Even in brown they bend, don’t break
Despite losing Mattocks via red card, new- look Vancouver finds way to roll past Rapids
If winning is contagious, the Vancouver Whitecaps have been infected. How long this lasts is another question.
The local Major League Soccer side is back training today, two days removed from a 1- 0 win over the Colorado Rapids, in which the Whitecaps forced themselves to earn three points the hard way.
The Whitecaps have won their last two regular- season games at home and can, with a win Wednesday against the visiting New York Red Bulls — the fourth seed in the Eastern Conference, but minus star striker and world renowned Thierry Henry — finish the home stand with a perfect record.
Adversity faced the Whitecaps at almost every turn Saturday.
A sluggish start that saw them conjure two attempts on goal in the opening 45 minutes, two yellow cards and subsequent ejection within one minute in the second half to rising star Darren Mattocks, and a frantic push from the Rapids that saw the visitors hit a goalpost and crossbar in the final 10 minutes of the match once Sebastien Le Toux gave Vancouver the lead.
A year ago, all that might have meant the Whitecaps, as a team, would fold to the point of defeat.
Captain Jay DeMerit conceded as much in his post- game media scrum following the win over Colorado that lifted the Whitecaps into third in the Western Conference.
But, as he immediately pointed out, this isn’t 2011, when the Whitecaps had just six wins all season. This is 2012, and the Whitecaps enter the week with a 7- 3- 4 record.
“I think we all need to stop talking about last year,” said DeMerit. “What we’ve decided this year is that we want to try and put last year behind us. I think it’s games like this that prove that.
“For us it’s just about trying to move forward and making sure that these things continue.”
It’s the little things that allowed the Whitecaps to triumph over the weekend.
With Mattocks ejected and the Whitecaps down to 10 men, Le Toux was finally able to convert for his fourth of the season.
The highlight- reel goal, coming in the 80th minute, brought the crowd of 19,166 to its feet.
But the play that everyone was talking about afterward was the block from Vancouver’s centre back Martin Bonjour, who threw his body fearlessly into an Edu shot attempt during a mad scramble inside the Whitecaps’ box.
The unheralded Bonjour denied what would have been the tying goal.
Instead, the Whitecaps awoke Sunday one point ahead of the Seattle Sounders FC.
“The key moment that maybe people missed as well, is Bonjour throws himself in front of a ball right in front of goal, puts his body on the line,” said Whitecaps head coach Martin Rennie.
“That’s the kind of thing we’ve been talking to the players about, how … you get pain from that but it doesn’t hurt so much when you win. And that was a moment that wins you the game as well.”
The Whitecaps will look to add to their winning roster, as they will formally introduce to the media midfielder Barry Robson, the Scottish international who the club signed as a Designated Player in February.
Robson, 33, comes to Vancouver and the MLS having fulfilled his contractual obligations with Middlesbrough FC of the English League Championship.
He will be eligible to join the Whitecaps just before the start of the secondary North American transfer window, which begins June 27.