Looking to end their three game winless streak, Vancouver started out strong and were rewarded in the 11th minute when Darren Mattocks scored a goal in his third straight game. The Jamaican was sent in with a perfect pass from Gershon Koffie and made no mistake in beating Raul Fernandez after being denied a minute earlier by a great one handed save from the Dallas keeper.
Mattocks came close to doubling the lead when he had an open net after being setup by Steven Beitashour but was only able to direct his attempt into the side netting.
The Whitecaps gave up the lead just before the half hour mark when Blas Perez scored from inside the six yard area. After the first attempt struck the crossbar, when Zach Lloyd got a free header from about ten yards out, the rebound came right to Perez and he had time to chest the ball down and tied the match at one apiece.
Within ten minutes the home side fell behind as Michel stepped up and converted his penalty attempt beating David Ousted. The opportunity for the penalty came when there was a miscommunication between Ousted and Carlyle Mitchell leading the ball to strike the arm of the defender.
It took the Caps less than ten minutes into the second half to get back on even terms as Pedro Morales scored his club leading seventh of the season from the penalty spot. Similar to the first half, the call was made due to a handball but there was a case to be made that the ball was touched by Moises Hernandez outside the box.
Both teams had chances to take the three points with the visitor’s best chance coming when Perez had his shot tipped over the bar by Ousted. Vancouver had their share of opportunities including a Mitchell header hitting the bar and Fernandez making stops off Morales and Sebastian Fernandez.
There was no doubt that the Whitecaps needed and should have come up with a full three points from this Western Conference tilt. However defensive breakdowns coupled with a number of missed chances on the other end leaves the Caps settling for the split of points.
They will have little time to dwell on what could have been as they now must travel east for a mid-week matchup with the Chicago Fire.
FINAL SCORE: Vancouver Whitecaps 2 - 2 FC Dallas
ATT: 21,000 sell out
VANCOUVER: David Ousted; Steven Beitashour (Nigel Reo-Coker 90+1), Carlyle Mitchell, Johnny Leveron, Jordan Harvey; Matias Laba, Gershon Koffie, Sebastian Fernandez (Omar Salgado 90+3), Pedro Morales, Darren Mattocks; Erik Hurtado (Kekuta Manneh 68) [subs Not Used: Paolo Tornaghi, Andy O'Brien, Russell Teibert, Nicolas Mezquida]
DALLAS: Raul Fernandez; Walker Zimmerman, Stephen Keel, Matt Hedges (Mauro Diaz 46); Zach Lloyd, Moises Hernandez, Victor Ulloa, Michel, Adam Moffat; Tesho Akindele (Ryan Hollingstead 90), Blas Perez (Peter Luccin 84) [subs Not Used: Richard Sanchez, David Texeira, Garcia, Watson]
REACTION:
VANCOUVER WHITECAPS
CARL ROBINSON -
Two points lost or a point won?
"Disappointed that we lost two points. There was only one team that was going to win that game. Even at half time I had full confidence in the guys. We played very well for the first half hour of the game but we switched off mentally twice. Concentration levels weren't good enough last 15 minutes of the first half. We dug ourselves a little bit of a hole. I said to them at half time, you've just got to remain positive focussed and you'll get back in it and second half we had numerous chances to win the game, not just tie the game and we're disappointed."
On the penalty conceded by Carlyle Mitchell
"I think it's a mistake. Whether it's communication or a mistake or whatever, it's a bad decision. I think he knows it, we got punished for it, but we'll take it on the chin. It's not ideal. It's how you rebound and how you react and in the second half i thought he was excellent."
On the missed scoring opportunities:
"There were three or four players that could’ve scored a couple of goals today. It’s quite ironic I sit here quite positive with the performance and I am. But I’m disappointed that we didn’t score more than two goals. We had twenty-plus shots in the game. When we don’t have that many shots then you’re not going to score that many goals. But when you have that many shots, you’ll probably needing three or more goals."
On dropping points to a key Western Conference rival
"We're still in the mix, which hopefully we will be when the next few home games come. If there's four, five games to go and we're still in the mix, I'll be more than happy but disappointed today."
On how to stop the costly mistakes
"I don't know, good question. If you know, let me know."
"It's one of them, I try to remain calm. Credit to the guys in there, they gave me everything. I can't ask for any more. It's a fine line in this game between winning and losing. You see that today. We're that close, but we're that far. We'll just move on.
"It was a big game. I'll learn, I'll analyze the game tonight. I probably won't sleep till 3 o'clock in the morning because I'll watch it and probably think we should have scored five, six goals but we haven't so we'll get back to the drawing board tomorrow."
On Dallas FC goalkeeper Raul Fernandez’s performance:
"He rebounded very well after getting kicked in the head. He made some unbelievable saves after that, which was credit to him. He made some good stops. He made five or six shots from the edge of the box where he palmed them out and we didn’t have anyone in that area to tap them in. If you’re a centre forward with a good instinct, you can get five or six goals in there a season, so we have to improve on that."
On areas to improve on in personnel:
“I think you look at it in any game and you try and improve, what could you do better and could you bring personnel in to do better? I’ve got this group in here and I am more than happy with this group. I’ll leave it to everybody else to decide. Every team in the world can want to strength areas at certain times. When the time is right and we find the right personnel, we will strengthen, but we had a good performance today, just missing one or two things maybe."
