Report and Reaction: Keane robs Whitecaps of first point in LA

Match report and post game reaction from Vancouver Whitecaps' 1-0 loss to Los Angeles Galaxy. With quotes from both locker rooms.

Report:

Vancouver Whitecaps had never won against the Galaxy in LA heading in to this one and despite an excellent first half performance where they created the better chances, they head back to Canada still looking for their first victory down there.

A Robbie Keane strike two minutes into the second half was the official difference between the teams, but LA dominated possession for much of the match as they ran out 1-0 winners.

The Whitecaps had their chances, and LA goalkeeper Jaime Penedo came up big in the first half to keep Vancouver at bay.

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Carl Robinson wasn't afraid to ring the changes and go for an attacking line up down in LA. A far change of what has been seen in recent seasons.

Despite Matias Laba being suspended, Nigel Reo-Coker could still not find a place back in the starting line up, with Russell Teibert dropping back to the holding midfielder role and playing alongside Gershon Koffie in a 4-2-3-1 formation.

With Kenny Miller also dropping to the bench, this allowed Vancouver to bring in Sebastian Fernandez and Kekuta Manneh on the wings, as the Whitecaps looked to use their pace with Darren Mattocks up front.

The home side enjoyed some early chances and David Ousted was called into action to save from Robbie Keane in the 8th minute.

Vancouver settled though and had a good spell of pressure in the 19th minute which first saw Pedro Morales hit over, after some good attacking work by both Caps' centrebacks, and then Darren Mattocks run at the Galaxy defence and force a save out of keeper Jaime Penedo.

Both sides were getting a fair share of the possession and the Whitecaps were holding their own.

They had a great chance to do even more than that in the 32nd minute when Manneh played the ball forward to Morales and the Chilean took five short touches before playing Manneh back in and his fierce shot was parried by Penedo.

With five minutes of the half remaining, Landon Donovan got the better of Andy O'Brien on a Dan Gargan cross, but couldn't direct his header on target.

As the seconds ticked down, Morales played a little chip forward and the bounce of the ball and Manneh's pace caused problems for Gargan, allowing the Gambian to break free and force another big save from Penedo.

That was to be the last action of the half. A half that had seen the Whitecaps with the better chances but neither side could find the breakthrough.

Robinson warned that the first 15 minutes of the second half were key and where games were won and lost. His players obviously didn't and fell a goal behind two minutes after the restart, in what was to indeed prove to be the matchwinner.

Stefan Ishizaki got the better of Jay DeMerit and whipped in a cross which was met by a shockingly unmarked who was allowed to ghost in by Gershon Koffie and finish with ease from five yards out.

The Caps didn't learn and allowed Keane to be unmarked again minutes later, but this time he set up Donovan, who fired into the arms of Ousted.

LA were comfortably in control of the game after the goal, with Vancouver struggling to get any threat going and Robinson went for a double substitution with just over 20 minutes remaining to try and freshen things up through Kenny Miller and Erik Hurtado.

It worked a little bit but there was still no meaningful penetration.

Nicolas Mezquida soon followed and the Uruguayan nearly had an immediate impact when he whipped in a corner with his first touch of the game and Miller flicked it goalwards but straight at Penedo, who punched the danger away.

LA made some subs of their own and one of them, Canadian international Rob Friend, wasted a great chance to put the game out of reach for the home side, running on to a long header forward and firing wide left when one on one with Ousted.

The Galaxy turned up the pressure in the closing minutes and Friend headed a Keane cross wide before the Irishman himself had a chance to kill the game off in the 88th minute when Friend flicked a header on to send him one on one with DeMerit. Keane easily got the better of the Caps captain but fired over when he looked odds on to score.

LA comfortably held on for the win. Vancouver had no way back and struggled to get much attack going in the second half.

Heavily outpossessed and struggling to create in the middle once again, the Whitecaps need to regroup quickly and come up with a new gameplan before LA head north to BC Place next Saturday.

After some of the poor performances tonight, there should be more changes.

