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MLS’ road warriors headed to Colorado on Saturday night and looked to be in with a good chance of adding to their fine away form before a rain delay derailed their attack in the second half.
The Rapids hit the only goal of the game in the 51st minute, as the ‘Caps were left furious by a disallowed Pedro Morales free kick with eight minutes remaining that would have given them a share of the points.
Vancouver’s lack of ability to change up their attack and finish the chances they did create cost them dear, and those failings should be overshadowed by the refereeing or three games in a week as they are clearly a deep rooted problem for the team right now.
Here’s our report and postgame reaction from both locker rooms following the game.
REPORT:
Vancouver Whitecaps and the altitude of Colorado have not been happy bedfellows over the years and so it continued on Saturday night with a 1-0 loss that made it just two wins and eight points for the ‘Caps in their last eight matches.
Vancouver looked comfortable and the better side in the first half, but a rain delay at the break seemed to change the momentum and Colorado grabbed all three points thanks to Lucas Pittinari’s 51st minute volley and a phantom call from the referee disallowing Pedro Morales’ late free kick equaliser.
Injuries and fatigue forced Carl Robinson’s hand a little with his starting line-up in this one. Pedro Morales sat out after playing two games in the past week, with Mauro Rosales making a welcome return in the number ten role and Kianz Froese getting his first MLS start on the right wing.
There was no debut start for Colorado’s new DP Kevin Doyle, who began the game on the bench.
The Rapids came out of the traps and forced a couple of early corners, but neither goalkeeper had much to do in the opening exchanges.
Kekuta Manneh nearly brought the game to life in the 17th minute when Kianz Froese played the ball to him at the edge of the box and the Gambian brought out a fantastic save from Clint Irwin in the Rapids’ goal.
There was very little to note from either side, with Vancouver’s tight defensive play easily keeping the home side at bay and the Whitecaps were looking the more dangerous team going forward.
The ‘Caps had a couple of chances in stoppage time to go in at the break with the lead.
First, Octavio Rivero was sent flying on the edge of the box and Rosales sent a brilliant dipping free kick on goal which Irwin had to acrobatically tip over.
The Argentine sent in the resultant corner, which was met powerfully by Rivero but his header crashed off the bar and the danger was cleared by the Rapids.
With the last kick of the half, Colorado went up the pitch and Dillon Powers fired a fierce one just over, setting up what was hopefully going to be a more action packed second half.
And then the heavens opened with a rain delay, little bit of lightning and a sodden pitch when the players came back out.
Both teams came out on the attack to start the second half and Froese found himself in a good position in the 47th minute but pulled his shot wide right.
Colorado responded with a chance for Gabriel Torres after Powers had split the defence open with a through ball, but the Panamanian fired wide under pressure from Jordan Harvey.
It was just to be a temporary respite for Vancouver and Colorado took the lead in the 51st minute with a well worked goal.
Gershon Koffie seemed to be fouled in the midfield, but with no whistle coming, the Rapids broke forward ending when Torres played a sublime backwards pass to Pittinari who volleyed home past David Ousted.
The Whitecaps came close to levelling things up just two minutes later when Rosales hit another well taken free kick, but this time it was just wide to the left.
Colorado had a great chance to double their lead in the 57th minute when Torres was in the thick of the action again, this time playing in Luis Solignac, but Ousted was out quickly to produce a point blank smothering save.
Manneh had a long range try in the 66th minute that flew over but the Whitecaps were looking a little devoid of ideas in how to get back in the game and it felt like it was going to take something special to do it.
Ousted came to the rescue again for Vancouver when Powers let rip from 30 yards out and the Danish stopper tipped the fierce striker over.
Colorado kept the pressure on from the corner and Pittinari headed narrowly over, as the Rapids sensed blood for killing the game off.
Solignac came within inches of making it two for Colorado in the 76th minute but Harvey cleared his low shot off the line, as Vancouver’s defence continued to bend.
