Report and Reaction: Vancouver Whitecaps suffer another lacklustre loss on the road to hell
One point from a tough three game road stretch wasn’t exactly unexpected for Vancouver Whitecaps, but that doesn’t make it any the less disappointing.
You can now add an uninspiring 2-0 loss in Colorado to a dull 0-0 draw in Houston and a dismal defeat in Dallas where they clearly were never at the races.
Marlon Hairston gave Colorado the lead a minute before half time, following a first 45 minutes that was devoid of much excitement. When Dominique Badji made it two on the hour mark, it already looked to be game over for Vancouver, and it was.
Vancouver’s starting line-up contained a couple of surprises. David Edgar came in to partner Kendall Waston in the centre of the defence, making his MLS debut. That moved Tim Parker out to the right back role. Giles Barnes came in for a Whitecaps debut, taking up the lone striker role.
There wasn’t much to talk about in the first half, with Pedro Morales having Vancouver’s best chance with a 34th minute free kick that went over.
But just when the teams looked like heading in to the break level, Hairston tucked away a low Mark Burch cross and the home side never looked back. The build up to the goal was aided by Parker, who rashly jumped in, and missed, a tackle, in what was a testing performance for the defender at right back.
Shkelzen Gashi flashed a long range effort just wide for Colorado in the 53rd minute, before Dillon Powers’ header three minutes later forced David Ousted to save on his line.
Vancouver made a double substitution to try and spark some life into their attack, but within seconds they found themselves down by two when Hairston sent a dangerous ball across goal and Badji lost Parker to hit if past Ousted from close range and make it 2-0.
Parker headed a corner towards goal midway through the half, but Tim Howard easily held onto what was Vancouver’s best chance of the night so far.
Colorado kept pressing, going for the jugular, and Gashi had another fierce long range effort go wide before Ousted was forced to save from Hairston at his near post with 15 minutes remaining.
The Rapids had a couple of other half chances, but the Whitecaps couldn’t muster anything and the home side ran out very comfortable 2-0 winners in the end, with Howard barely breaking a sweat in the Colorado goal.
When a 15-year-old was one of your brightest sparks during the match, then you have to sense that something is not right with your team. Unless that team is a U16 side.
Vancouver have been very, very poor on this road spell. I know it’s testing conditions, but that’s the nature of the league and you can’t handle it, then you need to get players who can.
The Whitecaps right now feel like a team of individuals, with Carl Robinson trying to fit in the best players he can, no matter where they end up playing on the pitch. Morales has looked at his best this season slotted in beside Matias Laba. He needs to drop back to allow Nicolas Mezquida the start at the number 10 position, although that is a role badly needing upgraded this offseason.
The loss sees Vancouver hanging on to that sixth and final playoff spot in the West by the slightest fingernail. They could very easily have dropped out of it by the end of the weekend and the home game with chasing San Jose on Friday night is massive. With some more tough road games ahead, it really is a must win.
FINAL SCORE: Colorado Rapids 2 – 0 Vancouver Whitecaps
ATT: 17,526
COLORADO: Tim Howard; Eric Miller, Bobby Burling, Axel Sjoberg, Marc Burch; Dillon Powers, Sam Cronin, Marlon Hairston (Marco Pappa 84), Shkelzen Gashi (Jared Watts 90+1), Dominique Badji (Sebastian Le Toux 74); Kevin Doyle [Subs Not Used: Zac MacMath, Dennis Castillo, Joseph Greenspan, Mekeil Williams]
VANCOUVER: David Ousted; Tim Parker, David Edgar, Kendall Waston, Marcel de Jong; Matias Laba, Andrew Jacobson (Nicolas Mezquida 60), Christian Bolanos (Masato Kudo 78), Pedro Morales, Cristian Techera (Alphonso Davies 60); Giles Barnes [Subs Not Used: Paolo Tornaghi, Cole Seiler, Erik Hurtado, Blas Perez]
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One point from a tough three game road stretch wasn’t exactly unexpected for Vancouver Whitecaps, but that doesn’t make it any the less disappointing.
You can now add an uninspiring 2-0 loss in Colorado to a dull 0-0 draw in Houston and a dismal defeat in Dallas where they clearly were never at the races.
Marlon Hairston gave Colorado the lead a minute before half time, following a first 45 minutes that was devoid of much excitement. When Dominique Badji made it two on the hour mark, it already looked to be game over for Vancouver, and it was.
Vancouver’s starting line-up contained a couple of surprises. David Edgar came in to partner Kendall Waston in the centre of the defence, making his MLS debut. That moved Tim Parker out to the right back role. Giles Barnes came in for a Whitecaps debut, taking up the lone striker role.
There wasn’t much to talk about in the first half, with Pedro Morales having Vancouver’s best chance with a 34th minute free kick that went over.
But just when the teams looked like heading in to the break level, Hairston tucked away a low Mark Burch cross and the home side never looked back. The build up to the goal was aided by Parker, who rashly jumped in, and missed, a tackle, in what was a testing performance for the defender at right back.
Shkelzen Gashi flashed a long range effort just wide for Colorado in the 53rd minute, before Dillon Powers’ header three minutes later forced David Ousted to save on his line.
Vancouver made a double substitution to try and spark some life into their attack, but within seconds they found themselves down by two when Hairston sent a dangerous ball across goal and Badji lost Parker to hit if past Ousted from close range and make it 2-0.
Parker headed a corner towards goal midway through the half, but Tim Howard easily held onto what was Vancouver’s best chance of the night so far.
Colorado kept pressing, going for the jugular, and Gashi had another fierce long range effort go wide before Ousted was forced to save from Hairston at his near post with 15 minutes remaining.
The Rapids had a couple of other half chances, but the Whitecaps couldn’t muster anything and the home side ran out very comfortable 2-0 winners in the end, with Howard barely breaking a sweat in the Colorado goal.
When a 15-year-old was one of your brightest sparks during the match, then you have to sense that something is not right with your team. Unless that team is a U16 side.
Vancouver have been very, very poor on this road spell. I know it’s testing conditions, but that’s the nature of the league and you can’t handle it, then you need to get players who can.
The Whitecaps right now feel like a team of individuals, with Carl Robinson trying to fit in the best players he can, no matter where they end up playing on the pitch. Morales has looked at his best this season slotted in beside Matias Laba. He needs to drop back to allow Nicolas Mezquida the start at the number 10 position, although that is a role badly needing upgraded this offseason.
The loss sees Vancouver hanging on to that sixth and final playoff spot in the West by the slightest fingernail. They could very easily have dropped out of it by the end of the weekend and the home game with chasing San Jose on Friday night is massive. With some more tough road games ahead, it really is a must win.
FINAL SCORE: Colorado Rapids 2 – 0 Vancouver Whitecaps
ATT: 17,526
COLORADO: Tim Howard; Eric Miller, Bobby Burling, Axel Sjoberg, Marc Burch; Dillon Powers, Sam Cronin, Marlon Hairston (Marco Pappa 84), Shkelzen Gashi (Jared Watts 90+1), Dominique Badji (Sebastian Le Toux 74); Kevin Doyle [Subs Not Used: Zac MacMath, Dennis Castillo, Joseph Greenspan, Mekeil Williams]
VANCOUVER: David Ousted; Tim Parker, David Edgar, Kendall Waston, Marcel de Jong; Matias Laba, Andrew Jacobson (Nicolas Mezquida 60), Christian Bolanos (Masato Kudo 78), Pedro Morales, Cristian Techera (Alphonso Davies 60); Giles Barnes [Subs Not Used: Paolo Tornaghi, Cole Seiler, Erik Hurtado, Blas Perez]
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