P osted by

Harjeet Johal ,

May 10, 2015 Twitter

@HarJournalist Read this on your iPhone/iPad or Android device



VANCOUVER, B.C - The Vancouver Whitecaps hosted the Philadelphia Union on a sunny afternoon in front of 20,183 spectators at BC Place. Jim Curtin's struggling team have been floundering near the bottom of the MLS Eastern Conference all season and that poor form continued with a 3-0 loss to the Whitecaps. First half goals from Pedro Morales and Octavio Rivero set the tone for Vancouver after a memorizing save from David Ousted. A late strike from substitute Darren Mattocks sealed the deal. David Ousted earned his MLS leading 6th clean sheet of the season and recorded 2 saves. The Whitecaps now sit tied for first overall in Major League Soccer with 20 points after convincingly thrashing the Philadelphia Union. Vancouver dominated possession, controlled the pace of the match and created more scoring opportunities. The team was on the right page from the get and everyone was firing on all cylinders. Carl Robinson was delighted with his teams play, but according to the gaffer this wasn't the most complete match the Whitecaps have played all season. "No, I think that was the LA Galaxy game when we played at home. Obviously, we scored one more goal, so people will obviously assume that today’s match was the most complete game. Today was a good performance, but fine lines, this game. Because you look at David Ousted’s save just before we scored our first goal. If we go down 1-0 at home, then suddenly the dynamic of the game changes. So, we enjoy it but we don’t get carried away. It was a good performance." Tim Parker made his first career MLS start and didn't look a hair out of place in his debut. Playing out of position at right-back, he fit in well and worked alongside Cristian Techera when he entered the match. The Hicksville, New York native was beaming with joy after his first of many future MLS starts. "It’s a little bit of a new feel, but I'm just adjusting. Working with the guys around me made it a lot easier. I've played right back in college and I played it here in pre-season for a little bit as well."



The Opening 45

A slew of goalkeeping misfortunes meant that Brian Sylvestre had to start in goal for Philadelphia. Earlier this week during training, Andre Blake suffered a torn meniscus, and John McCarthy sustained a concussion. Rais Mbolhi returned from exile, but did not travel to Vancouver. The 22 year-old Sylvestre was a former residency player for the Whitecaps during 2010 season. The Haitian keeper has been on a long road since being involved with the Whitecaps organization. His debut didn't go as he would have liked, but he felt blessed to be back in Vancouver were everything started. "It’s a team effort. We lost as a group so we just need to continue working hard. It’s a blessing to be back in the MLS. I've been through a tough road in the past three years. It’s a blessing to come back to my first club." Vancouver was forced to make an unexpected early substitution after Mauro Rosales asked to be lifted from the match. It was later confirmed that Rosales left with a tight right quad. Cristian Techera entered the match in the 12' minute and played on the right flank next to Pedro Morales. The first half was played mostly in the midfield with both teams battling for possession and space. Not much was created on the offensive side of the ball in the first 25' minutes. Defenders stood tall in preventing any clear cut scoring opportunities inside the box. A phenomenal goalkeeping display of brilliance was on display in the 26' minute when Philadelphia had a tremendous chance to open the scoring. Eric Ayuk was able to find Andrew Wenger sneaking in towards the back post. Tim Parker was a late picking up Wenger and he had what seemed like an easy tap in for a goal. However, David Ousted came diving across his net to make an out-of-this-world save. Wenger pounded his fist into the netting, as the crowd roared and cheered Ousted's name. The Caps brick wall back-stopper took his time in discussing his potential MLS 'Save of the Week' contender. "They get the ball right over on our left side and it goes to the back post. He sneaks around and gets a shot off. I just try to get as much of my body in the way and I got a hand to it. I think I got a knee to it as well and kept it out. It was a good time in the game to get that save. I think it was a little bit of a scare. We knew that they could hurt us and that was a little bit of a wake-up call and we got going after that. After we got the first goal I think everything flowed a lot better. We were better on the ball. The guys up front did tremendous today getting three goals." Momentum from the Ousted save carried the Whitecaps forward and in the 32' minute captain Pedro Morales opened the scoring by contributing his second goal of the season. Cristian Techera delivered a terrific ball through the heart of the Union defenders to earn his first career MLS assist. Morales was off to the races and he lofted a lovely curling ball around Brian Sylvestre and into the vacated net. The blundering Philadelphia back-line presented a lovely spring gift for Octavio Rivero that resulted in the second tally of the match for the Whitecaps. Some terrible passing from the Union put Ethan White in a bad spot. Rivero simply out muscled White off the ball and slotted the ball past Sylvester. Jim Curtin and the Union bench wanted a pushing off foul called on Rivero, but nothing was coming. Vancouver went into the interval with a 2-0 lead, a 6-2 shots on target margin, and a 57%-43% possession advantage. Probably won't get much attention now, but Matias Laba was a beast in the first half. #VWFC #WhitecapsFC — Farhan Devji (@farhandevji) May 10, 2015

