When the bottom placed team in the Conference comes to town, you’re looking for a comprehensive win and that’s what Vancouver Whitecaps got tonight in a 4-0 win over Chivas.
It was a much needed win, not just for the points but also with regards to confidence, which has been slowly sapping from the Caps for the last few weeks.
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Martin Rennie went with the same eleven that finished Saturday’s goalless draw with Seattle, retaining the 4-4-2 formation that had worked well.
The Whitecaps took the lead in the 11th minute.
Camilo slipped the ball through to Kenny Miller who ran in to the box surrounded by Chivas defenders. The Scotsman took his time, waited for support and just when it looked like danger had been averted for the visitors, Miller found Gershon Koffie on the edge of the box with a perfect pass and the Ghanaian buried a low 20 yard effort for the opening goal.
Getting the opening goal was a huge relief for the Caps but the joy was to be short lived when Miller went down moments later and was soon substituted by Dane Richards.
Richards looked lively from the moment he came on and forced Dan Kennedy in to a save in the 25th minute.
Collecting a header from Barry Robson, Richards turned his man and fired off a shot that was turned around the post for a corner.
The danger wasn’t over for Chivas and as the ball came over, a goalmouth scramble ensued, with Jay DeMerit forcing a clearance from a goalbound header.
As the Caps pushed for a second, Richards was inches away from getting his head on a Camilo cross from the left that whipped across the face of the goal.
The Jamaican’s presence finally reaped its reward in the 35th minute.
Richards played a neat one-two with Camilo and bore down on goal, his pace leaving John Valencia always chasing. He had time to slow and pick his spot, before finishing into the bottom corner from a tight angle.
Two up at the half is a position the Whitecaps have not been used to this season, but the opportunity was there for them to go on and give themselves a much needed confidence boost in the goalscoring department.
Although Vancouver dominated the possession, clear cut goalscoring opportunities were at a premium. When they did come along though, they at least led to goals.
They added a third in the 63rd minute, after Robson slipped a fantastic pass through to Richards, who turned and got the ball past two defenders into the path of Camilo who made no mistake from a few yards out.
It was an unconventional finish but one which brought some visible relief to the Brazilian following his late miss on Saturday.
Ten minutes later and it was four.
Camilo was again instrumental. Slipping the ball between two Chivas defenders, he chased it down, hit the byeline, looked up and found Robson in the box, who had time to pick his spot, which he duly did.
That was how it finished and Vancouver will be happy with the three points and the nature of the victory.
Chivas were poor, which is worrying from the fact that Dallas have to play them twice now.
If results play out in the Caps favour though then a win against Portland in 18 days time could see Vancouver become the first Canadian club to clinch a MLS playoff spot.
The way this season has gone, you still have to feel it’s going to all go down to that final weekend.
ATT: 17,777
FINAL SCORE: Vancouver Whitecaps 4 - 0 Chivas USA
VANCOUVER: Brad Knighton; Young-Pyo Lee, Andy O’Brien, Jay DeMerit, Jordan Harvey; Alain Rochat, Matt Watson, Gershon Koffie, Barry Robson (Michael Nanchoff 90); Camilo Sanvezzo (Caleb Clarke 84), Kenny Miller (Dane Richards 18) [subs Not Used: Joe Cannon, Martin Bonjour, Jun Marques Davidson, Russell Teibert]
CHIVAS: Dan Kennedy; James Riley, Shalrie Joseph, John Valencia, Ante Jazic; Miller Bolanos, Laurent Courtois (Nick LaBrocca 64), Peter Vagenas, Ben Zemanski; Alejandro Moreno (Jose Correa 64), Juan Agudelo [subs Not Used: Patrick McLain, Bobby Burling, Marky Delgado, Cesar Romero]
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