Vancouver Whitecaps had hoped to make it three home wins on the bounce this month, but had to settle for a disappointing 1-1 draw with New York Red Bulls at BC Place this evening.
With New York fielding an understrength side, and without manager Hans Backe for personal reasons, the Caps were expected to go unbeaten in five in MLS action.
They managed that, but couldn’t get the win they were looking for in the end, as the visitors struck late to take a share of the spoils.
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Darren Mattocks’ red card on Saturday meant at least one enforced change to the Caps’ starting eleven and Martin Rennie went with Camilo Sanvezzo, in an otherwise unchanged line-up.
It was a fairly even, and uneventful, opening.
The first chance of the game fell to New York, with Dax McCarty heading a Joel Lindpere free kick straight at Joe Cannon in the 8th minute.
The Caps responded with a half chance of their own, Martin Bonjour acrobatically trying a bicycle kick that went over.
Davide Chiumiento shot wide for the Caps in the 12th minute, after some nice build up play between Vancouver’s front three.
It wasn’t proving to be a game full of goalmouth action, with play bogged down in the midfield.
Referee Chris Penso set his stall out early with a couple of bookings, with a few little niggly tackles by both sides.
Vancouver came close in the 27th minute when Chiumiento cut the ball inside to Gershon Koffie, but the Ghanaian pulled his shot wide of the left hand post.
The home side should have taken the lead in the 32nd minute.
Jun Marques Davidson played a neat ball inside to Koffie, who set up Camilo, but with time and the goal beckoning, the Brazilian pulled his shot well past the left hand post.
Five minutes later and Camilo had a chance to bury it again.
A sublime defence splitting ball from Chiumiento sent him free and as he bore down on goal, New York keeper Ryan Meara stumbled, but with the goal gaping, Camilo hit his effort into the side netting.
He should have found the target, but as it turned out, it didn’t matter as the linesman had his flag up for offside.
New York missed a great opportunity of their own in the 41st minute.
An unmarked McCarty got his head onto a Dane Richards cross in from the right, but the midfielder headed across the goal, when anywhere on target would most likely have led to the opener.
That was to be the last action of a pretty disappointing half and Vancouver fans were left hoping for the same kind of transformation that they saw against Colorado on Saturday.
The second half started in the same vein but the Caps nearly shook the game awake in the 56th minute.
John Thorrington played a deep long ball for Le Toux to chase down. The bounce held the ball up for the Frenchman and he had no other option but to cut back to Camilo on the edge of the box, but the Brazilian mishit completely.
The crowd were starting to show some impatience with Camilo and he was soon replaced by Eric Hassli, as the Caps hoped to try and kickstart their attack.
Within three minutes, the big Frenchman found his way into the referee’s book.
Undeterred, Hassli battled on and was put through by Koffie in the 69th minute but fired wide right.
New York had a chance from the resultant goal kick when Richards was put clean through, but Cannon did well to rush out quickly and block him.
It was looking like the game had all the makings of a goalless affair when Vancouver broke the deadlock in the 75th minute.
A Chiumiento corner was cleared out as far as Y-P Lee. The Korean quickly played the ball back to Chiumiento on the right wing and he sent in a cross from the right which Hassli, Rochat and Koffie were all unable to get on to. The ball came to Bonjour, who just managed to control it before unleashing a rocket into the postage stamp corner for 1-0 Caps.
New York looked a beaten side but pulled themselves back on level terms in the 86th minute.
Lindpere played a short corner on the right, got the ball back and sent in a perfect ball into the box for Heath Pearce to rise unmarked and head home the equaliser.
Neither side were able to carve out a chance for the winner and the final whistle signalled two points lost for Vancouver and not so much a point won.
With a gruelling five game road trip now beckoning, Vancouver will wish they had come out of this game with more.
ATT: 20,060
FINAL SCORE: Vancouver Whitecaps 1 - 1 New York Red Bulls
VANCOUVER: Joe Cannon; Young-Pyo Lee, Martin Bonjour, Jay DeMerit, Alain Rochat; Jun Marques Davidson, Gershon Koffie (Long Tan 90), John Thorrington; Camilo Sanvezzo (Eric Hassli 64), Sebastien Le Toux, Davide Chiumiento (Jordan Harvey 80) [subs Not Used: Brad Knighton, Carlyle Mitchell, Michael Nanchoff, Floyd Franks]
NEW YORK: Ryan Meara; Brandon Barklage, Markus Holgersson, Heath Pearce, Roy Miller; Dane Richards, Jan Gunnar Solli, Dax McCarty, Joel Lindpere (Victor Palsson 90+1), Connor Lade; Kenny Cooper (Jhonny Arteaga 90) [subs Not Used: Jeremy Vuolo, Jonathan Borrajo, Wilman Conde, Stephen Keel, Ryan Maduro]
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