Techera’s free kick salvages tie for Caps
Cristian Techera scored on a beautiful free kick in the 74th minute as the Vancouver Whitecaps fought back to draw FC Dallas 1-1 on Saturday night.
Maximiliano Urruti scored for Dallas (6-3-6), which remains four points up on Vancouver (6-6-2) in Major League Soccer’s Western Conference standings.
With his team trailing and struggling to create chances, Techera curled a left-footed shot over the wall and past Dallas goalkeeper Jesse Gonzalez from roughly 30 yards out for the pint-sized Uruguayan’s fourth of the season.
After a forgettable first half for both teams, Urruti stole the ball from fellow Argentine Matias Laba in midfield and went the other way before slotting home his eighth goal in the 52nd minute past a defender and beyond a diving David Ousted.
The Whitecaps brought on 16-year-old phenom Alphonso Davies, who made his debut for Canada in a friendly this week, with half an hour to go in hopes of sparking something, and his galloping runs seemed to spark Vancouver.
The match brought an end to a roller-coaster week for the Whitecaps that began with positive headlines before two alleged off-field incidents involving police came to light. The Whitecaps were coming off a two-week break following a busy stretch that saw them play five games in 15 days in all competitions, but were without two key pieces — apart from Sheanon Williams — after defender Kendall Waston (hip) and midfielder Christian Bolanos (shoulder) were injured while away on international duty with Costa Rica.
Rookie right back Jake Nerwinski made his third MLS start, and first since April, in place of Williams, while Andrew Jacobson slid back from midfield to take up Waston’s spot alongside Tim Parker in the heart of defence.
Vancouver head coach Carl Robinson stayed with his 4-1-4-1 formation despite the changes, with Brek Shea getting his second league start of the year after making five straight appearances off the bench since coming back from a knee injury.
Shea and his wife, Carling, welcomed their second child, a boy named Zepplin, into the world just over two hours before kickoff.
Dallas made 10 changes from its mid-week game in the domestic U.S. Open Cup, with Canadian international Tesho Akindele starting up top alongside Urruti.
The visitors’ defence also had a glaring absence with Walker Zimmerman out with a knee strain.
Notes: Next up for Dallas is a game at the Houston Dynamo on Friday, while Vancouver visits Minnesota United for the clubs’ first-ever meeting next Saturday ... Whitecaps striker Bernie Ibini, acquired from a Belgian club last month, made his first appearance for Vancouver.