Whitecaps hope for encore from ex-Sounder Montero
VANCOUVER — Fredy Montero didn’t celebrate his two-goal performance — at least on the field — the last time he suited up against the Seattle Sounders.
The Whitecaps striker doesn’t plan on changing a thing when Vancouver plays host to his former club for a second time this season tonight.
Montero, who scored 47 times in 119 regular-season appearances for Seattle from 2009 to 2012, bagged two goals against the Sounders in Vancouver’s 2-1 victory back in April. But while his teammates mobbed him after each goal in the derby game against a bitter rival, the Colombian kept his emotions in check.
“It’s displaying loyalty,” Montero explained Tuesday after training. “It’s the way soccer players show respect.
“With the opportunity [Seattle] gave me to play there, I want to show respect.”
On loan to Vancouver from his club in China this season, the designated player has scored 10 times in Major League Soccer in 2017, including a coolly taken penalty in Saturday’s 2-1 home victory over the Houston Dynamo.
And while the soft-spoken Montero doesn’t show his cards very often, Whitecaps head coach Carl Robinson said it’s clear his star forward is amped up by another visit from the Sounders.
“He’s not stopped smiling the last few days,” said the Welshman. “You need your top players to perform in the big games. It’s certainly a big game.”
Montero and Yordy Reyna — an off-season addition who missed the first half of the year with a broken foot — have already developed good chemistry at the top of Vancouver’s formation in limited time together. An attacking midfielder Robinson has described as a “rash” because he’s all over the field, Reyna is helping to both drive the play and support Montero.
“Yordy’s making a huge impact in the team because he’s a player that is always asking for the ball,” said Montero, who also set up Reyna’s stunning goal from 20 yards out against Houston. “There is always a connection between him and me.
“We need to make sure he has the ball as many times as we can.”
Vancouver (10-9-4) occupies the sixth and final playoff spot in the crowded Western Conference with 34 points, one better than the San Jose Earthquakes. The Whitecaps also have at least two games in hand on four of the five teams above them in the table, including Seattle (11-7-7), which sits tied for first with Sporting Kansas City on 40 points.
Vancouver started a run of six out of seven games at home with Saturday’s victory over the Dynamo, who entered that match in a four-way deadlock for first in the West.