Despite being down to ten men for the last thirty minutes, the Whitecaps were able to secure a 1-0 victory and surpass last year’s win total in front of 19,166 supporters at BC Place. The Whitecaps started carrying the play after going a man down and were rewarded with ten minutes to go when Sebastien Le Toux was able to score off a great pass by Davide Chiumiento. It was Darren Mattocks who was sent off in the match when he received two yellow cards a minute apart.
The Whitecaps started the match quickly again with Chiumiento finding a streaking Mattocks with a long pass within the first minute of play. The rookie was able to get past his mark but only offered an attempt from a tight angle which Matt Pickens was able to spill over the end line.
A couple of minutes the Rapids almost capitalized on a Caps error when Martin Bonjour sent a weak back pass to his keeper that would have been intercepted if not for the quick acting Cannon who was able to clear the ball. After some great down the right side Lee found himself in the box and tried to square it to Mattocks but Larentowicz was able to intercept and put the ball into touch.
With just over 15 minutes to the half the Rapids were able to work the ball near the box where Rivero fired a shot wide of the net. The Rapids continued to pour it on as Cannon was forced into two diving stops within minutes, the second being of the spectacular variety off the foot of Kosuke Kimura.
The Whitecaps almost broke the deadlock in the final minutes in the half when Chiumiento sent in Le Toux in alone on goal. He was able to beat the offside trap but the final touch failed the Frenchman as the ball rolled over the end line.
Coming out of the break the Whitecaps got the first chance when Davidson found Lee in the box with a long ball but after a solid defensive play by the defender and a block the home team came away without an attempt on goal. Moments later Rochat sent in Mattocks with a ball that the Jamaican was unable to control to get off a decent shot.
The pressure continued for the Caps as Mattocks attempted to setup Koffie with a shot just inside the box but once again the attempt missed the net. Another chance for Koffie inside the box was negated by a dubious challenge that could have been called as a penalty.
With thirty minutes to go the Caps were reduced to ten men when Darren Mattocks received his second yellow card for a dangerous challenge, the first one for simulation minutes earlier, ensuring his ejection from the match.
After another attempt blocked by a Rapid defender which turned into a counterattack, Cannon was forced into a stop on a shot by Tony Casico. The Whitecaps came very close after a give and go between Rochat and Le Toux which the striker’s attempted went off the hand of Pickens and bounced off the crossbar before being cleared out of the box.
The deadlock was finally broken in the 80th minute when after a spell of possession Chiumiento sent in a long pass over the head of the Rapids defender into the path of Le Toux who made no mistake firing the ball past Pickens.
It was tied two minutes later when Cannon directed a Casey cross right to Brazilian striker Edu ten yard from goal. His attempt was blocked by a diving Bonjour but it wasn’t clear as Rivero had his attempt ring right off the post.
After a poor clearance by Lee the Rapids had another chance as Freeman was able to dispossess the ball from Le Toux. Fortunately for the Caps the defender’s curling attempt hit the woodwork again and was cleared out of danger by DeMerit.
The only chance in injury time came to the Caps as Le Toux was in all alone on Pickens from the halfway line by a beautiful chip by Koffie but the Frenchman was unable to secure a brace giving the Rapids a lifeline. However, there were no chances for the Rocky Mountain visitors as the Caps were able to secure their seventh win of the season and put some separation between themselves and fifth place Rapids.
It was a tale of two halves as the Rapids looked to have more chances in the first with the Caps responding in the second. They were unable to breakdown their opponents in the first losing the majority of duels which gave the Rapids the majority of quality of chances.
The second half was a different story as Mattocks was able to get free of his marks and create chances for himself and his teammates before getting sent off. The Caps did not let off after the ejection and continued to press for the winner which came after a couple of close calls.
The head man, Martin Rennie, felt it was another positive step for the Caps this season and showed the true makeup that this team had after going a man down.
“It (the red card) put us in a position where we basically had any excuse we wanted to lose the game and a lot of teams will take that excuse all day and accept a hard fought, disappointing, unlucky, blame the referee 1-0 defeat but the players showed great character, and incredible work rate and a desire to come out with something better than that.”
It’s a completely new side that is playing in Vancouver especially when you see the club surpass their win total after 14 games. The Whitecaps, who now stand third in the Western Conference, will look to continue their run and against the red hot New York Red Bulls in a midweek meeting at BC Place.
(image courtesy of Getty Images)
