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Harjeet Johal ,

April 30, 2015 Twitter

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VANCOUVER, B.C - The Vancouver Whitecaps traveled to the Bronx for an afternoon showdown against New York City FC. This was the Whitecaps first trip to Yankee Stadium to take on second year side, New York City FC. The Caps scored early, but it wasn't enough as they came up with a swing and a miss on defensive assignments. A David Villa brace, and a second half match-winner from rookie Steven Mendoza secured a 3-2 win for New York City FC in what was an exciting match before 25,438 fans.



A disappointed Carl Robinson shared his thoughts on a yet another tough loss for the 3-5-2 Vancouver Whitecaps.



"It's not easy when you lose a game of football. They get their first win, I'm disappointed we didn't take anything from the game."



"It was a fantastic start for us. We got off to a good start, but an error in midfield cost us." The Opening 45

Carl Robinson made several changes to his lineup that earned a 1-1 draw with Sporting Kansas City on Wednesday. Suspended Kendall Waston, and skipper Pedro Morales were left back in Vancouver. Jordan Harvey, and Fraser Aird made the trip to New York, but did not play. The Caps back-line featured Sam Adekugbe, Pa-Modou Kah, Tim Parker, and Jordan Smith. Octavio Rivero, and Nicolas Mesquida returned to the lineup with David Ousted starting in-goal.



Vancouver capitalized on an early blunder from New York City FC goalkeeper Josh Saunders. While attempting to control the ball after a back-pass from Jason Hernandez. Mezquida rushed Saunders and blocked his kick attempt. The loose ball went across the New York City FC box and Octavio Rivero was in great position to tap in his first goal of the season.



Rivera's goal was came just 37 seconds into the match. Vancouver looked to have a comfortable early lead, but the first half offered up more surprises for the visitors. Rivero was subbed off in the 27' minute with a left-ankle sprain and Blas Perez entered the match.



The Whitecaps make-shift back-line was not able to hold a 1-0 lead heading into halftime. World Cup winner David Villa scored in the 35' and 41' minute. Villas's first tally came after Vancouver defensive midfielder, Andrew Jacobson was muscled off the ball in midfield. Khiry Shelton found David Villa cutting into the Caps box and he fired a shot low into the far corner past David Ousted.



New York City FC's next goal featured some shambolic man-marking from the Whitecaps off a corner. Andrea Pirlo sent in a fantastic ball that found an un-marked David Villa. He delivered an acrobatic volley into the Vancouver net. While Vancouver was able to get off to a terrific start. Poor defensive form resulted in a Villa brace and a 2-1 New York lead heading into the break. Patrick Vieira: "@Guaje7Villa was a real captain today. He was fantastic" — New York City FC (@NYCFC) April 30, 2016 We finished with 11 on the pitch. That's got to be worth something — #GoCaps (@whitecaps_fan) April 30, 2016

The Second Half

Kekuta Manneh was taken down in the box by full-back Ethan White. Referee Sorin Stoica immediately pointed to the spot and awarded Vancouver a penalty. With Pedro Morales, and Octavio Rivero not available to take the penalty, Christian Bolanos stepped up looking to convert. The Costa Rican international sent an awful attempt on goal, and Saunders was able to dive to his right to make a save. However, the rebound was not smothered, and Bolanos quickly pounced on the ball to tie the match 2-2 in the 63'.



New York City FC gaffer, Patrick Vieira made his first substitution in the 67' minute bringing on Colombian striker Steven Mendoza for Khiry Shelton. The substitution was brilliant and it did not take long for the 23 year-old to score his first MLS goal. Thomas McNamara sent a pass across the box pass to a wide-open Mendoza. He calmly took his time and placed his shot inside the near post past a frustrated David Ousted. New York City FC was back in the lead with a 3-2 advantage in the 73' minute.



Vancouver countered with a double substitution in the 78 minute. Cristian Techera and Erik Hurtado entered the match for Kekuta Manneh and Christian Bolanos. Carl Robinson was hoping the injection of fresh legs would help Vancouver find another equalizer and perhaps a draw to take back to Vancouver.



