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Harjeet Johal ,

September 27, 2015 Twitter

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VANCOUVER, B.C - One of the most anticipated Whitecaps matches of the season kicked off at BC Place with high-flying New York City FC in town. The big spending city slickers from the Bronx brought Frank Lampard, Andrea Pirlo, and David Villa to Vancouver as they fight to make the playoffs in a crowded MLS Eastern Conference. Controversial penalty calls altered the match and New York City FC prevailed with a 2-1 win over Whitecaps FC in front 21,000 fans. The crowd was able to see the full superstar display of New York's big three. Frank Lampard opened the scoring, David Villa scored the winner, and Andrea Pirlo delivered a sublime through ball. The Whitecaps played nervous and starstruck during the opening forty-five. A Pedro Morales penalty tied the match and Vancouver looked to take the league before Matias Laba was issued a foul call and subsequent penalty for New York in stoppage time. Carl Robinson disagreed with both penalty decisions and backed his player on what was a clean sliding tackle that got all ball. "He’s got the ball. I think everyone in the stadium can see it. I don’t know whether he felt it was a make-up call or whatever. But, the game is about tackling, the game is about contact. Matias Laba is one of the best players in that position, he’s clearly won the ball. And what can you say? First half, I thought we played with a bit of fear against them and I think they probably deservedly went ahead. A great ball back and Frank arriving in the box and I have to say I thought he was the best player in the park by a country mile, today, Frank Lampard. Second half, I think we got right out and created chance after chance. And nothing fell for us, then we got our penalty. The when we went to 1-1, they need to win. Credit to Jason for that. They went all guns blazing, leaving it wide open. We had three versus two, four versus two, three versus one. We didn’t put it away. The call at the end is crazy." The 37 year-old legs of Frank Lampard produced a fantastic match from the former Chelsea FC man. He was all over the pitch and Carl Robinson stated, the best player in the park. Lampard also disagreed with both late penalties as he talked about what was an important win for New York. "We’re happy obviously, it’s a win here, it’s a difficult place to come. Vancouver has had a strong season, it’s big for us, it keeps our hopes alive. I think we’re in a must win situation now for the rest of the season so if we lost those points when they scored the penalty, I think we would've been disappointed." The Opening 45

The shaky New York City FC back-four has been leaking goals all season long. New York focuses on offense and getting up the pitch to create more offense. Josh Saunders has been left to his own devices far too often. The Whitecaps almost caught New York with an early goal. Mauro Rosales picked out Cristian Techera and he in turn found an open Kekuta Manneh. The shot from Manneh looked to be heading in for a goal, but bounced off the post into the hands of Saunders. The visitors went with a 4-2-3-1 formation with Andrea Pirlo playing as a sneaky defensive midfielder. Frank Lampard was in directly behind lone striker, David Villa. At times during the first half, New York played in more of a 4-4-2 formation with Frank Lampard shifting up top to join Villa. New York City FC was trying to catch the Whitecaps with several through balls and nifty passes in behind the Caps back-line. The Whitecaps held firm and were well aware of what to expect. The Whitecaps got ball watching and New York City FC put on a display of magic for the opening goal of the match in the 29' minute. Pirlo played a long ball up the flank that appeared to be heading out for a goal kick. Somehow, Angelino was able to catch up to the ball, stop and pick out Frank Lampard inside the box. The 18 year-old full-back sent a lovely ball through a maze of statuesque Whitecaps players on to the boot of Lampard who calmly blasted the ball past a helpless David Ousted. Andrea Pirlo doesn't need much time and space to create offense. He picked out Angelino with a brilliant ball that only he knew that Angelino could get to. The Italian World Cup winner talked about the win. TSN 1040's Mike Martignago spoke with Pirlo after the game: "It's a big win against a top club from the western conference. We did well and it was a positive result." Carl Robinson and the Whitecaps sleep-walked through the opening forty-five. The energy levels and excitement we have previously seen from the Whitecaps was not yet shown in this match. New York City FC played the perfect road game and capitalized on their scoring opportunity. Going into the break New York held a possession advantage of 57% -43% and more importantly 1 - 0 lead. Biggest disappointment for me in this half isn't the NYC goal but fact that their defence looks ripe for the picking but #VWFC ain't picking — AFTN (@aftncanada) September 27, 2015 I have so much respect for Mati Laba. Last person who should feel responsible for tonight's defeat. Tackle of the game #VWFC — Eighty Six Forever (@86forever) September 27, 2015



