<i>Match report and post game reaction from the Whitecaps' Carl Robinson, David Ousted, Steven Beitashour, Darren Mattocks and Kekuta Manneh following Vancouver's come from behind 2-2 draw down at Real Salt Lake. We also get the thoughts of RSL coach Jeff Cassar and players Javier Morales, Chris Wingert, Nat Borchers and Kyle Beckerman. Photos courtesy of Julie Harper.</i>
<b><u>Report:</u></b>
It's not how you start, it's how you finish and it was an Uruguayan late, late show in Sandy on Saturday evening as Vancouver Whitecaps fought back from being down to early strikes to grab a couple of goals at the death and somehow come away from Utah with a point.
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One of the Whitecaps' big focus points at training this week was the need cut out mistakes from defensive lapses and stop the lack of concentration that has been costing them dear. It didn't seem to work and within nine minutes of kicking off in Utah against Real Salt Lake on Saturday evening, they were two goals down.
Those early strikes from Joao Plata and Alvaro Saborio looked to have won it for the unbeaten RSL, but from nowhere, late goals for Uruguayan substitutes Nicolas Mezquida and Sebastian Fernandez won a crucial point for the Whitecaps against the odds.
Robinson rang some changes from the home draw against LA last weekend, with neither captain Jay DeMerit nor Designated Player Pedro Morales making the trip, never mind the starting line up. Their absence allowed Johnny Leveron to come in to partner Andy O'Brien in the middle of the Caps defence and Kekuta Manneh to come in for just his second start of the season.
Having partnered well for Vancouver's only clean sheet of the season so far in New England, it didn't take long until the Caps central defensive pairing was tested. It was a test they didn't pass and the Whitecaps found themselves a goal down after only two minutes.
Real pounced on a sloppy giveaway from Russell Teibert to set up a five pass move that ended with Joao Plata being allowed to run at and get the better of Leveron before drilling the ball low across goal and past David Ousted.
The only attacking danger was coming from the home side and it was no surprise when they doubled their advantage in the ninth minute.
Tony Beltran ran on to a flick forward by Luke Mulholland and cut the ball back to Ned Grabavoy on the edge of the box who waltzed past four Whitecaps defenders without any of them getting a foot in. The ball eventually broke to Alvaro Saborio and the Costa Rican DP curled a perfect finish into the top left corner to make it 2-0.
Vancouver were enjoying more possession but it was Real who were still looking the more dangerous team by far and Kyle Beckerman curled a long range effort narrowly wide as the midway point of the match approached.
The visitors had their best chance of the game in the 26th minute when Jordan Harvey's cross was poorly defended in the box and the ball fell to Kekuta Manneh who couldn't get off a decent shot.
Harvey himself got on the end of a Russell Teibert cross ten minutes later, forcing Nick Rimando to tip the ball over for a corner.
The action died a bit as the half came to a close but as the game entered stoppage time, Plata had a great chance to grab his second after being found in the box in acres of space. This time though Ousted stood tall and blocked his shot with his legs after the Ecuadorian took a touch too many.
With no changes at the half, Vancouver came out for the second period with more urgency and forced the game in the early stages.
They couldn't do anything with that possession and the game fell into a bit of a lull with Real looking comfortable with whatever they were throwing at them.
Robinson made three substitutions by the halfway point, who added a little impetus, with Erik Hurtado forcing a save out of Rimando from a header in the 69th minute.
Those substitutions came to the fore by the end of the match.
There was little happening and Real weren't under too much pressure but they nearly put the game beyond doubt with ten minutes remaining when Saborio's header was first tipped on the bar from Ousted and then he could only look on as the rebound came off the left post.
It didn't really look like it mattered, but turned out to be a crucial point in the match.
From nowhere Vancouver found themselves back in the game in the 86th minute when Rimando couldn't hold on to Darren Mattocks' fierce strike and dropped the ball at the feet of sub Nicolas Mezquida who had the easy job of hitting home from close range.
The Whitecaps had looked a different team in the second half but looked like it was too little too late.
Then with seconds left in stoppage time, Steven Beitashour put in a strong tackle just ahead of Saborio just inside the Real half and the ball came to Sebastian Fernandez who unleashed a 35 yard thunderbolt into the bottom corner and send the Vancouver bench into ecstasy.
It had looked an unlikely point but it is one that will give this Whitecaps side a lot of hope and belief moving forward.
With San Jose coming to BC Place next Saturday, they now need to build on that to keep themselves in the playoff mix even this early in the season.
FINAL SCORE: Real Salt Lake 2 - 2 Vancouver Whitecaps
ATT: 19,661
SALT LAKE: Nick Rimando; Tony Beltran, Nat Borchers, Chris Schuler, Chris Wingert; Kyle Beckerman, Luke Mulholland (Sebastian Velasquez 63), Ned Grabavoy, Javier Morales (John Stertzer 90); Alvaro Saborio, Joao Plata (Olmes Garcia 74) [subs Not Used: Jeff Attinella, Aaron Maund, Abdoulie Mansally, Devon Sandoval]
VANCOUVER: David Ousted; Steven Beitashour, Andy O'Brien, Johnny Leveron, Jordan Harvey; Matias Laba, Gershon Koffie, Russell Teibert (Sebastian Fernandez 61), Kenny Miller (Nicolas Mezquida 67), Kekuta Manneh (Erik Hurtado 61); Darren Mattocks [subs Not Used: Paolo Tornaghi, Ethen Sampson, Sam Adekugbe, Christian Dean]
<b>Carl Robinson on the overall game:</b>
"We didn't perform to the levels that I would expect or the players expect in the first half. We dug ourselves a big hole from being two goals down after ten minutes and maybe could have been a little bit worse. But all credit to the guys in there. They showed a lot of character after a few adjustments at half time and we fully got what we deserved in the end."
