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Posted by
Harjeet Johal,
September 14, 2014 |
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@HarJournalist
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VANCOUVER, B.C - The Whitecaps hectic schedule and push to secure a MLS playoff spot continued in Frisco, Texas on Saturday night against FC Dallas. The Whitecaps had never won an away match against FC Dallas and that trend continued thanks to brace from Blas Perez that helped FC Dallas win 2-1 in front of 16,792 fans.
It wasn't entirely a poor night for the Whitecaps organization because they remained parked in the final MLS Western Conference playoff. The Portland Timbers had a chance to leap-frog the Whitecaps, but weren't able to defeat the Colorado Rapids. The match ended in a 2-2 draw which means Portland trail Vancouver by one point as both teams get set to face each other next weekend at Providence Park.
Blas Perez and FC Dallas scored in both halves. The first Perez marker was a brilliant strike from the far corner, and it stood up until Erik Hurtado came off the bench to equal the score at 1-1. The Whitecaps joy did not last long as a scramble in the box eluded Kendall Waston and David Ousted before falling to an unmarked Perez. Vancouver played well, but their inability to convert their scoring chances continued to hurt their ability to earn all three points on the road. The Whitecaps gaffer talked about the goal opening goal and his team’s first half performance after the match.
"He's (Blas Perez) out in the corner, Christian (Dean) has done a very good job, maybe could have stopped the cross, but what can you do? We got beat in here last year, I think, by a freak Jair Benitez goal. This time we get done by a goal, but I really didn't think we were in too much danger in the first half prior to that freak goal, as I call it, so it was disappointing."
David Ousted has been a contender for Whitecaps MVP this season along with Pedro Morales. The keeper won't be adding this match to his resume as he was caught out of position on both FC Dallas goals. To his credit, Ousted took responsibility for his performance post-match when he met with the media.
"The first one is a fluke. He (Perez) tried to hit a cross that swerves on me and goes in on a dime and button. With that, I could have moved my feet more and maybe gotten to that, but I think I reacted well afterwards, some good saves. The second goal is on my shoulders. I tried to come and help the guys, shouldn't have come out there. He (Perez) gets an easy tap-in. I'm disappointed with my performance today, I hold myself to a high standard and I didn't meet that today."
Carl Robinson made four changes to his team that defeated the San Jose Earthquakes 2-0 on Wednesday. Ethan Sampson, Christian Dean, Mehdi Ballouchy, and Darren Mattocks all earned a spot in the starting lineup. Andy O'Brien was left back in Vancouver to rest, and as a result Christian Dean made his first career MLS start. The Alvin, Texas native, was selected 3rd overall in the 2014 MLS SuperDraft. Sampson made his second career MLS start as Steven Beitashour was unable to shake off his nagging him injury prior to the match. Pedro Morales was rested and did not start, but he was brought on as a substitute in the second half. Carl Robinson went with his familiar 4-4-2 diamond formation with Matias Laba at the bottom, and Mauro Rosales feeding strikers Darren Mattocks and Sebastian Fernandez. Russell Teibert wore the captains armband.
The Opening 45
The Whitecaps carried the play in the opening twenty minutes as Mauro Rosales did a great job finding his teammates and distributing the ball. Unfortunately, Darren Mattocks did not have his head in the match and looked completely out of sorts. The Jamaican international had a brilliant chance to have a go on target, however he shot a harmless dribbling attempt that went nowhere near Raul Fernandez's net. Mattocks also looked poor with his first touch whenever Vancouver came close to threatening the opposition goal.
Vancouver's inability to challenge the FC Dallas goal came back to haunt them as they soon conceded a goal in the 21' minute thanks to a sublime wonder strike from Blas Perez. The Panamanian striker appeared to be completely covered near the left corner flag by Christian Dean. Perez fired a long curving kick that somehow eluded David Ousted and found a home in the far top corner. The talented Perez, seemingly scored out of nowhere and caught everyone off guard.
The Whitecaps had an opportunity to even the score on 27' minutes after Je-Vauhgn Watson fouled Sebastian Fernandez just outside the FC Dallas box. Vancouver pleaded for a penalty, but Ted Unkel wasn't biting. Mauro Rosales stepped up to take the free kick and forced Raul Fernandez to punch the ball away for a big save. Robinson and his players disagreed with the call and believe a penalty should have been called.
"I know the guys have said in the locker room that we should have received a penalty in the first half because he was blatantly in the box, and key moments to win games, change games. It was a good performance from the boys against a very good team."
David Ousted rebounded from his early blunder to make a spectacular diving and hand punching save off Victor Ulloa in the 33'. Fabian Castillo, Blas Perez and company continued to build confidence as they pushed forward to double their lead. Carl Robinson's side were mostly pinned in their own half for the final twenty minutes of the first forty-five. Dallas had the better chances and should have had a two-goal lead heading into halftime. FC Dallas had a 61% - 39% possession advantage and a trio of shots on target to the Whitecaps lone attempt from Mauro Rosales.
