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Watch: Reyna scores beauty to lift Whitecaps past West-leading Dynamo (VIDEO)

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Aug 20 2017, 8:49 am
Watch: Reyna scores beauty to lift Whitecaps past West-leading Dynamo (VIDEO)

Evidence would suggest the wait for Yordy Reyna has been worth it for the Vancouver Whitecaps and their anxious supporters.

Do you like mind-, time- and space-bending goals? Does your heart swoon if someone utters the word “golazo”? Good news!

Oh. My. Goodness. What a golazo! (You may commence swooning.)

“Amazing. Just an unbelievable goal,” Whitecaps striker Fredy Montero said of Reyna’s beauty. “I had the opportunity to be there next to him when he shot that ball. It was an excellent goal.”

That goal gave the Blue and White a two-goal lead, a lead which they would only slightly relinquish as they defeated the Houston Dynamo 2-1 in front of 21,183 people celebrating Pride Night at BC Place.

Back in the preseason, Reyna teased Whitecaps faithful with hints of excellent attacking instincts and talent. Then, cruelly, he was sidelined for four months with a fractured left foot picked up in Portland, because of course Portland would be the place where bad things happen for the ‘Caps.

Now, though, a healthy Reyna appears to be the missing piece that the Whitecaps’ attack has lacked for stretches during this season. No longer is Montero on an island – he has help, and someone in turn to help.

To wit: that goal starts with Montero forcing a turnover due to applying high pressure. The ‘Caps have been using the high press method here and there this season and, with the right pieces, it can be an effective tool.

Let’s not sell short Reyna’s role in finishing the play off, though. That is a top-class strike, well taken and deserving of the “WTF” face shown by Houston goalkeeper Tyler Deric afterwards.

Reyna sets up goals, too

Lest you think Reyna is being deployed primarily as the focal point of Vancouver’s attack rest assured his primary role is still to create chances for his teammates. On the night, there were plenty of passes coming from the Peruvian’s boot, not to mention plenty of jukes and dekes that left defenders flummoxed.

Most notably, though, Reyna earned the first goal of the game by drawing this penalty.

First off, yes, that is a stone-cold, clear-as-day, 100% penalty. No ambiguity about it whatsoever. The Dynamo can complain all they like; it doesn’t change that Reyna was clearly fouled in the box.

Montero made no mistake on the penalty.

Where Houston may have a legitimate gripe is an incident just before the penalty.

It sure looked to me like Vancouver midfielder Tony Tchani gave a pretty obvious and foul-worthy shove to Houston’s Alex in a play directly preceding the penalty. Call that foul and it’s unlikely Reyna’s drawing that penalty in the immediate future.

If you’re a Houston supporter, you’d be forgiven for blaming that non-call for costing the team points on the road.

Then again, Houston’s been absolute garbage on the road this season (1W-8L-4D), so really this is just keeping with current trends for the Dynamo.

Robbo’s thoughts

“A good three points against a very good team today,” head coach Carl Robinson said at his post-game media conference. “It was a good scrap. That’s what it’s about. It’s about going and getting results. We didn’t make it easy because we gave away a bad goal. It was a bad goal in the second half, but we didn’t get nervous. We had to reset –the guys at the back kept our shape. They had the ball, but they huffed and puffed and couldn’t take their chances.”

Check out this save

Houston was only credited with two shots on target, but David Ousted had to be sharp on this free kick, which was deflected off a teammate.

The Whitecaps are back at it in short order, taking on the Seattle Sounders on Wednesday before facing off against Orlando City SC the following Saturday. Having just pushed their noses into the playoff places – the Whitecaps leapfrogged San Jose into the last playoff spot in the West – Vancouver will undoubtedly want to cash in some of their games in hand to make up further ground.

Hopefully Reyna’s still got a few more golazos in him (swoon!).

Match Details

Budweiser Man of the Match:  Yordy Reyna
Referee: Drew Fischer
Attendance: 21,183

Scoring Summary
17’ – VAN –  Fredy Montero (penalty)
32’ – VAN –  Yordy Reyna (Fredy Montero)
51’ – HOU –  Romell Quioto (Mauro Manotas)

Statistics
Possession: Vancouver 45.2% –Houston 54.8%
Shots: Vancouver 10 – Houston 14
Shots on Goal: Vancouver 4 – Houston 2
Saves: Vancouver 1 – Houston 2
Fouls: Vancouver 19 – Houston 15
Offsides: Vancouver 0 – Houston 0
Corners: Vancouver 7 – Houston 4

Cautions 
31’ – VAN –  Jordan Harvey
41’ – VAN –  Jake Nerwinski
46’ – HOU –  Adolfo Machado
71’ – VAN –  Fredy Montero
73’ – HOU –  Boniek Garcia
79’ – VAN – David Ousted
83’ – HOU – Juan Cabezas
90’+3 – HOU – AJ DeLaGarza

Whitecaps FC 
1.David Ousted; 28.Jake Nerwinski (17. Marcel De Jong 88’), 4.Kendall Waston ©, 26.Tim Parker, 2.Jordan Harvey; 8.Andrew Jacobson, 16.Tony Tchani; 7.Christian Bolaños, 29.Yordy Reyna (67. Alphonso Davies, 85;), 13.Cristian Techera (23. Bernie Ibini, 72’); 12.Fredy Montero

Substitutes not used
24.Stefan Marinović, 11.Nicolás Mezquida, 20.Brek Shea, 31.Russell Teibert,

Houston Dynamo
1.Tyler Deric; 20.A.J. DeLaGarza, 3.Adolfo Machado, 22.Leonardo, 7.DaMarcus Beasley; 27. Boniek Garcia (25.Tomas Martinez, 76’), 5.Juan Cabezas, 14.Alex; 11.Andrew Wenger (18. Memo Rodriguez 85’), 19.Mauro Manotas, 12.Romell Quioto (23.Jose Escalante, 89’)

Substitutes not used
2.Jalil Anibaba, 6.Eric Alexander, 15.Dylan Remick, 31.Joe Willis

See also
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+ Soccer
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