‘Caps fall after going down to 10 men
COMMERCE CITY, CO – It was a divisive game between Vancouver Whitecaps FC and Colorado Rapids, as a late first-half red card and penalty made the difference in a 1-0 defeat for the ‘Caps.
The match began with both sides settling into the game in the early stages. The visiting ‘Caps had an early dangerous chance after Ryan Gauld laid off a pass to Levonte Johnson. Johnson then sent a whipped cross into box from the left, but it was cut out before it could find Brian White. Bjørn Inge Utvik was then called into action with a lunging challenge on Kevin Cabral, denying him a clear run on goal.
The ‘Caps then began to turn up the heat, with Johnson having a fizzing shot deflected out for a corner inside 15 minutes. Pedro Vite then thundered a shot from distance from the resulting corner, stinging the hands of Zack Steffen and out for another corner.
Vite had another chance from distance after being found in space by Gauld near the Colorado box, but it sailed high and wide.
38 minutes in, Johnson forced Steffen into a crucial save inside his own box. After being slipped in behind and managing to skip past his marker, his chipped effort was denied by the glove of Steffen.
Whitecaps FC then had a golden opportunity to get the first goal right near the end of the half, with Ahmed sending a lethal cross into the box for White to tap in, but the American striker was just a whisker behind the ball.
On the crucial play of the match, Utvik was adjudged to have handled the ball inside the box to deny Colorado a goal with a sliding block in added time of the first half, resulting in a sending-off for Utvik and penalty for the Rapids. Rafael Navarro then stepped up and dispatched his penalty to give the Rapids the lead heading into halftime.
The second half began with Whitecaps FC looking to get back in this match. Gauld nearly got sent clean through on goal but was denied after a sweeping Steffen cleared the ball before the Scot could latch onto it.
Later in the half, Calvin Harris forced Takaoka into a flying save after a thumping shot from the top of the ‘Caps box.
White would have one more good chance to level the affair after beating the offside trap and bearing down on goal. Seeing Steffen off his line, the American attempted to lift the ball over the onrushing ‘keeper but his hit looped over the net.
Late in the match, 19-year-old Whitecaps FC 2 (WFC2) forward and Tanzanian internional Cyprian Kachwele subbed in to make his MLS debut.
As much as Whitecaps FC would push on to find that equalizer, despite being down to 10-men, they could not find that equalizer before the referee blew his final whistle.
The ‘Caps are back in action this coming Saturday, May 18 against Cascadia rivals Seattle Sounders FC at 7:30pm PT in another Cascadia derby at Lumen Field. The match will be broadcast live on MLS Season Pass on Apple TV, TSN, and on AM730 radio.
Whitecaps FC then return to BC Place for two huge home matches. First will be the second leg of their Canadian Championship series against Calvary FC on Tuesday, May 21 at 7:30 p.m. PT. Then, the ‘Caps host Inter Miami CF in front of more than 50,000 fans on Saturday, May 25 at 7:30 p.m. PT. For tickets, visit whitecapsfc.com/tickets.
MATCH DETAILS
VWFC GE Appliances Player of Quality: Pedro Vite
Attendance: 11,190
Referee: Alexis Da Silva
Scoring Summary
45’+5 – COL – Rafael Navarro (penalty kick)
Statistics
Possession: COL 54.6% – VAN 45.4%
Shots: COL 17 – VAN 8
Shots on Goal: COL 3 – VAN 2
Saves: COL 2 – VAN 2
Fouls: COL 5 – VAN 10
Offsides: COL 3 – VAN 1
Corners: COL 8 – VAN 6
Ejection
45’+3 – VAN – Bjørn Inge Utvik
Colorado Rapids
95.Zack Steffen; 2.Keegan Rosenberry, 64.Moïse Bombito, 5.Andreas Maxsø, 3.Sam Vines; 18.Oliver Larraz (20.Connor Ronan 62’), 23.Cole Bassett; 91.Kévin Cabral (14.Calvin Harris 62’), 10.Djordje Mihailovic (21.Jasper Löffelsend 71’), 11.Omir Fernández (7.Jonathan Lewis 81’); 9.Rafael Navarro (77.Darren Yapi 81’)
Substitutes not used
31.Adam Beaudry, 6.Lalas Abubakar, 22.Sebastian Anderson, 99.Jackson Travis
Vancouver Whitecaps FC
1.Yohei Takaoka; 23.Javain Brown (11.Fafà Picault 72’), 4.Ranko Veselinović, 15.Bjørn Inge Utvik; 22.Ali Ahmed, 45.Pedro Vite, 20.Andrés Cubas (55.Cyprian Kachwele 88’), 14.Luís Martins (7.Ryan Raposo 62’); 25.Ryan Gauld ©, 24.Brian White, 28.Levonte Johnson (6.Tristan Blackmon 62’)
Substitutes not used
32.Isaac Boehmer, 2.Mathías Laborda, 8.Alessandro Schöpf, 13.Ralph Priso, 16.Sebastian Berhalter
