First, Mother Nature rained on Columbus Crew SC's parade. Then so did the Vancouver Whitecaps.
The Whitecaps went on the road and defeated Crew SC, 3-1, in a wet match at MAPFRE Stadium on Saturday night. Vancouver used a pair of second-half goals to pick up the three points, as Andrew Jacobson fired home a low drive for the winner in the 74th minute before Erik Hurtado smashed in a rebound eight minutes from time.
Kickoff for the match was delayed more than 90 minutes due to storms in the area, which left a waterlogged field for gametime.
Once the game got underway, Columbus wasted little time in finding a lead. A corner kick from Mohammed Saeid saw Ola Kamara acrobatically flick a shot into the back of the net, but Crew SC surrendered an equalizer almost immediately through a Gaston Sauro own goal.
Neither side was overly dominant afterwards, but the Whitecaps found the two late goals to pick up the victory while Crew SC finished the match with 10 men after Tony Tchani was sent off in the 86th minute.
The win moved Vancouver into seventh place in the Western Conference with a 9-13-7 record. Columbus fell to 5-11-11 on the year and remain in last place in the Eastern Conference.
Box Score
- 11' – CLB – Ola Kamara (Mohammed Saeid)
- 13' – VAN – Gaston Sauro (Own Goal)
- 74' – VAN – Andrew Jacobson (Christian Bolanos)
- 82' – VAN – Erik Hurtado
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Three Things
- BUZZKILL: Columbus Crew SC had the momentum in the early going. They found space down the right flank that Harrison Afful exploited well, looked more aggressive and dangerous, and opened the scoring in the 11th minute via a corner kick. Then, Sauro's own goal changed the complexion of the match. After Sauro inadvertently headed a ball past Steve Clark, Columbus struggled to regain its attacking rhythm. The hosts still held onto the bulk of the possession, but did little to trouble Vancouver and finished with just three shots on target.
- PLAYMAKER WANTED: Neither Crew SC or the Whitecaps created a bevy of clearcut chances on the night, and a reason for that was their lack of creativity. Both clubs played without their usual string-pullers in Federico Higuain (Columbus) and Pedro Morales (Vancouver), and that was noticeable as the teams failed to generate much danger once they got into the final third. That was especially troublesome for Crew SC, which had Tony Tchani in the hole before he got sent off in the 86th minute with a straight red card.
- SUBSTITUTES MAKE THE DIFFERENCE: Whereas Columbus got little in the way of attacking help from their three substitutes, Vancouver prevailed after two of theirs found the back of the net. Andrew Jacobson scored the winner in the 74th minute after pulling off a neat move on the dribble and unleashing a perfectly-placed low shot just inside the near post. Erik Hurtado was then Mr. Right Place Right Time in the 82nd, pouncing on a rebound from close range and powering it home.
- CLB: Saturday, September 17 at Orlando City (7:30 pm ET; MLS LIVE)
- VAN: CCL – Tuesday, September 13 at Sporting Kansas City (8 pm ET; Facebook.com, UDN)