<b>Carl Robinson on losing the two early goals:</b>
"We made a big focus of it, last night especially on the video, of this is what we can't do. And in the first ten minutes they did exactly what we didn't want them to do and obviously it cost us. It was concerning."
<b>Carl Robinson on his half time team talk:</b>
"After last week's performance against LA, the type of belief they showed should have been there from the start of the game and it wasn't. So I said listen, we've dug ourselves a hole, football's a funny game, we can dig ourselves out of this hole."
<b>Carl Robinson on team's character:</b>
"The character shown from being 2-0 down and in a hole was nothing short of phenomenal."
"Characterwise, unbelievable. Really was. I think that's the culture in the club at the moment. It's a never say die attitude. When you have a young group of players that train hard every day, for them to keep engaged and get their reward, nights like this is very important in their development."
<b>Carl Robinson on substitutions:</b>
"As in every game, substitutions are key, because games are won and lost from the changes you make and sometimes you have to be bold in your changes. We had a very young team at the start and obviously making one or two adjustments and that brought us to another level."
"I'm going to try things. We're a young team, we're trying different things. Today just goes to show that any changes we make are always for the good of the team."
<b>Carl Robinson on playing Leveron for DeMerit:</b>
"It was based on the month coming up. We have a big month with the Canadian Amway Championships so there is going to be lots of time for certain people, so I wanted Johnny to play. Johnny had been training very well and I think he deserved his chance. My decision was based on the fact that Andy looked fresher than Jay. After 10 minutes I was questioning it because we were 2-0 down. He didn’t defend the goals very well at all but sometimes you hold your hand up."
<b>David Ousted on overall performance:</b>
"We were not happy with what we did in the first half. The whole first half was a horrible experience and not the kind of team we want to be. Luckily the second half was really good, a world apart from the first one, and we got the two goals to get the point."
<b>David Ousted on coming from behind again:</b>
"It was fantastic coming back. We did it last week and do it again this week, but I think it's important not to become the team that always comes from behind. We need to get ahead and we need to play better in the first half. That said, a lot of character for coming back."
"We can go toe to toe with any team in this league but we need to be there from the start and it showed today that if we were how we were in the second half, we can win the games."
<b>David Ousted on substitutions:</b>
"Carl said all along that this wasn’t about the 11 or 14, that is was about the 25, and we have shown that the guys coming off the bench have made a tremendous impact every time they have come on and that is a great thing to have."
<b>Steven Beitashour on the draw:</b>
"Obviously it feels like a victory and it is good to get an away point."
<b>Steven Beitashour on his big tackle to set up equaliser:</b>
"I was hoping he would take another touch when he was dribbling because I knew if he played it behind it would kind of be over so I was just waiting for the touch and right when I saw it I tried tackling and I was on the floor and saw Seba take it and he has a rocket. I had a good angle from the floor and Nick is a great keeper and that ball moved on him so nothing against Nick, but Seba can really strike the ball."
<b>Steven Beitashour on going down two early goals:</b>
"I don’t know what it was. We just were on our heels a bit. We didn’t play to our standards and we got punished. I think they had three good chances and they scored two but we stuck in there and fought to the end."
<b>Darren Mattocks on turning the game around:</b>
"I think it was the belief we had. We had a very good mentality coming out second half and I think the guys showed depth. We showed guts. We're a young team and we're learning a lot but the character we showed to come back in this game is really amazing."
<b>Darren Mattocks on the substitutions:</b>
"These guys stepped up to the plate big time. Two fantastic goals from Nico and Seba. It's going to take every single player in this team to contribute because sometimes it's going to be the subs that come on and make the difference in the game and I think they just did."
<b>Kekuta Manneh on team's character:</b>
"It says a lot about our character. We've been coming from behind and fighting and then not giving up and we get a result in the past two games we've played. It says a lot about us and we just need to start it from the beginning of the first half and then do the same thing. We'll definitely work on that and I think that's all we need for right now."
<b>Kekuta Manneh on substitutions:</b>
"We have a lot of talent on the team. It's difficult to stay on the team and everyone is looking to make impact whenever they get the chance to play. The guys that came in and they did really well today."
<b>Jeff Cassar on losing two late goals:</b>
"I honestly don’t think it was anything they were doing. I think it was all what we were doing. When guys are making runs forward and turning the ball over, now we’re out of shape. It’s something that can’t happen."
<b>Jeff Cassar on jumping out to an early lead:</b>
"Every time we’re at home, we want to start off right and really get the fans into the game. I thought the first half, there was so much energy inside the stadium, and the fans were a huge part of that."
<b>Javier Morales on Caps fightback:</b>
"They deserve it because I think their players were much better in the second half, and we didn’t even pass the ball two or three times. It’s a little bit painful because we were ahead in the score but I think it’s justice."
"They were down two and had to go forward. I think it was more our fault than them playing better, because if we can control the ball for a long time, maybe it would have been better."
<b>Chris Wingert on losing two goal lead:</b>
"We shouldn’t have to score a third, we should be able to kill the game off. There were a number of ways of winning that game – keeping them off the scoreboard, or scoring a third and the games probably over and we didn’t do any of them unfortunately."
<b>Nat Borchers on Caps comeback:</b>
"It’s momentum really in this game. They came out and pressured us really high so we weren’t able to keep the ball in the back and get any rhythm. They played with three high and they did a great job of running behind us and putting pressure on the back line."
<b>Kyle Beckerman on Sebastian Fernandez's equaliser:</b>
"They got the ball and then the guy just hit the shot that was probably a one in a hundred type shot. Unfortunately, we were just on the wrong side of the tie tonight."
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