VANCOUVER, B.C. – For once, Darren Mattocks was happy his name wasn’t making the headlines Saturday night.
Following the Vancouver Whitecaps' 1-0 victory over the Colorado Rapids, it was his teammates that became the focus, as 10 Whitecaps prevailed despite playing half an hour with a man disadvantage.
WATCH: Mattocks sees two yellows in a minute
It was Mattocks who put his team in that situation by getting sent off, and after a training session on Monday at BC Place he held up his hand and acknowledged he had to take some responsibility for putting his teammates a man down by taking yellow cards in the 59th and 60th minutes.
“I actually thought I could be a bit more sensitive on my tackle, going in that hard,” Mattocks said of his second yellow which led to his dismissal. “But it’s a learning experience I just got to take that from it and move forward.”
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The rookie picked up his first yellow for simulation as he tried to earn a penalty kick, before going in late on Drew Moor just moments later.
Head coach Martin Rennie was sympathetic to Mattocks’ double booking, but said his player isn’t a diver.
“That one he maybe could have done better a better job of staying up,” Rennie said of Mattocks’ decision to go down under little or no contact in the box for his first yellow. “I don’t necessarily think he was diving. … At the end of the day, there’s things in that he can learn and improve from.”
As for the second yellow which ultimately led to the 21-year-old’s dismissal?
“Perhaps he was a bit unfortunate on that as well,” Rennie said. “When Drew Moor strikes through the ball, he kicks Darren, but Darren could have maybe been a little bit further off him so it’s a tricky one, but again, things he can learn and things he can take from it.”
As a result of his dismissal on Saturday, Mattocks will be unavailable for selection against the New York Red Bulls on Wednesday (11 pm ET; TSN in Canada, MLS Live in US). Due to that suspension there’ll be a change to at least one of the three prongs of the Vancouver attack, with Rennie suggesting one of Camilo, Eric Hassli or Michael Nanchoff could slot in alongside current starters Sébastien Le Toux and Davide Chiumiento.
Martin MacMahon covers the Vancouver Whitecaps for MLSsoccer.com.