Great home environment today ! Loved the feeling of playing at BC Place ! Thank you for all the support from family, friends and fans! #VWFC — Tim Parker (@Tim_Parker26) May 10, 2015

The Second Half

The home side continued to mount pressure on the lacklustre Union. If not for Brian Sylvestre the Caps could have easily scored half a dozen goals. The Philadelphia keeper was left to fend for himself on many occasions. Sylvestre finished the match with 7 saves to his name. In an effort to try and spark some life into his squad, manager Jim Curtain decided to make a double substitution in the 62' minute. Andrew Wenger, and Fernando Aristeguieta made way for a pair of French nationals. Former Whitecaps midfielder Sebastien Le Toux, and Vincent Nogueira stepped onto the pitch. The second substitution for Vancouver featured a striker swap as Octavio Rivero left for Darren Mattocks on 69' minutes. Philadelphia still looked towards a brief glimmer of hope as Connor Casey made his way into the match for over-matched centre-back Ethan White in the 76' minute. It was just not the best day to be a player wearing a Philadelphia Union kit. Things went from bad to worse in the 78' minute. Referee Ismail Elfath was quick to reach for his pocket in issuing centre-back Richie Marquez a straight red card. The 22 year-old Marquez appeared to get his boot up and make a slight amount of contact with Cristian Techera. At first glance the incident appeared to have zero malicious intent. Nevertheless, Philadelphia was forced to play the remainder of the match reduced to 10-men. With no substitutions left, and zero natural central-defenders to choose from, Jim Curtain decided to play skipper Maurice Edu at centre-back. This experiment proved to backfire as Edu was victimized and made to look foolish by a streaky Darren Mattocks. The Whitecaps speedy Jamaican international received a great pass from Pedro Morales and he broke down the right flank. Mattocks turned Edu inside out. The former Glasgow Rangers midfielder was made to look absolutely dreadful. Mattocks schooled him and continued towards the goal before scoring his 3rd goal of the season. Following the match Mattocks talked about the teams play against the Union. "First of all I've got to give god thanks. The team did amazing, exactly what Carl told us to do out there. We did a really good job, but first I want to say David made a really great save. I think that was the turning point in the game. After that, Pedro scored. I've got to give David a lot of credit for a fantastic save, easily the save of the week." Man of the Match





Pedro Morales

Pedro Morales came to play and he took full advantage of the shambolic defense that Philadelphia trotted out. The skipper scored a lovely first half goal that got the Whitecaps going after David Ousted's brilliant save. Morales was making playmaker passes all match long. With Mauro Rosales forced to leave the match, Pedro stepped up and setup several of his teammates. Darren Mattocks was the recipient of a sublime pass from Pedro that resulted in the Jamaican's goal. You always want your captain to play as a leader and lead by example and Pedro Morales did just that and more. Honourable Mention In a market like Vancouver the goalkeeping position is always the talk of the town. David Ousted was the talk of the match and a highlight in the media scrum following the match because of his spectacular save off of Andrew Wenger. The Caps had been playing at normal speed until Ousted brought BC Place to life with his game changing save. On a night when Ousted met Vancouver Canucks goalkeeper Eddie Lack after the match, it was the 'Great Dane' that earned all the accolades. "Well today is the first time I've met him (Eddie Lack). He is the other goalkeeper that you guys know. We always keep together as goalkeepers, regardless of the sport. He is a great guy and I think it’s exciting to see what he does. The kind of mental preparation that he does. I think I could learn a lot from him. I haven’t been to a Canucks game but I've seen a couple on television and especially at the end here, I saw him play some tremendous games. I'm impressed that he has a day when he goes through 30 saves and I just have to make two. I guess I have an easy day."

Who was your Whitecaps Man of the Match?

Vancouver Whitecaps Starting XI: David Ousted; Tim Parker, Kendall Waston, Pa-Modou Kah, Jordan Harvey; Matias, Russell Teibert; Mauro Rosales (Cristian Techera 12), Pedro Morales(C) (Robert Earnshaw 87), Kekuta Manneh; Octavio Rivero (Darren Mattocks 69). (4-2-3-1) DC United Starting XI: Brian Sylvestre; Raymon Gaddis, Ethan White (Connor Casey 76), Richie Marquez, Sheanon Williams; Maurice Edu(C), Zach Pfeffer, Cristian Maidana, Eric Ayuk, Andrew Wenger (Vincent Noguiera 62); Fernando Aristeguieta (Sebastien Le Toux 62). (4-5-1) Notes: Steven Beitashour (Glute), Diego Rodriguez (Quad Strain), and Marco Bustos (Foot) remain on the shelf with short term injuries.