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Harjeet Johal ,

April 12, 2015 Twitter

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VANCOUVER, B.C - The Vancouver Whitecaps made their first visit to the brand new Avaya Stadium on Saturday night to battle the San Jose Earthquakes. A tired looking Vancouver squad came into this match after a 2-2 draw with Columbus on Wednesday. Dominic Kinnear's Earthquakes neutralized the Whitecaps attack and prevailed with a 1-0 victory before a crowd of 18,00 fans. Sanna Nyassi scored the only goal of the match in the 75th minute after Vancouver could not clear the ball away from danger. The Whitecaps five match unbeaten streak is over, but they do however remain at the top of the MLS table with 13 points this season. Carl Robinson shared his thoughts on the match. "Not a very good match to be fair. We didn’t play well. I don’t think we deserve anything from the game. We didn’t get a shot on target. You don’t get a shot on target, you don’t get to score goals. We’ll analyze our performance, the team’s performance, because third game in a week is always going to be difficult." The match featured unquestionable refereeing from Edvin Jurisevic throughout the 90' minutes. Late in the second half both Pedro Morales and Adam Jahn were sent off with straight red cards. Morales was shown to have kicked the ball while it was under Jahn. In retaliation Jahn kicked out at the Whitecaps skipper. Both players will miss next weekends fixtures. Dominic Kinnear thought his team played good and he was happy to nick a late goal in the second half and earn a big win. The San Jose gaffer wasn't one for making excuses for the visitors, but he came close. "I thought we were playing pretty good. We weren’t bad, we were just a little bit disconnected at times. But I thought our energy level was definitely better. We were moving the ball quicker and therefore guys were finding little gaps in the field, which made it easier to attack. And I think at that point we were playing in their half of the field rather than our half of the field. They may have been a little fatigued as well, they've had a tough week and put together some good results. But I can’t speak for them, I only speak for us, and I thought we were due a goal. Good for us to get the win."



The Opening 45

Early jitters made an appearance in the first half as San Jose caught the Whitecaps in what looked like an early goal. Adam Jahn was a few paces ahead of the Vancouver back-four and thus his goal was called back. Pa-Modou Kah had given the ball away to Matias Garcia only to be bailed out by the quick footed Jahn and an offside call. The 30 year-old Garcia knew that playing the Vancouver Whitecaps would be a huge test for the San Jose Earthquakes and he wasn't happy with the San Jose start. "We knew coming in to this match that it was going to be a test. In the first half, we weren't sharp and running without assignment. We knew in the second half that we needed to play better and it showed. We created multiple chances and I feel that calmed us down a bit. We continued to attack, we scored the goal and that’s why we won tonight." The Whitecaps played their third MLS match in eight days and with Ousted, Beitashour, Waston, Laba, Morales, and Rivero starting each match. Pa-Modou Kah was supposed to be rested against Columbus on Wednesday, however a Diego Rodriguez injury forced the 34 year-old centre-back into that match. Kah started against San Jose, and he was clearly not at his best. Neither side looked anywhere close to scoring a goal in the opening forty-five or even showed signs of coming close to scoring. Instead the first half featured a bundle of yellow cards. Darren Mattocks, David Bingham, Kekuta Manneh, Pa-Modou Kah all went into the book of referee Edvin Jurisevic. The story of the first half was the amount of cautions issued and the lack of urgency and scoring opportunities for both teams. San Jose held a possession advantage of 55% - 45% and a 2-1 corner advantage. No shots on target were recorded in the first half for either team. Brutal end to the week for #VWFC. Two games, one point, & Morales ejected. Quakes aren't easy on the eyes, but have 3 wins. #SJvVAN — Jeff Carlisle (@JeffreyCarlisle) April 12, 2015

Ok, everyone, let's not talk about this anymore tonight. Or ever. #VWFC — FTBL Podcast (@FromTheBackline) April 12, 2015

The Second Half

The Earthquakes continued to control the ball and possession in the early stages of the second half. As a result, the final third was a constant struggle for both teams. San Jose and Vancouver gave balls away one after the other, and finding an offensive opportunity to score was difficult. 18 year-old Deybi Flores earned his first career MLS start as he played in a left-holding midfield position next to Matias Laba. Flores sent a beautiful cross up to Octavio Rivero, but the leading MLS scorer was not able to connect with Darren Mattocks because the Jamaican striker fell down. It was just that kind of night for the Vancouver Whitecaps. Flores picked up a yellow card in the 61' minute. Russell Teibert entered the match for Flores in the 68' minute. J.J. Koval replaced Chris Wondolowski a few minutes earlier in the 64' minute. Both gaffers were desperate to create scoring opportunities, but they were few and far between. Santa Clara University alum, Erik Hurtado was substituted into the match for Darren Mattocks in the 72' minute. The Whitecaps offense that created numerous scoring chances against Columbus earlier in the week was non-existent in San Jose. The Earthquakes looked like the only team that was going to find a goal and that they did. After a shot blocks from Beitashour and Kah, Sanna Nyassi buried the ball top corner past David Ousted. Vancouver made an unusual pattern of giving the ball away and Nyassi was in the right spot to blast the ball into the frame to give San Jose a 1-0 lead in the 75' minute. San Jose native Steven Beitashour reflected on poor ball possession and the Whitecaps heavy schedule following the match. "We gotta keep the ball. We didn’t keep the ball tonight. I don’t know what it was. Might have been that three game in a week but we just gotta keep the ball, possession, open up the field and just do differently than we did tonight." Vancouver just didn't have anything left in the tank after a busy start to the month of April. Whitecaps players had far too many turnovers and yellow, and red cards. Carl Robinson will take issues with the referee, but his team simply did not show up to play. The Earthquakes were deserving of the win. Man of the Match



Deybi Flores

The youngster was a lone bright spot for the Whitecaps on a night to forget. The 18 year-old played 68' minutes and was able to help keep the Earthquakes off the score sheet during his time on the pitch. The young Honduran has a bright future in Vancouver and plenty of talent around him to help grow as a professional footballer. The Whitecaps manager was quite pleased with Flores. "I thought he was good. I thought he showed energy. I thought he grew into the game. He was keen, he was like to get on the ball and stuff and I thought it was a really positive performance."

Who was your Whitecaps Man of the Match?

Vancouver Whitecaps Starting XI: David Ousted; Steven Beitashour, Kendall Waston, Pa-Modou Kah, Jordan Harvey; Matias Laba (Kianz Froese 80), Deybi Flores (Russell Teibert 68); Darren Mattocks (Erik Hurtado 72), Pedro Morales(C), Kekuta Manneh; Octavio Rivero. (4-2-3-1) Columbus Crew Starting XI: David Bingham; Marvell Wynne, Victor Bernardez, Clarence Goodson, Cordell Cato; Fatai Alashe; Sanna Nyassi (Michael Fucito 90+4), Matias Garcia (Tommy Thompson 80), Shea Salinas; Chris Wondolowski (J.J. Koval 64); Adam Jahn. (4-1-4-1) Notes: Chris Wondolowski left the match with a right calf injury. Robert Earnshaw was a surprise omission from the Whitecaps team sheet due to a twisted knee. The Whitecaps have never won a road match against the San Jose Earthquakes