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Harjeet Johal ,

April 28, 2015 Twitter

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VANCOUVER, B.C - A mid-week clash featuring the Vancouver Whitecaps and Sporting Kansas City took place at BC Place with the visitors struggling to find form of late. Christian Bolanos opened his MLS account with a brilliant first half volley, but his tally was quickly answered by Diego Rubio. Kendall Waston was sent off for a second yellow card in the second half, but the 10-man Whitecaps did not concede a further goal. Both teams settled for a 1-1 draw in front of 18,836 spectators. Whitecaps Coach Carl Robinson was left wondering what to make of his teams 3-4-2 record. While he was pleased with the Whitecaps early goal and quick start, he was not thrilled with second half mistakes. A point earned is a positive in the grand scheme of things, however it was not the intended result. "I just said that to the guys in there, I'm not sure whether to be happy, to be sad, to be frustrated, annoyed. You know I thought we played very very well in the first half. I thought we played some of our (most) exciting stuff as we have done. We got our noses in front. Credit to them. They got back in the game, but that shouldn't happen from us. We switched off the second phase. When you do that against good teams you get caught. It was pleasing but disappointing in the first half. Second half is just a catalogue of errors from us. We've got to make sure that we don’t to that too many times, because three times in nine games we’ve played with 10 men. We haven’t conceded a goal, which is good." Sporting Kansas City Coach Peter Vermes was happy to see his team pick up a crucial point on the road in a difficult environment. Facing a team with one more day of rest was another challenge for Sporting Kansas City, and they did well to manage the match, rest key players, and still find a way to get a point. "We were a little bit beat up from our game on Sunday, we were depleted. It was a hot day, we weren't used to it. It’s not very hot in Kansas City at the moment so we haven’t really had a chance to acclimate to it. I actually thought we brought pretty good energy playing away from home. Getting a point, yeah it’s ok, but whenever you go up a man you always want more. I thought we actually got a couple opportunities here and there but they did a good job, they were really compact in the middle and also compact in their two lines. They made it really difficult for us to go up through the middle. Everything was wide and that made it difficult. Any time you go on the road in this league and get a point, it’s a pretty good thing." The Opening 45

To start the match Sporting Kansas City Manager, Peter Vermes rested several of his players who played in Sporting's most recent match on Sunday, a 1-0 loss away to San Jose. Dom Dwyer, Brad Davis, Graham Zusi, and number one goalkeeper Tim Melia all watched from the bench. Vancouver sat Octavio Rivero, Blas Perez, Nicolas Meszquida, and Kekuta Manneh. Pedro Morales made his return to the starting eleven after missing the previous three matches with injury. Christian Bolanos, Masato Kudo, and Russell Teibert also returned to the Vancouver lineup. It did not take long for the Whitecaps to get on the score-sheet. Christian Bolanos scored his first career MLS goal in the 14' minute and it was certainly a wonderful strike to put the Caps in the lead. Cristian Techera took a the corner and found an unmarked Bolanos in the Sporting Kansas City box. Bolanos delivered a side-foot volley into the visitors net. Bolanos has had a quiet start to his MLS resume, but he showed his worth and capability with a superb effort. As quickly as that goal was scored, Sporting Kansas City soon had an answer as they tied the match in the 27' minute. Lawrence Olum missed-fired his shot on target and the ball found unmarked rookie Diego Rubio. The Whitecaps back-line was almost frozen in time, perhaps expecting an offside to be called. It was not, and Rubio was free to walk in and score his first career MLS goal. Vancouver switched off for a moment and that's all it took for the opponents from Missouri to equalize. Referee Armando Villareal was in a generous mood as he handed out first half yellow cards to Matt Besler, Diego Rubio, and Kendall Waston. All three players would have to play with caution and as to not earn a second yellow and one of them did not. The first half concluded with even play from both sides as the score remained 1-1. Vancouver held a 58% - 42% advantage in possession. #vwfc fans lined up along the street watching hockey game on pub TVs after the match. #onlyinCanada — Kasey Hunter (@KRWJonze) April 28, 2016 And that's World Cup quality. Welcome to the Whitecaps, Christian Bolanos. This team's not bad on set pieces. #vwfc — Marc Weber (@ProvinceWeber) April 28, 2016

