Vancouver 1 (Parker) –
Seattle 1 (Neagle)
A sleepy first half
gave way to a lively 2nd half as both teams sent out their
B-squads Wednesday night at BC Place. Tim Parker channelled his
inner Pa-Modou Kah and scored off a back heel from a Pedro Morales
cross, while Lamar Neagle took advantage of a defensive lapse by the
Whitecaps defense to level the match 1-1.
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Match Recap:
The Vancouver Whitecaps
played host to the Seattle Sounders Wednesday night at BC Place in
their first ever Concacaf Champions League group stage match. Carl
Robinson made wholesale changes to his squad, with Paolo Tornaghi in
goal, a young backline of Ethan Sampson, Tim Parker, Diego Rodriguez
and Christian Dean. Russell Teibert and Deybi Flores took defensive
midfield duties with Kianz Froese and Erik Hurtado on the wings.
Pedro Morales captained the side and played in behind lone striker
Darren Mattocks.
Both teams struggled to
string together more than a few passes, let alone generate any decent
chances on goal. Seattle had the best chance of the half as Andy
Rose got a header towards goal but his chance would go just over the
bar. Pedro Morales was not his customary self, failing to connect
repeatedly with Darren Mattocks up front.
Seattle had the first
decent chance of the 2nd half with Lamar Neagle taking the
ball off of Russell Teibert and firing a shot on goal from just
outside the box, but the shot would go straight into the arms of
Paolo Tornaghi.
In the 58th
minute Chad Barrett would get the first yellow card of the match for
simulation as he dove to the pitch after thinking he got fouled in
the Whitecaps end.
Whitecaps best chance
came on 60 minutes as Darren Mattocks knocked down a ball for Pedro
Morales, who looped a ball over the top to Erik Hurtado, with his
effort knocked away by the Seattle defense for a corner.
On the ensuing corner
the Vancouver Whitecaps opened the scoring through Tim Parker, who
took a page out of Pa-Modou Kah's book, back heeling the Morales
delivery into the net and giving the Whitecaps a 1-0 lead.
Soon after Pedro
Morales came off for Robert Earnshaw, and Earnshaw, within a minute
of coming on would launch a shot on goal from distance which would be
saved by Seattle keeper Troy Perkins.
At the other end a long
ball into the Whitecaps box caused trouble for the defense,
pinballing around the box before Paolo Tornaghi managed to get just
enough of the ball from an onrushing Seattle forward to deflect it
for a corner.
On 69 minutes Sam
Adekugbe come on for Kianz Froese, Adekugbe coming on for his first
action since recovering from a broken ankle.
Seattle would tie the
match through Lamar Neagle, the free kick going across the box before
the second chance was sent in from Andy Rose to an open Neagle, who
put his shot top corner to level the match at 1-1. Right after that
Seattle would bring on Thomas Bedinelli for Aaron Kovar, before
Michael Azira would go into the book for a foul on Deybi Flores in
the Whitecaps end.
On 76 minutes Carl
Robinson would bring on Marco Bustos for Erik Hurtado as he attempted
to regain the lead late in the match. Seattle would counter by
bringing on Erik Friberg for Chad Barrett a few minutes later.
On 86 minutes Darren
Mattocks launched a powerful header towards goal but his chance would
go wide of the target.
Vancouver looked to
have a golden opportunity to snatch a late winner as Sam Adekugbe was
fouled just outside the box to the right of Troy Perkins' goal. The
free kick by Deybi Flores looked goal bound but was cleared away by
Seattle defender Brad Evans.
The referee would blow
the whistle soon after on a 1-1 draw at BC Place, with neither team
really deserving of all three points on offer. The Whitecaps next
MLS match is on Saturday against Real Salt Lake at BC Place, while
their next Concacaf Champions League encounter is Wednesday,
September 16th at BC Place as they host Honduran Champions
CD Olimpia.
Post Match Quotes:
Carl Robinson – On
overall performance:
"I think it was
an okay game, I keep using the word okay probably now, it was
important we didn't lose, I think we didn't play great, obviously
sometimes that happens when you make that many changes I'll accept
that, but we got our noses in front unfortunatly we switched off at
the vital moment and we let them back in with a bad goal but I think
it was a fair result."
On lack of
chemistry:
"Well I hoped
it wouldn't have taken an hour but it did probably take an hour and
that happens sometimes when you make that many changes, but it was a
win-win because it was important I got these guys games with the busy
schedule we got coming up, because the group of players in the first
team at the moment wouldn't be able to cope with 8 games in a month,
it gave me answers to some of the questions I had about some of the
guys which was good, and obviously we'll take the points at home, but
we would've liked 3."
Tim Parker – On
his goal:
"It was great
to score at home, great to score against Seattle, just a little
heartbroken we didn't get the win; yeah it was just a set piece, I
tried to get to the near post, try to beat my man there, I beat the
other guy there and got a piece of the ball and was fortunate enough
that it found the back of the net."
Darren Mattocks –
On the overall sloppy play in the match:
"I wouldn't say
we were tired, because it was a totally new 11 out there, but it
wasn't pretty for the fans to watch, but sometimes that's how it goes
in soccer sometimes its pretty sometimes its not, but we're pretty
satisfied with a 1-1 tie."
Paolo Tornaghi –
His view on the team giving up the goal:
"I think that,
we knew they were dangerous on set pieces especially in the second
phases, that's one example the ball was cleared out on the side but
they kept players in the box and we were without focus."
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