Seattle posts first win at B.C. Place
The second half was marked by whistles. Mostly from the home crowd.
There were groans, too, and even a smattering of boos after yet another misplaced pass from the Whitecaps. It was not their day at B.C. Place. It was a rare joyless afternoon and, what’s worse, it came against their biggest rival.
Chad Barrett scored five minutes in — and had two by half time — as the Seattle Sounders (6-3-1) reined in the Caps (6-4-2) atop the Western Conference.
It was road perfection from the Sounders, who were clinical on the counter-attack and happily packed numbers behind the ball once they were ahead.
“First goals change games,” said Caps’ coach Carl Robinson. “They’re a good team.”
Vancouver had a burst of life after the opening goal but never looked likely to score after the hour mark. Everything was a bit off.
Pedro Morales crossed one into the eighth row and picked an odd time to change boots — electric yellow to electric fuchsia — just before Barrett’s second goal.
Kekuta Manneh passed a few too many times to the visitors. Cristian Techera, so-so in his first start, spent as much time on the turf as on his feet.
Both fullbacks got forward in the second half but flubbed chances to pick out teammates in the box. Everyone looked frustrated in the second half.
Octavio Rivero, as usual, worked immensely hard up front, but he didn’t have enough support in this game.
“You’ve got to take them on the chin and move on,” said Robinson. “The good teams are able to bounce back.”
The Caps were 4-0-1 in their last five games against Seattle coming into Saturday’s Cascadia Cup clash and had never lost to the Sounders at B.C. Place. So much for that, and for stretching their early-season advantage to seven points.
Robinson had praise for Seattle, then said: “We’re not quite at that level yet.”