FINAL SCORE: Los Angeles Galaxy 1 - 0 Vancouver Whitecaps

ATT: 20,847

LOS ANGELES: Jaime Penedo; Dan Gargan, Omar Gonzalez, Leonardo, A.J. DeLaGarza; Juninho, Marcelo Sarvas (Rob Friend 79), Baggio Husidic, Stefan Ishizaki (Gyasi Zardes 79); Landon Donovan, Robbie Keane [subs Not Used: Brian Perk, Tommy Meyer, Kenney Walker, Samuel Rosa, Kofi Opare] ]

VANCOUVER: David Ousted; Steven Beitashour; Jay DeMerit, Andy O'Brien, Jordan Harvey; Russell Teibert, Gershon Koffie, Sebastian Fernandez (Erik Hurtado 70), Pedro Morales (Kenny Miller 70), Kekuta Manneh (Nicolas Mezquida 77); Darren Mattocks [subs Not Used: Paolo Tornaghi, Ethen Sampson, Johnny Leveron, Nigel Reo-Coker]

Reaction:

Carl Robinson on the loss:

"The boys played very, very well. Obviously one minute of lack of concentration at the start of the second half cost us....Disappointed with the goal but very pleased by the performance."

"We didn't take our chances, which was unfortunate, and obviously we didn't get anything out of it."

Carl Robinson on performance of young line up:

"Russell was fantastic, as was Gershon Koffie. I think today some of my young players came of age. It's a tough environment to come and play against a very good team. A very organised team, a successful team and we showed we can go head to head with them which was pleasing."

Carl Robinson on starting Miller and Reo-Coker on bench:

"Kenny's played the first five games after having no preseason, so I wanted to look after him as well. Rest Kenny. Nigel's been out for two weeks and working his way in. I just felt that I needed young legs in there so I went for Russell and Koffie. I spoke to the guys today before the announcement and they were good. They were fine and responded great.

Carl Robinson on need to have scored in first half:

"I think it would have been a different game then because they would get a reaction. I thought we were slightly on top in the first half. Towards the end of the half we could have got one or two goals on the counters, which was good, but that didn't happen. Obviously there was the lack of concentration at the start of the second half which was unfortunate for us."

Jordan Harvey on the game:

"We weathered the storm in that first half and finished the half well. Going into the second half we had some confidence, but one lapse and Keane gets into the box and scores a goal. I thought we showed some resilience in that second half. We were trying to fight back."

Jordan Harvey on not taking chances:

"Anytime you're on the road you have to capitalise on your chances. We didn't tonight and we had quite a few in that first half and a couple of half chances in the second half but on the road you have to score those."

Russell Teibert on the game:

"We played well, we stuck to the gameplan, we did what the boss wanted us to do. Unfortunately we didn't come out with a point or a result but we just have to take them into next week."

Russell Teibert on the performance of a young Caps team:

"It was a good performance. It was very encouraging for the players to come in and do well. To show that young players on the Whitecaps can compete with the best."

Bruce Arena on game:

"We got a goal. That helped. I think going into half time they were going to hit a wall in the second half. They worked really hard the first 45 minutes. They had to chase the ball a lot. They were going to lose some of that energy in the second half. Certainly, getting that goal early changed the game. They can’t sit back and be content. And, the game opened up a little more. We created more chances. Unfortunately, we didn’t get another goal or two."

Robbie Keane on Vancouver:

"They were good, very well organized, if I do say so myself. They have a good manager, so I have to say that. But they were very well organized and made it difficult for us at times. I knew that if we kept the ball moving, and we got the first goal that it would open the game for us, and that was the case."

Landon Donovan on Vancouver:

"They’re a fast team, quick team. I thought they played well in the first half actually. We worked hard; I think our passing wasn’t great. That being said, we still created a few chances, fortunately Jaime [Penedo] made a couple of good saves. We wanted to do better in the first half, but I thought our second half was very good, and in the end we deserved to win."

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Report and Reaction: Keane robs Whitecaps of first point in LA

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