So much for that five-game unbeaten streak.
Falling 1-0 on Saturday to the San Jose Earthquakes in a road match at the home side’s new Avaya Stadium, the Vancouver Whitecaps put together perhaps its least inspiring showing of this campaign.
It was the third match for the Whitecaps in a week, and despite coach Carl Robinson’s efforts to keep things fresh by making four changes to the starting lineup, his team never looked engaged or particularly dangerous.
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Up top, Octavio Rivero, who has been so prolific with a league-leading five goals, was left totally isolated. The Uruguayan never had a sniff of goal, let alone a legitimate chance, and the Earthquakes deserve credit for that.
A big talking point in this match will be discipline, or Vancouver’s lack of it. Pedro Morales was dismissed alongside San Jose’s Adam Jahn for a largely needless exchange. Morales, perhaps frustrated with the lack of joy experienced by his team in the match, kicked out at Jahn, who was on the ground.
The Chilean mainly made contact with the ball, but it looked worse than perhaps it was given that Jahn was prone. Jahn then retaliated by lashing out in kind, and both players were shown red cards.
It was a moment that summed up what was a night of poor discipline from Vancouver at large, with the team picking up six cards overall. At times referee Edvin Jurisevic appeared eager to reach for his pocket, but it was clear that the visitors were one step behind the pace of the game.
Given Morales wears the captain’s armband and has played at a higher level than anyone else on the side, it was a moment that never should have happened from a player who should know better.
The man providing protection behind Morales, Matias Laba, also will look back on this game with regret, but for different reasons. The normally reliable Argentine was guilty of a needless giveaway in midfield—a giveaway which started an attack which led to the game’s lone goal from the home side.
On the flanks, there wasn’t much joy to speak of either. Kekuta Manneh made a few impressive runs, but they never led anywhere. On the other wing, Darren Mattocks failed to replicate his excellent mid-week performance, doing little of note. Substitute Erik Hurtado did little to improve the situation out wide.
Kianz Froese, coming on as a sub for Laba, did a little more, with some penetrating runs, but found himself crowded out by the Earthquakes’ defence on more than one occasion.
In his starting debut, Deybi Flores put in a workmanlike performance, and did well for the most part to maintain possession, but seemed more inclined to look for the safe pass than look to drive the play forward from midfield. The Honduran is a fine athlete and has shown in his substitute appearances that he has quality, but based on this outing Russell Teibert doesn’t have too much to fear about immediately losing his spot.
Speaking of Teibert, he looked engaged after replacing Flores, but struggled, as many Vancouver players did on this night, to do anything meaningful in the final third.
At the back, there really wasn’t much to do in what was as largely dire performance from the Earthquakes going forward. Jordan Harvey and Steven Beitashour were steady, as they generally are, and Kendall Waston didn’t commit any cardinal sins in the heart of defence.
Pa Modou Kah can count himself fortunate not to have cost his team a goal with a fairly criminal giveaway in the first 10 minutes of the match, which resulted in Jahn scoring a goal which was quickly flagged for offside. The bullet was dodged but the Vancouver defender seems to have a habit of coughing up the ball at opportunistic moments.
It was a largely quiet night for goalkeeper David Ousted, and he didn’t have a chance on Sanna Nyassi’s game winning goal, which bounced around the box like a pinball before being blasted into the goal.
Under Robinson, the team has prided itself on its ability to keep possession, and on this night that didn’t happen. Many passes were also wayward, with the side having a dire 69.9 percent passing percentage by match’s end.
The good news is that after a busy stretch, the Whitecaps have a week to rest before a road match against Real Salt Lake. The downside is that the club will be without its suspended captain Morales for his needless moment of recklessness as he will have a minimum one-game suspension.
Martin MacMahon is a Vancouver-based writer. Follow him on Twitter