Vancouver 1 (Morales) –
New York City 2 (Lampard, Villa)
A thrilling match at BC
Place turned into the Ricardo Salazar show at the end as the referee
for the match gave two dubious penalty calls, one for each side late
in match as New York City escaped Vancouver with a 2-1 win. Frank
Lampard scored for New York in the first half as a young Whitecaps
team often looked starstruck with Lampard, David Villa and Andrea
Pirlo in the lineup. Both teams ramped up the intensity in the 2nd
half which lead to a free flowing, back and forth match. Vancouver
was awarded a penalty late in the match which Pedro Morales would
convert, before failing to convert a number of chances after as the
game headed into added time. Vancouver would rue their missed
chances as late in added time NYC was awarded a penalty as Matias
Laba was judged to have fouled Frank Lampard inside the 18 yard box,
and David Villa would convert to steal the three points for NYC.
Match Recap
The Vancouver Whitecaps
hoped to put the past couple matches behind them as they hosted a
star-studded New York City FC Saturday evening at BC Place. NYC had
all of their DP's including Andrea Pirlo, Frank Lampard and David
Villa in their starting lineup, while Whitecaps Head Coach Carl
Robinson was forced to make a couple of changes as a few of his
starters were dealing with slight knocks including Octavio Rivero and
Pedro Morales, who were both on the bench, and Steven Beitashour who
did not feature in the match.
Robinson's eleven
included David Ousted in goal, Jordan Smith, Kendall Waston, Tim
Parker and Jordan Harvey in defense, Gershon Koffie alongside Matias
Laba in defensive midfield, with Kekuta Manneh, Mauro Rosales and
Cristian Techera supporting Darren Mattocks up front.
In the 12th
minute NYC's Shay Facey earned a yellow card for a foul on Darren
Mattocks just outside the box to the right of Josh Saunders'goal.
Mauro Rosales would step up and take the free kick and just miss the
top corner, the ball curling just wide of the target.
A couple minutes later
Kekuta Manneh would get a shot on goal from close range which
Saunders just managed to keep out of the net before Mattocks tumbled
over him trying to get to the loose ball.
In the 29th
minute Frank Lampard went unmarked between a sea of Whitecaps in the
box and put the Angelino pass into the net to give NYC a 1-0 lead.
The rest of the first
half would fizzle out as NYC went into the break up 1-0.
The Whitecaps had the
first chance of the 2nd half off of a Mauro Rosales free
kick as he put the ball onto the head of Kendall Waston who struck
goalward, but Saunders managed to make the save.
The Whitecaps started
to push the intensity and create more chances, as a result the match
opened up for both teams and to the benefit of the sellout crowd in
attendance.
Andrea Pirlo would get
a yellow card in the 62nd minute for not letting the
Whitecaps play on after a foul was called. Pirlo would get a free
kick of his own a couple minutes later, slipping it under the wall
but not past David Ousted.
On 66 minutes Pedro
Morales would come on for Gershon Koffie as the Whitecaps looked to
add some offensive spark. Octavio Rivero would come on for Darren
Mattocks a minute later.
On 70 minutes the
Whitecaps had a golden opportunity to tie the match as Kekuta
Manneh's passed was stopped by Mauro Rosales on the edge of the six
yard box. Jordan Harvey came in with time and space but chipped his
effort over the bar.
NYC would make their
first substitution on 75 minutes as Ned Grabavoy would come off for
Khiry Shelton.
On 80 minutes Robert
Earnshaw would come on for Mauro Rosales as the Whitecaps continued
to press for their equalizer. Pedro Morales would then get a yellow
card for a foul on Andrea Pirlo soon after. Techera would then join
Morales in the book for a push on Angelino by the NYC bench.
On
87 minutes, Jordan
Smith took a shot from distance on a second chance from a corner kick
with Saunders parrying the shot into Kendall Waston's path, Waston
would get tripped up by Angelino and the referee would point to the
spot for a penalty kick. Pedro Morales would step up and put it low
to the right of Josh Saunders to tie the match late.
NYC would bring on
Kwadno Poku for Mix Diskerud right after, and the Whitecaps would
generate a number of chances on goal in stoppage time but would be
unable to put away the match before Matias Laba fouled Frank Lampard
just inside the box three minutes into added time. The referee
pointed to the spot to the derision of the fans at BC Place, David
Villa would convert the penalty and NYC would escape Vancouver with a
2-1 victory.
Post Match Quotes
Carl Robinson – On
the New York Penalty:
"He's
(Laba) got the ball, I think everyone in the stadium could see it, I
don't know whether he's (referee) felt it was a make up call or
whatever, the game is about tackling, the game's about contact, Mati
Laba is one of the best players in that position, he's clearly won
the ball."
On his players being
Star-struck against Lampard, Pirlo, Villa:
"I
thought we played as poorly as we played all season in the first half
, I think we made wrong decisions, I think we were hesitant, and when
you do that against a very good team then, you know, you're always
going to give yourself problems and stuff like that and they played a
very high line and credit to them, and we turned down opportunities
to play in behind them. We have a lot of pacy guys in our team but we
made wrong passes, wrong decisions and mis-controlled the ball, I
just said tidy up, keep your mind free and go out, we can't be as bad
as we were in the first half, we weren't we were better in the 2nd,
but that's no consolation cause we got nothing out of the game."
David Ousted –
Thoughts on the match:
"Not
good enough. That first half is the poorest I've seen us play, and
we weren't at it so, all in all we can't complain too much. We went
at it in the 2nd half and we had our chances, but again,
its a tale of if you don't take your chances, you don't win games."
New York City Head
Coach Jason Kreis – On the last part of the match:
"Mania,
pure mania. I honestly felt that both penalty kicks, decisions were
very poor, that game should've ended 1-0."
On the performance
of his star players:
"Yeah,
I think they put on a good show. I think both teams really went after
it. It was a great game, it was a great game to watch, a great game
to be a part of."
Frank Lampard –
Thoughts on the match:
"We're
happy to win here, obviously, its a difficult place to come,
Vancouver have had a strong season, its big for us, it keeps our
hopes alive. We're in a must win situation now for the rest of the
season, if we had lost those points when they had scored that penalty
it would have been disappointing."
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