<center>** Match report and post-game reaction from the locker room on Seattle Sounders' 3-2 win over Vancouver Whitecaps in MLS action **</center>
<b><u>Report:</u></b>
Another Cascadian derby and another game goes by with Vancouver Whitecaps failing to get a win against their local rivals.
They came close and served up a five goal thriller in Seattle tonight, fighting back to lead at the half through two headers from Camilo Sanvezzo, after going behind to a Lamar Neagle strike.
Vancouver had shown some great attacking play in the first half, unusual for an away performance, but resorted to their more defensive style in the second half and Seattle staged a fightback to take all three points thanks to a Servando Carrasco penalty and a close range winner from Neagle.
It was more local derby heartbreak and a tough one to take for the travelling throng from Vancouver.
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Seattle had the first attack of any real note in the 5th minute when a DeAndre Yedlin cross from the left just went over the head of an unmarked Obafemi Martins eight yards out.
The Sounders play was by far the more attack minded to kick the match off and they got their reward in the 9th minute.
Lamar Neagle played a delightful through ball to Andy Rose. With Jun Marques Davidson and Jordan Harvey pushing up, the midfielder collected the pass and coolly slotted home into the bottom left hand corner.
The home side’s joy was to be short lived and Vancouver were level a minute later in their first foray forward of the match.
Russell Teibert stayed onside perfectly to collect a diagonal pass to the right wing from Young-Pyo Lee and whipped in an outswinger into the box which Camilo Sanvezzo headed home to tie things up.
It was an explosive start and there was nearly more to soon follow as Seattle attacked from the restart and Martins came within an inch of getting onto a Neagle cross from the left and the ball flew past the back post.
Seattle came close to retaking the lead mid through the half when a long range Neagle rocket first hit off Johnny Leveron and then Martins before going inches past the left hand post.
It’s often said that football is a game of inches and that miss from Seattle was to prove costly when Vancouver went ahead in the 26th minute and again it was the Teibert/Camilo combo that did the damage.
The Canadian sent in a free kick from 35 yards out and the Brazilian lost his marker Neagle to direct his header perfectly into the bottom right hand corner of the net again.
Vancouver were now playing with a lot of confidence and looking like the attacking force many have wanted to see on the road for many games now.
They had a couple of half chances, the best of them being a cross in from Miller on the right into an empty box with no takers up in support till it was too late.
Seattle were only able to create half chances themselves and Brad Knighton wasn’t being tested.
Vancouver had the last chances of the half in stoppage time when Nigel Reo-Coker bulldozed his way through the last line of a high Seattle defence but seemed caught in two minds whether to shoot or pass and in the end the Sounders closed down for a corner, which Andy O’Brien did well to get on to the end of but directed his effort straight at Michael Gspurning.
The half time whistle soon followed, with Vancouver going in with a rare first half lead in a Cascadian derby. Could they now hold on for an even rarer win?
The second half started amid a lot of Seattle pressure but Vancouver had a great chance to increase their advantage in the 53rd minute.
Camilo hit a fierce low free kick from 30 yards out which Gspurning fumbled into the path of Reo-Coker but the Sounders keeper made amends by blocking the Englishman’s effort over the bar.
Vancouver got a let off a minute later when Martins was brought down in the box by Davidson, but referee Hilario Grajeda gave a free kick right on the edge of the box, which hit the wall and flew over.
The Caps defence was a little threadbare and it was hit worse when O’Brien had to go off injured just past the hour mark to be replaced by Greg Klazura. Klazura slotted in to the left back role with Harvey moving in to the middle.
The new look defence was carved open in the 64th minutes when Martin was played in, left Leveron in his wake and after doing all the hard work shot inches wide left.
Vancouver were riding their luck but that came to an end in the 69th minute when Klazura chopped down Neagle for a penalty. Servando Carrasco stepped up and made no mistake from the spot to tie things up.
The writing looked on the wall for the visitors but Vancouver nearly got their lead back two minutes later. Miller was played in and hit the byeline before cutting the ball back to an open Camilo in the six yard box, but the hat-trick eluded him by a step and Seattle cleared the danger.
Vancouver were playing deep and trying to catch on the break but Seattle looked the more likely to grab the winner and they went ahead with nine minutes remaining.
Rose played a through ball to Martins who outpaced Leveron and Klazura, hit the byeline and crossed over for Neagle to score from close range and give the Sounders a lead once again.
Vancouver brought on Kekuta Manneh to try and get something going but they couldn’t kickstart any real danger and the game headed in to five minutes of stoppage time.
The Caps pushed and had a penalty claim waved away when Reo-Coker went down in the box, but in the end Seattle held on for a comfortable three points and a vital win in terms of playoff hopes and placings.
After the highs of the win in New York, Vancouver came crashing back down to earth and are still left searching for that first elusive win over Cascadian opposition in MLS. They’ll get another chance in a month’s time in Vancouver.
What changes the Caps will make between now and then to try and get the job done will be interesting.
