VANCOUVER, B.C. – Two second half goals made the difference Saturday evening at BC Place, as the Vancouver Whitecaps defeated Real Salt Lake 2-1 in front of 20,083 fans.
The breakthrough happened at the 58-minute mark in an unfortunate incident for the visitors. Will Johnson’s attempted clearance ricocheted off Chris Wingert’s back and right into the path of Camilo. The Brazilian took a touch before hitting a powerful low effort into the bottom right corner to put the Whitecaps in front.
Six minutes later, Dane Richards doubled RSL's misery, curling an effort into the top right corner from just outside the area for the 2-0 advantage. Camilo once again was involved, as his square pass picked out Richards who subsequently found the back of the net.
In stoppage time, Nat Borchers got up well for a header and converted a Paulo Junior cross for a consolation goal.
HIGHLIGHTS: VAN 2, RSL 1
The match was a fairly evenly one in the first half, with Salt Lake having the slight edge in possession at 51.6 percent.
Camilo was the main sparkplug in the opening 45 minutes, first hitting a swerving effort on 14 minutes which forced Nick Rimando to parry away awkwardly for a corner. The Brazilian came close again at the half’s final breath, getting on the end of a Barry Robson cross with a header, only for Rimando to react well to get down and gather the ball.
RSL had chances in the opening half as well, perhaps the best of which came through Alvaro Saborio, who got on the end of a Javier Morales cross to beat Jay DeMerit and goalkeeper Brad Knighton to the ball. His header hit the post before eventually being cleared by the Vancouver backline.
DeMerit and Knighton collided on the play, with the All-Star and Whitecaps captain forced to leave the match in the 31st minute. New acquisition Andy O’Brien stepped in for his club at center back and made his MLS debut.
Vancouver, now 10-7-7, prepare for a midweek clash on Wednesday on the road at FC Dallas (10 pm ET, TSN). Real Salt Lake, who fall to 13-9-3, play their next match against FC Dallas as well when they travel to Texas next Saturday (9 pm ET).
MLSsoccer.com Men of the Match
Rank |
Player |
What We Saw |
1 |
<a href="//www.mlssoccer.com/players/camilo-sanvezzo" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: 12px;">Camilo</span></a> |
A menace down the left wing all game long, the Brazilian scored the opener and set up the game-winner for Vancouver. |
2 |
<a href="//www.mlssoccer.com/players/barry-robson" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: 12px;">Barry Robson</span></a> |
The Scottish international's work rate was beyond impressive and was instrumental on both sides of the ball. |
3 |
<a href="//www.mlssoccer.com/players/lee-young-pyo" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: 12px;">Young-Pyo Lee</span></a> |
Right fullback was sound defensively, but it was his offensive runs which caused the RSL defense the most trouble. |