Cristian Techera nearly brought Vancouver back level moments later firing a 25 yard thunderbolt that caused Irwin problems but he managed to parry it and Colorado handled the danger from the rebound.
Vancouver went for an attacking substitution with their final sub, bringing their captain Morales on for defensive midfielder Matias Laba with 13 minutes remaining.
And Morales thought he’d tied the game up in the 82nd minute when he curled a beautiful free kick into the postage stamp corner but the goal was ruled out for a phantom call from referee Jose Carlos Rivero, who seemingly adjudged a foul on Pa Modou Kah in the wall.
Vancouver rolled the dice late on, putting center back Kendall Waston up front and the big Costa Rican turned a Darren Mattocks cross into the side netting in the final minute.
The ‘Caps just couldn’t get anything going in the four minutes of stoppage time and fell to what is just their second away defeat of the season, but more concerning is their continued failure to turn chances into goals.
With a tough home game against RSL coming up next Saturday, followed by five games on the road, the ‘Caps need to find something to turn their fortunes around sharpish.
FINAL SCORE: Colorado Rapids 1 – 0 Vancouver Whitecaps
ATT: 17,791
COLORADO: Clint Irwin; James Riley, Drew Moor, Axel Sjoberg, Marc Burch; Sam Cronin, Lucas Pittinari, Gabriel Torres (Kevin Doyle 63), Dillon Powers, Juan Ramirez (Vicente Sanchez 86); Luis Solignac [Subs Not Used: Zac MacMath, Michael Harrington, Bobby Burling, Jared Watts, Charles Eloundou]
VANCOUVER: David Ousted; Steven Beitashour, Kendall Waston, Pa Modou Kah. Jordan Harvey; Matias Laba (Pedro Morales 77), Gershon Koffie, Kianz Froese (Cristian Techera 62), Mauro Rosales, Kekuta Manneh (Darren Mattocks 70); Octavio Rivero [Subs Not Used: Paolo Tornaghi, Ethen Sampson, Tim Parker, Nicolas Mezquida]
REACTION:
To follow shortly
Continue reading...
The Rapids hit the only goal of the game in the 51st minute, as the ‘Caps were left furious by a disallowed Pedro Morales free kick with eight minutes remaining that would have given them a share of the points.
Vancouver’s lack of ability to change up their attack and finish the chances they did create cost them dear, and those failings should be overshadowed by the refereeing or three games in a week as they are clearly a deep rooted problem for the team right now.
Here’s our report and postgame reaction from both locker rooms following the game.
REPORT:
Vancouver Whitecaps and the altitude of Colorado have not been happy bedfellows over the years and so it continued on Saturday night with a 1-0 loss that made it just two wins and eight points for the ‘Caps in their last eight matches.
Vancouver looked comfortable and the better side in the first half, but a rain delay at the break seemed to change the momentum and Colorado grabbed all three points thanks to Lucas Pittinari’s 51st minute volley and a phantom call from the referee disallowing Pedro Morales’ late free kick equaliser.
Injuries and fatigue forced Carl Robinson’s hand a little with his starting line-up in this one. Pedro Morales sat out after playing two games in the past week, with Mauro Rosales making a welcome return in the number ten role and Kianz Froese getting his first MLS start on the right wing.
There was no debut start for Colorado’s new DP Kevin Doyle, who began the game on the bench.
The Rapids came out of the traps and forced a couple of early corners, but neither goalkeeper had much to do in the opening exchanges.
Kekuta Manneh nearly brought the game to life in the 17th minute when Kianz Froese played the ball to him at the edge of the box and the Gambian brought out a fantastic save from Clint Irwin in the Rapids’ goal.
There was very little to note from either side, with Vancouver’s tight defensive play easily keeping the home side at bay and the Whitecaps were looking the more dangerous team going forward.
The ‘Caps had a couple of chances in stoppage time to go in at the break with the lead.
First, Octavio Rivero was sent flying on the edge of the box and Rosales sent a brilliant dipping free kick on goal which Irwin had to acrobatically tip over.