FINAL SCORE: Seattle Sounders 3 - 2 Vancouver Whitecaps
ATT: 53,679
SEATTLE: Michael Gspurning; DeAndre Yedlin, Zach Scott, Djimi Traore, Leo Gonzalez; Mauro Rosales (David Estrada 90), Servando Carrasco, Andy Rose, Alex Caskey (Marc Burch 65); Obefami Martins, Lamar Neagle [subs Not Used: Marcus Hahnemann, Jhon Kennedy Hurtado, Patrick Ianni, Phillip Lund, Sammy Ochoa]
VANCOUVER: Brad Knighton; Lee Young-Pyo, Johnny Leveron, Andy O’Brien (Greg Klazura 62), Jordan Harvey; Jun Marques Davidson (Kekuta Manneh 83), Nigel Reo-Coker, Matt Watson (Daigo Kobayashi 90); Russell Teibert, Kenny Miller, Camilo Sanvezzo [subs Not Used: Joe Cannon, Erik Hurtado, Corey Hertzog, Tommy Heinemann]
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<b><u>Reaction:</u></b>
<b>Martin Rennie on the overall game:</b>
“We started off a little bit slow. We didn’t track a run in midfield as well as we’d have liked, we responded very well to that. Two fantastic goals and some good play from that point. Felt we were really comfortable in the game and doing pretty well, but the turning point was losing Andy O’Brien and when we lost him, the game opened up, we were disjointed.”
<b>Martin Rennie on whether he regrets trading Alain Rochat so close to this game:</b>
“No, not really, because we wouldn’t have played him at centreback and he hasn’t done that well anyway”
<b>Martin Rennie on his squad:</b>
“I know that we’ve got a good team. We’ve got lots of work to do. I know that we’re in a building phase. We have to grow, we have to improve. Tonight you saw a good response when we went a goal down. There was no worry about our work ethic or our mentality, nothing concerning me on that at all.”
“What I know about this team is that they’ve got a lot of character, a lot of drive. We’re close to clicking and doing well.”
<b>Martin Rennie on whether he’ll be looking at bringing any players in before the next game:</b>
“Maybe. Like I said Carlyle’s injured at the moment, so he would be an obvious one to come back in, we’ll see how he is. Brad Rusin, Andy and Jay are all out, so we’ll have to just look at that and see what we can do. It would be nice if one of them was available.”
<b>Martin Rennie on whether it is imperative to get six points from the next two home games:</b>
“Well that would be nice. We have two games coming up pretty quick at home and our home form’s been very good. We need to perform really well in those home games. It would be nice to get six points and we’re definitely capable of that.”
<b>Andy O’Brien on the overall game:</b>
“We’re disappointed. To go 1-0 behind to a good side and then to come back 2-1 was disappointing not to get something out of the game.”
“We’ve got to take some positives out of the game. There were some great performances out there tonight, Camilo mainly one of them.
<b>Andy O’Brien on difference between an attacking Caps in first half and a defensive Caps in second. Gameplan or were Seattle too strong?:</b>
“I don’t necessarily think it was because they were too strong. We were expecting them to come out of the blocks quickly, I think they did that. But we managed to get back into the game at 2-1 and then it’s a matter of trying to hold on or…
“I find with a lot of MLS teams, because there’s no relegation, it’s all about going for the win. Teams will throw players forward so sometimes you can bring in more defensive minded players or you can flip it the other way and try and hit them on the counter attack to get a third.
“So from that perspective it always makes for an exciting game but unfortunately we came away with the losing end.”
<b>Andy O’Brien on his injury:</b>
“It’s not great, but I’ll have to wait till Monday to get a better idea. It’s a matter of trying to get it to settle down and take it from there.”
<b>Andy O’Brien on the temporary grass pitch:</b>
“I don’t think it was great. I don’t think it was great as it probably contributed to my injury so it was frustrating.”
“It was unpredictable with the bounces and things. It not ideal.”
<b>Brad Knighton on the temporary grass pitch:</b>
“The field was, not to make excuses about the field, but the field was ridiculously terrible. It’s heavy, it’s bumpy, the turf’s coming up, it’s just a weird surface to play on and any time you put grass down on top of turf you’re going to get that. Not to make excuses, but maybe Andy’s injury doesn’t come from not playing on grass on top of turf. But that’s the way the game goes and they have to play in those conditions as well.”
<b>Brad Knighton on the overall game:</b>
“It’s disappointing obviously. We were in total control of the game and looking to get our first win against a Cascadia team and Andy unfortunately goes down with a hamstring injury and it kind of took the wind out of our sails a little bit. The game turned very quickly. It’s just a bit unfortunate.”
“I thought we showed a lot of heart, a lot of character, a lot of determination and I don’t think the result indicates right now where we are as a club.”
<b>Nigel Reo-Coker on the game:</b>
“The big disappointment was losing Andy and we had players filling in in positions that they’re not too familiar with.
“They’re good players. They started off the game well and they finished off the game well. They were a solid team throughout the ninety minutes, you’ve got to give them credit. But we’ve got to learn to be a bit more resilient as a team to keep leads that we get.”
<b>Nigel Reo-Coker on what Caps need to do to win these derby games:</b>
“Finish off a game. I honestly don’t know. We played well, we were in control of the game and we just let it slip out of our hands. It was just one of those games.”
<b>Camilo on his Teibert assisted two goal performance:</b>
“It’s positive to score but the whole team played well, not just me and Russell. I think everybody had a good game. We just need to pick up points.”
<b>Andy O’Brien on what fringe players are and aren’t bringing to the team:</b>
“It’s not really a time for passing opinion on other players.”
<b>Brad Knighton on singling out players for mistakes:</b>
“We’re not going to single anybody out because we’re all in this together. We need to stick together and get a full team performance for ninety minutes and be solid defensively.”
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