Canadian international and Whitecaps skipper Russell Teibert talked about the effort he and his teammates showed against FC Dallas and the positive attitude the players have inside the locker room.
"It's a good performance by the team, it was a good performance by Dallas, and we go down and then show a lot of fight to come back in the game. It's credit and testament to our team attitude and mentality and how we believe in each other. We gave up a set piece that I need to watch back to see what happened. Somehow Blas (Perez) gets in the right spot and the ball drops to him and it's 2-1."
The Second Half
Oscar Pareja made one substitution to his lineup before the second half kicked off. Jair Benitez came on for defender Moises Hernandez. Despite leading Pareja elected to make another substitute in the 53' as he brought on Argentine Mauro Diaz for Andreas Escobar. The tactical battle between both managers continued when Robinson subbed on leading goal scorer Pedro Morales for Mehdi Ballouchy in the 57'' minute.
FC Dallas was hoping to remain in front and pick up the tempo as they had grown complacent since the second half started. Vancouver needed an extra spark as they looked to find the equalizing goal. Morales assumed his no.10 role and Rosales moved over to the right side. The changes seemed to work for FC Dallas and not the visitors. FC Dallas had a tremendous chance to score in the 60' when Mauro Diaz stopped short and found a streaking Fabian Castillo. He turned Ethan Sampson inside out and only a charging David Ousted prevented Castillo from scoring a terrific goal.
Erik Hurtado entered the match for struggling Darren Mattocks on 62' minutes. Mattocks had done little to nothing since his early first half miss. Moments after coming on, Hurtado had his own chance to score. Sebastian Fernandez found him inside the FC Dallas box and unfortunately for Hurtado he skied his shot just over the FC Dallas crossbar. The former Santa Clara University player had a chance to score a few minutes later and he did exact;y that in the 68' minutes.
Mauro Rosales has been one of the most consistent Whitecaps player since coming over from Chivas USA for Nigel Reo Coker in August. Rosales had another great game with the Whitecaps and he setup Hurtado for the tying goal. Rosales and Hurtado were on the counter-attack and FC Dallas could not keep up with then. Rosales found the speedy Hurtado and he blasted his shot past Raul Fernandez. The keeper had no chance as Hurtado got every once of strength on his shot.
Vancouver were not able to remain level for the remainder of the match as David Ousted committed another blunder in the 78' that resulted in a Blas Perez goal. Perez has always haunted the Whitecaps so it was shocking to see him left unmarked in the Whitecaps box as the ball bounced around without being cleared. The Danish keeper was off his line as he came out to punch away the Michel free kick. However Ousted did not fully commit and thus the ball wasn't cleared. Perez slotted him the 2-1 goal as he made no mistake with the vacated Ousted out to lunch.
The Whitecaps final substitution had Kekuta Manneh come on for an exhausted Mauro Rosales on 80' minutes. The Whitecaps needed another equalizing goal and super sub Manneh was looked to be counted on to help provide that. However it was not meant to be as Vancouver failed to find another marker in Texas.
Man of the Match
Blas Perez
He scores when he wants and against the Vancouver Whitecaps, Blas Perez seems to do that with quite an easy effort. The 33 year-old is one of the best strikers in Major League Soccer and when he is on his game he is difficult to stop. The Whitecaps back-four did well to contain him for most of the match, but a player of Perez's quality only needs one or two chances to bury a goal and Perez did just that to help his team earn a crucial three points.
"It was a great week for me. I am especially happy for today’s result. We worked hard as a team. It was a great game and I am happy for it."
Honourable mention
Mauro Rosales was great for Vancouver. He moved over from the no.10 position when Morales came on and he continued to put in the work rate at both ends of the pitch. The Argentine playmaker has been brilliant since joining the Whitecaps he did all the working in setting up Erik Hurtado for the tying goal. With Morales and Rosales the Whitecaps have to fantastic playmakers with vision and creativity to open of the team’s offense. Rosales was a big reason why the Caps were able to pick up a point in a place that has never been a comfortable environment to play in.
Vancouver Whitecaps Starting XI: David Ousted; Ethan Sampson, Kendall Waston, Christian Dean, Jordan Harvey; Mauro Rosales, Mehdi Ballouchy, Matias Laba, Russell Teibert(C); Darren Mattocks, Sebastian Fernández. (4-4-2 Diamond)
FC Dallas Starting XI: Raul Fernandez; Moises Hernandez, Zach Loyd, Matt Hedges(C), Je-Vaughn Watson; Victor Ulloa, Michel, Fabian Castillo, Andreas Escobar; Tesho Akindele; Blas Perez. (4-4-1)
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