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Harjeet Johal ,

April 24, 2015 Twitter

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VANCOUVER, B.C - Top of the table FC Dallas visited Vancouver to take on the Whitecaps at BC Place on Saturday night. Vancouver came into the match as a massive underdog, but they rose to the challenge and came away with an inspiring 3-0 victory over the visitors from Frisco. An FC Dallas first half own goal and second half tallies from Jordan Harvey and Kekuta Manneh sealed the win for Vancouver before a sold out crowd of 22,120 fans. Despite the victory and a trio of goals to the good. Carl Robinson was tempered in his post-match address with the media. If you didn't know it, you'd think Vancouver came out on the losing end. “We scored one goal from open play today, so I'm delighted. We win a game of football. I say this and don’t make a big thing of it. It’s about winning games and I know that, I understand that. We won the game today with a little bit of luck, which we haven’t had in one or two weeks. A good set piece goal and then a fantastic Blas Perez touch and Kekuta Manneh on the run. It’s nice, we’ll take it, but we’ll move on. It’s three points, we’ll move on." FC Dallas Manager Oscar Pareja was none too thrilled with his teams performance as they looked to be the team struggling to score. That's not something FC Dallas has been familiar with during the season. "Disappointed. It was one of those nights where we have what we wanted, we created chances. I thought the team looked good, but we were not fine in the last third. We didn’t finalize it in the first half. One of our mistakes and they took it – I would say that in that play that was an accident when the ball hit and it went in. But that’s the game, we have to accept it – it has happened to us before when we don’t create as many options and we’re sharp and effective. Tonight, Vancouver was very effective and I have to recognize that." The Opening 45

The rivalry between Vancouver and FC Dallas wrote a new chapter as Blas Perez faced his former team. Mauro Rosales was on the bench and did not get into the match, despite FC Dallas finishing the match with one substitution still available. Red Nation Online inquired about the non use of Mauro Rosales in what would have been his return to Vancouver. “I considered all those emotional parts of the game," said Oscar Pareja, "but at the time of the game we have to see just what the unit is that is needed and Mauro is a very important player that we have used and we will use for sure. I think tonight I decided just to keep him there.” Blas Perez had a massive smile on his face following the match. He could not have been happier with the outcome against his former friends and teammates. "I feel good, it was a different feel with my ex-teammates, but we needed to win the game. We won the confidence for the future." Vancouver went with a 4-2-3-1 lineup featuring the Uruguayan trio of Octavio Rivero, Nicolas Mesquida, and Cristian Techera all responsible with creating scoring opportunities and eventual goals. FC Dallas started Tesho Akindele and Max Urruti in what was a 4-4-2 formation. Former Caps man, Atiba Harris started at right-back. Vancouver caught a huge break in the 9' minute as Fraser Aird held on a trio of FC Dallas players onside. Fabian Castillo and his teammates appeared to be well offside, however the flag was not raised. The Colombian winger tried to chip David Ousted, but his shot attempt sailed over the crossbar. As expected, FC Dallas had the majority of stellar scoring chances in the early stages of the game. Max Urruti had a brilliant turn and volley in the 19' minute that David Ousted had to leap to push over the bar for a corner. FC Dallas has attack minding goal-scoring threats for days, and Vancouver was determined not to buckle and concede early. A bit of luck proved to be going the Whitecaps way as they finally bumped their scoring slump and scored from open play. Kekuta Manneh broke down the left-flank and sent a cross into the box. Chris Seitz appeared to knock away the cross, however the ball bounced off the chest of defender Maynor Figueroa and into the FC Dallas net. It doesn't matter how you score and the Whitecaps weren't bothered as they took the lead in the 35' minute. Carl Robinson was happy to see a goal from anyone in any matter of play. “To be fair, I don’t really care who scores from open play," said the honest Robinson. "Individually, I think they all want to score, which is good. I think the two or three times that we made the wrong decisions at the wrong time, it was because they want the goal. For him, I think his (Kekuta Manneh) confidence will grow from that in an important week for us. The other guys should be proud of their work rate as well. Cristian Techera, obviously Octavio Rivero and Nicolas Mezquida as well." Heading into the interval the Whitecaps were looking good as the rain started to fall on the BC Place pitch. Manneh's cross helped put the Caps up 1-0 and they looked to hold onto that advantage in the second half. Vancouver held a 54% - 46% possession advantage. Whatever David Ousted's pay increase was he's earned it all in just tonight's display. Absolutely phenomenal stuff from the Great Dane #VWFC — AFTN (@aftncanada) April 24, 2016 Good result. How they play on Wednesday will tell you a lot about whether this group has turned a corner. #VWFC — Mark Rogers (@marktedrogers) April 24, 2016