The Second Half

Vancouver came back onto the pitch with a burst of flare that almost saw them score the equalizer off a free kick set piece. Mauro Rosales sent the ball into the visitors box and Kendall Waston connected with a diving header. Josh Saunders was able to fight through the chaos to make a diving save in the 49' minute. Andrea Pirlo, Frank Lampard, and David Villa managed to all play 90' minutes against the Whitecaps. Despite their age, they proved to be well worth the price of admission and fully involved in the match. Leading up to the match Lampard stated that he was not bothered by the turf, he talked about the atmosphere and what it was like to play on the well-known and controversial BC Place turf. "I enjoyed it, it’s quite a new experience for a few of us. I think its good turf, it plays fair. You adapt slightly, I have to say I found it enjoyable to play on." The former Juventus magician shared with TSN 1040's Mike Martignago that he was also not taking issue with the BC Place turf. "Even in Italy there are synthetic pitches and turf fields. It's not a problem to play on." The match started to open up more so in the second half and that played into the pace and speed of the Whitecaps. Vancouver looked more lively and intent on scoring a goal. Carl Robinson adjusted his lineup by making a quick pair of substitutions in the 67' and 69' minute. Pedro Morales and Octavio Rivero entered for Gershon Koffie and Darren Mattocks. The injection of Octavio Rivero shifted the focus of offense for Vancouver. Rivero was able to get airborne on a pair of headed opportunities that came close to finding the net. Jordan Harvey also missed a chance to tie the match. With the open and free-flowing match that transpired in the second half, the Whitecaps appeared more likely to secure that all important next big goal. Referee Ricardo Salazar gift wrapped a late penalty call against New York City FC. Jordan Smith sent in a long ball that Saunders had trouble stopping and controlling. Kendall Waston raced into the area looking to smash home the rebound. Angelino tripped up Waston as he was falling to the ground, Salazar pointed to the spot to the delight of the Whitecaps supporters. Penalty specialist, Pedro Morales stepped up and buried the ball past Saunders to tie the match 1-1. Vancouver then came close to taking all three points as they had a flurry of breaks up the pitch that threatened New York City FC. The Whitecaps failed to score and Ricardo Salazar thought he would own up for his poor penalty decision, by making another poor penalty call. This time it would be the visitors to step up to the penalty spot. Matias Laba got all ball as he went in to tackle Frank Lampard. The incident occurred just inside the Vancouver box. New York was given a bogus penalty and David Villa stepped up and sent David Ousted the other way. Vancouver supporters were up in arms as Salazar had influenced the outcome of the match once again. New York earned all three points and did so in a massive controversial manner.



Man of the Match



Kendall Waston

Waston was active and created opportunities for himself throughout the match. The towering centre-back also held his own against the big guns of New York City FC. The biggest contribution from Waston came in the second half when he was able to earn Vancouver a late penalty. Waston doesn't get up the pitch very often during open play, but was able to help his team at that time Who was your Whitecaps Man of the Match?

Vancouver Whitecaps Starting XI: David Ousted (C); Jordan Smith, Kendall Waston, Tim Parker, Jordan Harvey; Matias Laba, Gershon Koffie (Pedro Morales 67); Cristian Techera, Mauro Rosales (Robert Earnshaw 88), Kekuta Manneh; Darren Mattocks (Octavio Rivero 69). (4-2-3-1) New York City FC Starting XI: Josh Saunders; RJ Allen, Shay Facey, Jason Hernandez (Patrick Mullins 90+1), Angelino; Andrew Jacobson, Andrea Pirlo; Mix Diskerud (Kwadwo Poko 90), Frank Lampard, Ned Grabovoy (Khiry Shelton 75); David Villa (C). (4-2-3-1)