [against Colorado], with Laba on yellow, I left him in. He wound up getting sent off and it cost us the game. I didn’t want to make that mistake again, so I took Andy out.”
It was a tough call to make, as the Galaxy had two players at 6’5″ on the pitch by the end of the match. “We don’t have a Rob Friend to throw out there,” said Robinson of his team. O’Brien is the only regular who comes close to that kind of height, at 6’3″. Johnny Leveron, who came on at the break for Ol’ Andy, gives a full six inches and forty pounds to Mr Friend. “We’re not going to win every ball in the air against guys like that.” Indeed. It was exactly that situation hat saw Friend flick the ball on to Keane at the lip of the six-yard box for LA’s second goal.
At the other end of the pitch: I wasn’t the only one raising my eyebrow at the play of Erik Hurtado, whose addition in the 65th minute sparked the offense like only a platinum mohawk can. The entire stadium, expecting his notoriously bad first touch, were pleasantly surprised by a pair of deft plays — one led to a shot attempt inside the 18 yard box, and the other a flick to Mattocks for the first Whitecaps goal. Neither of these plays would have materialized with the lead shoes Hurtado wore last season.
Also surprising was David Ousted getting his 20th straight start in the Caps net. His wife had given birth to twins the day before, so many people had expected Paolo Tornaghi to get his first Whitecaps action. It was the blonde Dane, however, who was called upon to stifle the Galaxy.
For all the bluster about the MLS record and his history of scoring against Vancouver, Donovan was for the most part invisible on Saturday. He will certainly score that goal #135, and you have to assume he’ll do it soon. But for the moment it’s Keane doing all the damage for LA.
As for Vancouver, Manneh’s strike has been nominated for MLS Goal of the Week:
Highlights from the match: