Caps ride Rapids to Much-needed Victory
Whitecaps end string of draws with victory over drowning Rapids club
VANCOUVER 2, COLORADO 1
Unbeaten sounds much better than winless.
The Vancouver Whitecaps finally broke through for a victory Friday, downing the Colorado Rapids 2-1 in Commerce City, snapping a streak of four straight draws.
The Caps (5-5-5) handed the Rapids (2-8-2) their seventh straight loss thanks to first-half goals from Cristian Techera and Yordy Reyna, and leapfrogged the idle Houston Dynamo and Real Salt Lake into fifth place in the Western Conference.
“We’ve been drawing too many games — points we’ve thrown away, really,” said coach Carl Robinson. “The league is very tight. You can go on a winning run or losing run or drawing run at any stage. You have to make the key differences at certain times, which gain you points. What we’ve done is give away too many goals recently, but we’ve scored a lot, which is fun to watch for the fans, but drives managers mad.
“We went into the game knowing they were a bit wounded, but they’re a good team. We knew they’d create opportunities, but we also knew they’d give them up. Then it comes down to the tactical game plan of each manager. We took our chances early on in the game, and we thought if we got our noses in front, we’d be able to hang on, and that’s certainly what we did.”
Here’s what we learned ...
GOAL MACHINE
Techera scored his sixth goal of the season and fourth in two games 17 minutes into the contest. Reyna made a strong run down the middle, then laid it off to Techera at his right, who cut back onto his favoured left foot and fired home a shot from 15 yards out that Tim Howard had no chance on.
Reyna doubled the lead 20 minutes later, capitalizing on a cross from Alphonso Davies that pinballed off two Rapids defenders before falling at his feet. He hammered home his second goal in four games — and his first away score as a Whitecap — from 15 yards out.
Both players have experienced a resurgence in form; Reyna had his second goal-and-assist performance in the past four games and led the team with four shots and three key passes, while Techera’s hat trick last Saturday was the first in five years for Vancouver.
DEFENSIVE D’OHS
The Whitecaps’ biggest issue coming into Friday ’s game was the defensive lapses that led to most of the goals they surrendered in the four-game run of draws. With captain Kendall Waston gone, Doneil Henry stepped in at centre-back beside Jose Aja, Jake Nerwinski slotted in for the injured Marcel de Jong and Brek Shea made his first start as a fullback with the Caps — though he played 12 games in that position for Orlando.
This iteration of the back line had a few nervy moments, but it was a clearance error from midfielder Felipe that resulted in the Rapids’ first goal, a 25-yard rocket from Edgar Castillo at the top of the circle just before halftime. Vancouver still went into the break in the lead for the first time this season.
Henry, in his Caps debut, had 15 clearances and a team-high four interceptions, while Aja also had 15 clearances for the Caps. Both had three blocked shots.
“Terrific. Absolutely terrific,” Robinson said of his centre-back tandem. “Obviously we conceded the one goal, which I think was avoidable with a bad headed clearance … but credit for hanging in there.”
LET’S GET IN FORMATION
Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it. Are you listening, Anthony Hudson?
The Rapids’ coach has stuck with his 3-5-2 formation despite his team’s total lack of offence with it; their 13 goals heading into the game was a league-low.
The width did give Vancouver trouble on the defensive end, the Rapids’ wide players having plenty of room to fire crosses in and generate chances in the opening half. They put in 42 crosses to the Caps’ nine, held a 12-2 corners advantage and outshot Vancouver 13-5 in the opening half — 18-12 overall. The Whitecaps had a monstrous 58 clearances to Colorado’s 10.
But it also opened the Rapids up defensively, with every attack turned aside resulting in an expansive zone for the Caps’ forwards and wingers to run into. Both Vancouver goals came with the Colorado back line back-pedalling for its life before being turned inside out by the speed of Davies and Reyna. Vancouver had a 4-3 advantage in shots on target.
“When you have those three young attacking players, they’re delightful to watch at times, they’re exciting to watch at times, but they’re sometimes frustrating,” said Robinson, singling out Reyna, Davies and Techera.
“They give simple passes away just because of their keenness and naivete. But they were terrific, all three of them today.”
MONEY, MONEY, MONEY
Former Whitecaps striker Octavio Rivero has been traded by Colo Colo to Mexican side Atlas for a $4-million transfer fee. This is news because the Caps will get 50 per cent of that transfer fee, injecting a cool $2 million into their wallets. There is also news out of Portugal of a mass player exodus from Sporting Lisbon, a club in the news recently after their training centre was invaded by a mob that beat and bloodied players and staff.
The team was the landing site of striker Fredy Montero in the offseason, and the Caps still own his MLS rights. The chances of him returning to Vancouver are slim, but if he does want to return to North America, the Caps stand to benefit by selling or trading his rights to another MLS club.