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3 Kicks: Techera wonder goal helps Whitecaps to 2-0 win

Rob Williams
Rob Williams
|
Jul 14 2016, 9:01 am
3 Kicks: Techera wonder goal helps Whitecaps to 2-0 win

The Vancouver Whitecaps defeated Real Salt Lake 2-0, on a sunny Wednesday evening at BC Place.

This team that has had so much trouble preventing goals this season, got their first clean sheet in MLS since April 23 against FC Dallas. The Whitecaps foregoed their customary late-game collapse on this evening, but not before a Yura Movsisyan crossbar late to give ‘Caps fans some nasty flashbacks.

Before a sellout crowd (more on that in a moment), the Blue and White looked unspectacular, yet good enough to beat a good Real Salt Lake team to earn an important three points in the ultra-competitive Western Conference standings.

David Ousted had to be alert early, making a save in tight in the 15th minute.

A Matias Laba cross to Masato Kudo in the box in the 34th minute forced RSL defender Justen Glad into an own goal. Three minutes later, a strike from Cristian Techera from well out gave the Whitecaps the insurance marker they needed.

“It was important to close it out today, to get a clean sheet,” Ousted said. “I’d say it’s still a work in progress, I still feel like we can do stuff better, but today was a step in the right direction.”

1. Rapid fire

  • Whitecaps anthem singer extraordinaire Marie Hui vowed not to “Tenor” the anthem tonight…

  • Marie succeeded, although the anthem was not without disfunction as some players on Real Salt Lake appeared unsure of which way to face. Pro tip: face the way the anthem singer is facing.

    • Tonight’s game was announced as a rare Wednesday night sellout crowd of 22,120. That was met with a lot of scepticism on Twitter, likely in response to a recent Business in Vancouver article. From where I sat, it looked like there were some empty rows near the back. Of course sellouts don’t just include bums in seats, so this isn’t a ‘gotcha’ moment.
    • Sellouts, in my view, should include all tickets bought including no-shows. But when there appears to be entire rows empty in some spots, it doesn’t look right. In any case, we’re probably splitting hairs here, because it was a good crowd, especially for a Wednesday. Were there 22,120? Was it only 21,700? Who cares.
    • Carl Robinson, how did Marcel de Jong look in his first game as a Whitecap? “Tired.” De Jong came in as a substitute in the 66th minute, replacing Cristian Techera in midfield.
    • David Ousted picked up his fourth clean sheet of the season. He had 26 of them in the previous two seasons.
    • RSL substitute Juan Manuel Martinez, who came on in the 65th, minute has one of the best nicknames in all of sports: ‘Burrito’
    • Steve Nash was at the game
    • Also at the game? Mexican striker Enrique Esqueda who hasn’t been shy about linking himself to the Whitecaps. He even retweeted a Daily Hive article earlier in the day. He watched the game from a suite and posted a video on Instagram.

@whitecapsfc #whitecaps #stadium

A video posted by Enrique esqueda (@paleta_esqueda9) on

See also

2. Kudo returns

Masato Kudo returned to the lineup tonight, playing his first match since May 11th, when he fractured his jaw when he collided with Chicago Fire goalkeeper Matt Lampson.

Kudo, who was wearing a mouthguard to prevent a similar injury from reoccurring, has a great chance to stake his claim as the top striker on the club. That is, if Esqueda doesn’t claim it first.

“His movement is excellent, I say this all the time, his finishing in training on a daily basis is as good as we’ve got in the club,” said Robinson. “I was sad for him today because two minutes before I took him off he a chance that probably exemplifies what he’s about.”

“He finishes that 99 times out of 100,” Robinson added, pointing to fatigue as the reason Kudo didn’t finish his glorious chance in the second half.

3. The bug is back

Let’s talk about this Cristian Techera wonder goal for a second.

Image: TSN

Image: TSN

Techera, who had 7 goals in 17 starts last season, has been a disappointment offensively this year. His goal tonight was just the second of the season for the bug, in 14 starts. It’s also his second goal in two games.

Is the bug back?

“The bug that we saw last year is still here,” said Robinson. “He’s been carrying a little injury for the last four, five, six weeks which is why he hasn’t played or started many games. I haven’t shouted it from rooftops because nobody needed to know.”

And now we know.

Match details

Man of the Match: Cristian Techera
Referee:Jose Carlos Rivero
Attendance:22,120

Scoring Summary
34′ – VAN – Justen Glad (own goal)
37′ – VAN – Cristian Techera (Christian Bolaños)

Stats
Possession: Vancouver 53.7 % – RSL 46.3 %
Shots: Vancouver 5 – RSL 13
Shots on Goal: Vancouver 2 – RSL 4
Saves: Vancouver 4 – RSL 1
Fouls: Vancouver 18 – RSL 19
Offsides: Vancouver 4 – RSL 0
Corners: Vancouver 1 – RSL 6

Cautions
13′ – RSL – Jordan Allen
25′ – VAN – Andrew Jacobson
28′ – RSL – Tony Beltran
54′ – VAN – Kendall Waston
59′ – RSL – Luke Mulholland
74′ – RSL – Olmes Garcia
89′ – VAN – Marcel de Jong

Vancouver Whitecaps FC
1.David Ousted ©; 6.Jordan Smith, 4.Kendall Waston, 26.Tim Parker, 2.Jordan Harvey; 17.Andrew Jacobson, 15.Matías Laba; 7.Christian Bolaños, 11.Nicolás Mezquida (77.Pedro Morales 76′), 13.Cristian Techera (33.Marcel de Jong 66′); 9.Masato Kudo (19.Erik Hurtado 71′)

Substitutes not used
70.Paolo Tornaghi, 8.Fraser Aird, 14.Cole Seiler, 30.Ben McKendry

Real Salt Lake
24.Jeff Attinella; 2.Aaron Maund ©, 15.Justen Glad, 21.Aaron Maund, 16.Chris Wingert (6.Boyd Okwuonu 88′); 12.Omar Holness, 18.Luke Mulholland (11.Javier Morales 65′), 27.John Stertzer; 80.Olmes Garcia, 14.Yura Movsisyan, 70.Jordan Allen (7.Juan Manuel Martinez 65′)

Substitutes not used
18.Nick Rimando, 3.Phauel Kavita

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