The chances were certainly there as New York City FC decided to play a high-line. Vancouver was able to send long balls over the top, but none found the back of the net. The best chance came to Erik Hurtado who sent his shot across the mouth of the goal. New York Cit FC was in full scramble mode, including Josh Saunders. The Caps were just not able to find another goal. The back and forth action will have no doubt left Carl Robinson and Patrick Vieira scratching their heads. New York City FC was better on this day, but not by much. Vancouver will have to go back to the defensive tactics board as they prepare for Portland next week. Man of the Match David Villa

David Villa is a World Cup winner, a world-class player and someone who deserves not just one, but multiple man-marking attention. This was not present from the Whitecaps back-line. Villa had all sorts of time and space on his first goal, and he could have had a picnic and a nap before he scoring his volley. Villa loves to feast on Canadian MLS and has scored 13/24 goals against Vancouver, Toronto, and Montreal since he joined Major League Soccer. His talent was on full display against the Caps and Vancouver also shot themselves in the foot by not shadowing Villa. Post Match Reaction



Vancouver Whitecaps FC Coach Carl Robinson



On whether he thought the team deserved more points…



“Yes I did, again it is easy for me to say we deserved it but we didn’t get that from the game. Based on our performance and that’s the same for NYCFC, yeah the chances we had I am disappointed we didn’t get a point but after we actually probably scored too early in the 20th second or the 25th second, holding on the 89 min stretch was never going to be a problem for us but there a really good team and just had some really bad luck over the past couple of games with succeeding goals and things like that. I thought that we could get at them. We tried to have the upper hand from the start which we did but sometimes it’s just not your day.”



On NYCFC’s second goal…



“They have good players, I mean if you look at the roster and there’s a number of good players, and a number of good players on the bench as well. And sometimes things just don’t go for you and sometimes they do. You know we haven’t scored that many goals in the first 9 some odd games that we would like. You go away from home and you don’t score that many goals that you would like which you’re never very pleased with but you try and keep it exciting and you try and keep it off the back end but you got a bit of everything today, I think it was a good game. Good things, bad things and some pretty inconsistent things as well.” “I’m glad you saw it because I saw it too. I mentioned it to the 4th official. Great play from NYCFC, got to give them credit. If they set a pick, we were told at the beginning of the year if that happens there would be free kicks against you. It was an odd day and a little bit naive. If it was a foul then it was a foul and you saw what I saw. I saw my boy being held but I mean all I can do it complain credit to them for the set piece that worked.”



On what the trouble in the back was today…



“You know coming into a small pitch a narrower pitch than were use too, we know that NYCFC likes to press and just get organized like that. We didn’t want to take too many chances and you go ahead 1 nil and I don’t know what it is about football but teams seems to sit back even though you try, even though as a coach you try to not sit back. If players give the ball away at the edge of the box, then the natural thing for a player to do is to go into a little heightened position that he doesn’t want to do on the ball and then you end up going long and then you’re not building it up from the back. It was a decent away performance for us, but we left here with nothing to show for it.”



Vancouver Whitecaps D Tim Parker



On what New York City FC excelled at today...



“I think they were able to manage the game pretty well today and I think that they knew at points when to slow it down and when to speed it back up. I think they really did that well today.”



On what positives came out of the match…



“I think that one of the major things that we can take out of today is our attitude coming in to the second half. We really wanted to step our lines and step up our game and I think that we achieved that by putting pressure on New York City FC early.”



On what the home defense did well today..



“I think that home field advantage ties into it a little bit. But I think that at the same time we weren’t so worried about building the ball out of the back as much as getting the possession out of the midfield and going from there.”



Vancouver Whitecaps GK David Ousted



On what went right today…



“I think that we, especially in the 2nd half, get going a little bit more and put pressure on them but unfortunately it didn’t work out for us today.”



On the way New York City FC looked on offense…



“They have got a guy up front that is world class and you see that. He had two fantastic goals and that is something that you obviously noticed. As a team they put pressure on and played well.”



On what held the defense back today…



“Not to take anything away from New York City FC but unfortunately the referees today helped them dictate the game by hurrying us up from minute 10. I wasn’t disappointed in any individual plays but I was disappointed that he dictated the tempo of the game like that. But again New York City FC scored 3 goals today and that is the reason that they won.”



Vancouver Whitecaps Starting XI: David Ousted(C); Jordan Smith, Tim Parker, Pa-Modou Kah, Sam Adekugbe; Andrew Jacobson, Matias Laba; Christian Bolaños 78 (Erik Hurtado), Nicolas Mezquida, Kekuta Manneh 78 (Cristian Techera); Octavio Rivero 27 (Blas Perez). 4-2-3-1



New York City FC Starting XI: Josh Saunders; Ronald Matarrita, Jason Hernandez, Fredric Brilliant, Ethan White; Andrea Pirlo 86 (Andoni Iraola), Frederico Bravo, Mikey Lopez; Thomas McNamara 75 (Mix Diskerud), David Villa, Khiry Shelton 67 (Steven Mendoza). 4-3-3