The Second Half

For the second time this season, Vancouver would be forced to finish a match against Sporting Kansas City with only ten men. Kendall Waston was issued a second yellow card in the 51'. Tim Parker made a poor back-pass that found Diego Rubio. Kendall Waston was forced to track down the Santiago, Chile native, and tackle him. Waston was then given his marching orders. Carl Robinson commented on Waston's pair of yellow cards and disagreed with one of those particular cards. The Caps gaffer had hoped to reach out to referee Armando Villareal following the match, but that was not quite meant with a conversation. "I've got no complaints about the second yellow card. I think it’s a poor decision, not just by Kendall, but from a number of players that were made. I just got told the first card is not a yellow card. So that’s a frustrating thing for me. But there was a number of frustrating things, because there was tackles that were missed, and there was a hand ball on the floor when my guy’s breaking through, which was missed. And I tried to ask the referee at the end of the game, but he didn’t want to shake my hand. So, that might tell you something." Carl Robinson wanted to get another centre-back into the match and he brought on veteran MLS man, Pa-Modou Kah. Skipper Pedro Morales was sacrificed to the bench. In this case it was better to have Pedro finish the match healthy instead of pushing him to play a full 90' minutes on his return . Vancouver also brought on Octavio Rivero for Masato Kudo in the 65'. Sporting Kansas City countered with leading scorer Dominic Dwyer in the 57' minute and Brad Davis in the 64'. While Sporting Kansas City clearly had the upper-hand, the Whitecaps did well not to allow another goal despite being down a man. Dwyer comment on the match and playing at BC Place. "Yeah it was a tough game," said Dwyer. "They're a tough side and it's a tough place to come and play. It's an okay result for us." Vancouver was holding on for dear life as Sporting Kansas City was pushing forward in search for that elusive go-ahead goal. Graham Zusi entered the match. Vancouver bunkered down as they wanted to earn a point and settle for a 1-1 draw. In the end, Sporting Kansas City did end a three match winless streak, but they also did not pick-up all three points. Vancouver continued to find a new goal-scorer and excel from set piece plays. It was a tough second half for Vancouver, but a much deserved earned a point in difficult circumstances. Man of the Match



Christian Bolanos

Bolanos is a world-class player that has not shown much positive form early in his first MLS season. He's the kind of player that can produce a magical volley like he did vs Sporting Kansas City. For a team that's always struggled to fill the net, getting Bolanos on track and in form will be a massive plus for the Caps. Bolanos helped Vancouver earn a point and showed fans, media, and teammates just what kind of ability he has when he's on his game. He described his goal. "Even me, I was surprised. It was difficult but I just tried to shoot in the goal. I was lucky to put the ball just in the corner and very happy for make my first goal." < Who was your Whitecaps Man of the Match?

Vancouver Whitecaps Starting XI: David Ousted; Fraser Aird, Kendall Waston, Tim Parker, Jordan Harvey; Matias Laba, Russell Teibert; Christian Bolaños 78 (Kekuta Manneh), Pedro Morales(C) 54 (Pa-Modou Kah), Cristian Techera; Masato Kudo 65 (Octavio Rivero). 4-2-3-1. Sporting Kansas City Starting XI: Alec Kann; Amadou Dia, Matt Besler(C), Nuno Coelho, Saad Abdul-Salaam; Roger Espinoza, Lawrence Olum, Benny Feilhaber; Connor Hallisen 64 (Brad Davis), Diego Rubio 57 (Dom Dwyer), Jimmy Medranda 75 (Graham Zusi). 4-3-3