Rivero ignites Caps, douses Fire with late goal
BRIDGEVIEW, ILL. — It felt like one of those nights where the ball just wasn’t going to go in for the Whitecaps. Where have we seen that before? Oh, yeah, last weekend.
But four minutes from time, Octavio Rivero finally got it right on a perfect and poised setup from Steven Beitashour — and a bit of luck from a flubbed Fire clearance — and the story changed dramatically. Sure, there were wasted chances. Plenty. Pedro Morales missed two gifts in the first half. Kekuta Manneh could have had another hat trick. And Rivero couldn’t beat the diminutive Jon Busch.
Yet the Caps (1-1-0) left Chicago (0-2-0) with their first goal in three tries here, a little redemption after their loss to Toronto, and an all-important road win. Those aren’t easy to come by. They only had three of them all last season.
It also takes some pressure off their trip to Orlando City next weekend.
What helped Vancouver on Saturday was that Frank Yallop’s revamped Chicago team was in the mood to entertain after such a dour 2014 season. The Caps’ scoreless tie here last year was perhaps the most unwatchable MLS game of the season.
Instead, this one was wide open and fun and not something many coaches will use as a defensive instructional video. F
“In the second half the game opened up a bit too much for my liking,” said coach Carl Robinson, who got a lift from Nicolas Mezquida off the bench. “But I knew we had the players that could hurt them on the break.”
The fact it was Rivero who finally did the damage was fitting. He was the Caps’ best player. He does so many little things well.
“We had too many mistakes in the first game so it was important we got the win,” Rivero said through goalkeeper-interpreter Paolo Tornaghi.
This was the exact reason Robinson brought Rivero to Vancouver — to finish off games that hang in the balance. Even the ones they make harder than necessary.