The Second Half

FC Dallas had a brilliant opportunity to quickly score an equalizer soon after the re-start. Michael Barrios fired a terrific shot on target that David Ousted was once again in great position to turn aside with an acrobatic save. If not for Ousted's form, FC Dallas would have been sat in the drivers seat, despite the own goal by Figueroa. Vancouver doubled their lead in the 63' minute as left-back Jordan Harvey scored his second goal of the season. Cristian Techera won a corner, and Matias Laba sent in a cross that found an unmarked Harvey. The California native, turned and spun before sending his shot through a maze of FC Dallas players and past goalkeeper Chris Seitz. In an effort to wake up FC Dallas, Oscar Pareja inserted Mauro Diaz into the lineup for Victor Ulloa in the 70' minute. The creative Argentine midfielder had previously missed the last four FC Dallas matches with a hamstring injury. Diaz is among the MLS league leaders in assists with four. Not satisfied with his teams showing, Kellyn Acosta entered the game for Michael Barrios in the 74' minute. FC Dallas was pressing, but unable to find a goal against goalkeeper David Ousted. The FC Dallas substitutions did not work, Vancouver was just better on this day and they added another goal in the 77' minute. Seconds after Blas Perez came on, he collided with a former FC Dallas teammate and sent the ball forward to Kekuta Manneh. He was able to beat goalkeeper Chris Seitz to the ball and nutmeg Seitz as the ball calmly headed into the vacated FC Dallas net. Perez picked up an assist and commented on the play that sprung Manneh and secured Vancouver's third goal of the match. Raining in BC Place and the Caps score. Poetic. — Kasey Hunter (@KRWJonze) April 24, 2016

"It was my second touch on the field," said Perez, "but this in my personality on the field, play hard. My character is to fight for the ball for Kekuta and Kekuta scored the goal." FC Dallas came in and did not score early, often, or at all. Vancouver's David Ousted kept the Whitecaps in the match when FC Dallas created scoring chance. The lucky bounce opened the floodgates and Vancouver never looked back. This is exactly the kind of win Carl Robinson and the Whitecaps need to get back on track ahead of a busy MLS season. Man of the Match



Kekuta Manneh

Manneh spoke to the media leading up to to the match against FC Dallas and said that Vancouver was going to score goals against FC Dallas. A few folks laughed him off sighting a confident and boastful prediction. However, Manneh backed up his talk with exceptional play. His first half cross resulted in the first Whitecaps goal from open play this season. He also added a dagger in the second half as he used his pace to out race Chris Seitz to a loose ball. Manneh has been hobbled by a bit of a niggled ankle, but he sure didn't show it against FC Dallas. The Gambian winger played his best match of the season when the Caps needed someone to step up and provide a spark of offense from anyone. "We felt like this was our chance, FC Dallas is a good team but they’re going to let us play and if we get chances, we’ll take them. I thought we did that today and this is very exciting, we needed that win." Who was your Whitecaps Man of the Match?

Vancouver Whitecaps Starting XI: David Ousted(C); Fraser Aird, Kendall Waston, Tim Parker, Jordan Harvey; Andrew Jacobson, Matias Laba; Cristian Techera 80 (Christian Bolanos), Nicolas Mesquida 87 (Russell Teibert), Kekuta Manneh; Octavio Rivero 77 (Blas Perez). 4-2-3-1. Real Salt Lake Starting XI: Chris Seitz; Maynor Figueroa, Walker Zimmerman, Zach Lloyd, Atiba Harris; Fabian Castillo, Carlos Gruzeo, Victor Ulloa 70 (Mauro Diaz), Michael Barrios 74 (Kellyn Acosta); Tesho Akindele, Maximiliano Urruti. 4-4-2 Notes: David Ousted made four saves and picked up his third clean sheet of the season.