The Argentine sent in the resultant corner, which was met powerfully by Rivero but his header crashed off the bar and the danger was cleared by the Rapids.
With the last kick of the half, Colorado went up the pitch and Dillon Powers fired a fierce one just over, setting up what was hopefully going to be a more action packed second half.
And then the heavens opened with a rain delay, little bit of lightning and a sodden pitch when the players came back out.
Both teams came out on the attack to start the second half and Froese found himself in a good position in the 47th minute but pulled his shot wide right.
Colorado responded with a chance for Gabriel Torres after Powers had split the defence open with a through ball, but the Panamanian fired wide under pressure from Jordan Harvey.
It was just to be a temporary respite for Vancouver and Colorado took the lead in the 51st minute with a well worked goal.
Gershon Koffie seemed to be fouled in the midfield, but with no whistle coming, the Rapids broke forward ending when Torres played a sublime backwards pass to Pittinari who volleyed home past David Ousted.
The Whitecaps came close to levelling things up just two minutes later when Rosales hit another well taken free kick, but this time it was just wide to the left.
Colorado had a great chance to double their lead in the 57th minute when Torres was in the thick of the action again, this time playing in Luis Solignac, but Ousted was out quickly to produce a point blank smothering save.
Manneh had a long range try in the 66th minute that flew over but the Whitecaps were looking a little devoid of ideas in how to get back in the game and it felt like it was going to take something special to do it.
Ousted came to the rescue again for Vancouver when Powers let rip from 30 yards out and the Danish stopper tipped the fierce striker over.
Colorado kept the pressure on from the corner and Pittinari headed narrowly over, as the Rapids sensed blood for killing the game off.
Solignac came within inches of making it two for Colorado in the 76th minute but Harvey cleared his low shot off the line, as Vancouver’s defence continued to bend.
Cristian Techera nearly brought Vancouver back level moments later firing a 25 yard thunderbolt that caused Irwin problems but he managed to parry it and Colorado handled the danger from the rebound.
Vancouver went for an attacking substitution with their final sub, bringing their captain Morales on for defensive midfielder Matias Laba with 13 minutes remaining.
And Morales thought he’d tied the game up in the 82nd minute when he curled a beautiful free kick into the postage stamp corner but the goal was ruled out for a phantom call from referee Jose Carlos Rivero, who seemingly adjudged a foul on Pa Modou Kah in the wall.
Vancouver rolled the dice late on, putting center back Kendall Waston up front and the big Costa Rican turned a Darren Mattocks cross into the side netting in the final minute.
The ‘Caps just couldn’t get anything going in the four minutes of stoppage time and fell to what is just their second away defeat of the season, but more concerning is their continued failure to turn chances into goals.
With a tough home game against RSL coming up next Saturday, followed by five games on the road, the ‘Caps need to find something to turn their fortunes around sharpish.
FINAL SCORE: Colorado Rapids 1 – 0 Vancouver Whitecaps
ATT: 17,791
COLORADO: Clint Irwin; James Riley, Drew Moor, Axel Sjoberg, Marc Burch; Sam Cronin, Lucas Pittinari, Gabriel Torres (Kevin Doyle 63), Dillon Powers, Juan Ramirez (Vicente Sanchez 86); Luis Solignac [Subs Not Used: Zac MacMath, Michael Harrington, Bobby Burling, Jared Watts, Charles Eloundou]
VANCOUVER: David Ousted; Steven Beitashour, Kendall Waston, Pa Modou Kah. Jordan Harvey; Matias Laba (Pedro Morales 77), Gershon Koffie, Kianz Froese (Cristian Techera 62), Mauro Rosales, Kekuta Manneh (Darren Mattocks 70); Octavio Rivero [Subs Not Used: Paolo Tornaghi, Ethen Sampson, Tim Parker, Nicolas Mezquida]
REACTION:
To follow shortly
Continue reading...