On allowing two goals:
“Very concerning. We got done on a one-two on the right side, he got to the byline and put in a good cross, and the right wingback Zach Loyd headed against the crossbar. I think we had more than enough bodies in there and we didn't put a glove on him. The rebound he managed to get a touch in the six-yard box. If we have players in and around the six yard box for rebounds off the goal or the post or the goalkeeper then you get tap ins and that's certainly what happened. It’s something we’ll have to go back to the drawing board.”
On the lack of penetration:
“You’re only going to score goals if you get in the box, but getting into the box, it’s hard work. It’s end-to-end and when a game’s open, it’s the ones who have the desire and commitment to get into the box. There's very few players who can score from outside the box on a regular basis. The way we play, with one up top and two wide guys, it's important the wide guys get into the box when it's on the opposite side and I didn't think we did that enough today, because if we did, then maybe there would have been two or three more goals.”
On managing expectations:
“I expect us to win. I expect us to play well and win. It’s about getting a balance of doing that. Do I want to play a dire style of football and win one-nil? Maybe at the moment, if I did that, then people might be happy. But I want to play a certain way and I want to win. I’m disappointed today and I take responsibility for not winning today.”
DAVID OUSTED -
Frustrating game?
"That's a mild word for it."
On the penalty given up
"I tried to hit a quick one up to Pedro and they read it and put it back in high. I go out and call for it but Mitchell doesn't hear me and we concede a PK on that. Just the small things again that we can't allow."
On only getting a draw after creating so many chances
"It hurts like a loss. We deserved more out of this one. The chances we're creating, the defensive play we have is tremendous. I can only tip my hat to the guys up front for doing a lot of good work, but we need to put the chances away and we need to be sounder and not give away goals that we were giving away this game."
On costly mistakes
"It's the little things, both defensively and offensively. We need to be sounder down there, we need to communicate better, we need to put away the chances. I'm still positive of the way we get into the chances. I think the guys up front are doing a tremendous job in creating the chances, we just need that little edge to put them away."
PEDRO MORALES -
Thoughts on the game
“It is a good game, but in the first half maybe fifteen minutes we broke concentration and lost two goals. But in the second half we changed our attitude. I would have liked to see one or two goals and a win in the house, that’s important.”
What the team needs to do to start scoring
“Just put the ball in the net. We had maybe ten chances in the game, but their keeper today was very good.”
On losing a chance to gain ground in the standings
“We want to keep improving, but at least we didn’t lose the game. We keep drawing these games, we have to take advantage and win some.”
Thoughts on not being picked to play in the All Star Game
“What’s more important is my team and playing for them. It’s one less game for me, and what’s more important is us fighting for the playoffs. It’s something that’s important, but I want to be 100% for the Whitecaps.”
DARREN MATTOCKS -
Thoughts on the game and a possible win that got away:
“I think it’s two points dropped. Especially scoring two goals I think we are a good enough team to get three points as well as scoring two goals but it’s a team effort. We win as a team, we lose as a team and we tie as a team. We’ve just got to bounce back, it’s a quick turnaround practicing tomorrow and then heading into Chicago trying to get three points there.” On his scoring chances in the first half:“I think I had enough time to take a touch, and probably blast it by the keeper and the defenders but it’s definitely something that I’m going to look at and take forward.” On scoring three games in a row:“I’m always a confident guy, whether I’m scoring or not. But it just goes to show me and everyone that hard work does pay off because I’ve been working extremely hard for the team offensively and defensively in practice and I guess so far a goal a game in these last three games isn’t bad.” On the team’s inability to finish their chances:“I don’t know, we are creating so many chances, I think we just need to be a bit more composed. Especially myself, I put my hand up and I think the guys had a couple of good chances out there to win the game. That’s soccer you know, I’m sure there's going to be a couple games this season where we are going to score four or five goals and I can just feel it. But we have just got to move forward. Like I said it’s a quick turnaround.”FC DALLAS
OSCAR PAREJA -
Thoughts on the match
"It was a good match. I think that we traded halves – the first one was all ours, the second was for them. Vancouver scored a second goal on a PK that was outside, and that hurt us. We came up here to find three points and at the end, with the options that we had, we couldn’t walk away with three points. It was a great job for our players, great sacrifice with certain difficulties we had prior to the game, and within the game, we brought Matt out at the half because of injury. That hurt us too, because it was a good half. But, it was a good match – we played against a good team."
On the 3-5-2 formation
"Today, the plan, after we scouted, and we put all the teams together, we decided to go with that formation, knowing that we would have options with Blas and Tesho. We wanted to be solid in the middle, I thought we clogged where we wanted, we made it difficult for them in the middle in the first half. In the second half, when Matt came out in the middle, we paid a toll because of that. It was difficult without Matt.”
TESHO AKINDELE -
Thoughts on the match
"We could have had a win, especially starting the second half up 2-1. We felt like we were going to win, but on the road against a good team, a point is not bad."
On what has fostered his early season success
"The coaches and the players on my team allowing me to play and just giving me confidence when I do make a mistake and having somebody like Blas Perez to play with – he’s been the perfect striker partner this season."
VICTOR ULLOA -
Thoughts on the match
"It was a tough game. We leave with a point, which is the good thing about it. It’s an important game for us; we’re going to play them two more times, so it was important that we get off on the right foot, and I think we did that tonight."
On how they counteracted Vancouver’s speed -
"They have very fast players up top, but I think we handled them well. Maybe on the first goal we were sleeping a little bit, and he snuck by us and put that in, but I think we managed them well."
On playing the 3-5-2 formation -
"I think that our outside backs, Moises and Zach have a lot of space and they have open range to go back and forth, which just opens space for them out wide."