VANCOUVER, B.C. — The Vancouver Whitecaps ended a seven-game winless streak Wednesday night at BC Place, thrashing Chivas USA 4-0 through goals from Gershon Koffie, Dane Richards, Camilo and Barry Robson.
Koffie got things going only 11 minutes in, smashing a left-footed effort past Dan Kennedy from the edge of the box into the bottom left corner. Kenny Miller set the play up, holding the ball up before passing it back for the Ghanaian to make his late run from midfield.
Ten minutes from halftime, Richards, who came in as a first-half sub after Miller suffered an injury, doubled Vancouver’s lead. Richards won possession on the right wing before playing a one-two with Camilo, whose through ball found Richards with a burst of acceleration, and the Jamaican hammered across Kennedy’s goal into the bottom left corner.
In the 62nd minute, Camilo banged a ball in from close range after Richards had his low cross from the left deflected into the path of the Brazilian to take the score to 3-0. Robson played a part in the buildup, finding Richards, who turned well to put the ball into a dangerous area.
On 73 minutes, Camilo beat John Valencia with a nutmeg down the right side before hitting across goal for Robson, who hit home on the half volley after taking a touch for the final goal of the match.
Chivas didn’t have much in the way of opportunities in the first half despite possessing the ball 64.8 percent of the time, but they did manage a couple of half chances.
Laurent Courtois attempted an audacious effort from distance 24 minutes in, and later Juan Agudelo got on the end of a James Riley cross only to awkwardly deflect the ball wide to the left of Brad Knighton’s goal in first-half stoppage time.
Apart from the two first half goals, Richards made a chance for himself on 25 minutes, turning his marker before forcing Kennedy into a fine save, as the goalkeeper got down well to push the ball out for a corner to his left.
OPTA CHALKBOARD: Vancouver efficient with the ball
Vancouver started the second period strongly, as Matt Watson sent Camilo in on the left side of the box with a well weighted ball, only for the Brazilian to narrowly miss to the left of the target.
The Whitecaps improve to 11-12-9 and now have a bit of a break, not returning to action until a home match against the Portland Timbers at BC Place on Oct. 21.
Chivas USA drop to 7-17-7. They're back in action on Sunday, as they host FC Dallas at The Home Depot Center.
MLSsoccer.com Men of the Match
Rank |
Player |
What We Saw |
1 |
<a href="//www.mlssoccer.com/players/camilo-sanvezzo"><span style="font-size:12px;">Camilo</span></a> |
No question here as the Brazilian scored a goal and notched three assists to help the 'Caps crush Chivas. |
2 |
<a href="//www.mlssoccer.com/players/dane-richards"><span style="font-size:12px;">Dane Richards</span></a> |
The Jamaican's pace was too much to handle for the Chivas D. He also scored a goal and bagged an assist. |
3 |
<a href="//www.mlssoccer.com/players/barry-robson"><span style="font-size:12px;">Barry Robson</span></a> |
His goal capped off what was a performance worthy of a standing ovation. Also had an assist to his name. |
