Vancouver Whitecaps vs. Real Salt Lake | MLS Match Preview

VANCOUVER WHITECAPS FC vs REAL SALT LAKE
BC PLACE, Vancouver, B.C.
Sept. 27, 2014 (WEEK 29, MLS Game #279)
4 p.m. PT (TSN2/RDS2; KUCW-30)

A crucial match in the Western Conference playoff picture is ahead when Vancouver Whitecaps FC return home to take on Real Salt Lake on Saturday afternoon at BC Place. Whitecaps FC enter the contest two points out of the playoff positions, following their 3-0 loss at the Portland Timbers last weekend. Real can clinch their place in the MLS Cup Playoffs with a result, following their dominant 5-1 win against the Colorado Rapids last weekend at Rio Tinto Stadium.

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REFEREE: Allen Chapman. SAR (bench): Fabio Tovar; JAR (opposite): Marco Arruda; 4th: Daniel Radford
MLS Career: 47 games; FC/gm: 22.4; Y/gm: 3.5; R: 12; pens: 16

SUSPENDED: none
WARNINGS:
SUSPENDED NEXT YELLOW CARD: VAN: Jordan Harvey, Sebastian Fernandez … RSL: Javier Morales SUSPENDED AFTER TWO YELLOW CARDS: VAN: Gershon Koffie, Andy O’Brien, Pedro Morales, Mauro Rosales, Russell Teibert, Kendall Waston, Matias Laba … RSL: Olmes Garcia, Nat Borchers, Alvaro Saborio, Luke Mulholland, Kyle Beckerman, Tony Beltran, Chris Schuler, Chris Wingert
DISABLED LIST: VAN: Caleb Clarke (season-ending injury)
INTERNATIONAL ABSENCES: None

HEAD-TO-HEAD
ALL-TIME (10 meetings): Whitecaps FC 2 wins, 10 goals … Real 4 wins, 12 goals … Ties 4
AT VANCOUVER (4 meetings): Whitecaps FC 2 wins, 6 goals … Real 1 win, 3 goals … Ties 1

2014 (MLS):
4/26: RSL 2, VAN 2 (Plata 2; Saborio 9 – Mezquida 86; Fernandez 94+)
7/19: RSL 1, VAN 1 (Plata 81 – Mattocks 73)

• The teams are meeting for the third time this season. Joao Plata scored in the 81st minute to pull Real back into a 1-1 draw July 19 at Rio Tinto Stadium; on April 26 in Sandy, Plata and Álvaro Saborío gave Real a two-goal lead before the game was 10 minutes old, but Nicolás Mezquida and Sebastian Fernández each scored after the 86th minute to leave the teams in a 2-2 draw.
• RSL has a six-game undefeated streak alive vs. Whitecaps FC, dating back to Oct. 27, 2012. Whitecaps FC have never won at Rio Tinto Stadium, with Real having won three of the six meetings there all-time (with three draws, including the two this season).
• Coaches record: Carl Robinson vs. RSL: P2 W0 L0 T2 … Jeff Cassar vs. VAN: P2 W0 L0 T2

LAST MEETING

• Whitecaps FC finally broke through in the 73rd minute. RSL defender Nat Borchers was adjudged to have committed a foul in the penalty area, and referee Edvin Jurisevic awarded the penalty. Darren Mattocks converted the resulting spot kick to put Vancouver in the lead.
• But the home side drew level in the 81st minute. Joao Plata took a flick from midfielder Kyle Beckerman, outran a defender toward the corner, then beat Vancouver goalkeeper David Ousted low at the far post for the leveler.
• REAL SALT LAKE (4-3-1-2): Nick Rimando - Tony Beltran (Olmes Garcia 78), Chris Schuler, Nat Borchers, Chris Wingert - Ned Grabavoy, Kyle Beckerman, Luis Gil (Luke Mulholland 57) - Javier Morales - Joao Plata, Devon Sandoval (Robbie Findley 58).
• VANCOUVER WHITECAPS FC (4-4-2): David Ousted - Steven Beitashour, Johnny Leveron, Carlyle Mitchell, Jordan Harvey - Sebastian Fernandez (Pedro Morales 78), Gershon Koffie, Mehdi Ballouchy (Matias Laba 63), Nicolas Mezquida - Omar Salgado (Erik Hurtado 65), Darren Mattocks.

VANCOUVER WHITECAPS FC
Vancouver Whitecaps FC suffered their second consecutive defeat and saw their road winless streak extended, falling 3-0 to the Portland Timbers on Saturday afternoon at Providence Park. Whitecaps FC sit in sixth place in the Western Conference with 37 points from 29 games.

LAST MATCH

• The Timbers opened the scoring in the 28th minute. Off a quick restart, Diego Valeri picked a perfect Jorge Villafana cross from the left flank out of the air directly in front of the goal just before it hit turf, hammering a full left-footed volley into the roof of the net.
• Valeri then unlocked the Whitecaps FC defense in the 66th minute. He set Fanendo Adi free with a through ball from midfield that left the big striker with a one-on-one with Vancouver ‘keeper David Ousted, and Adi sent his shot rolling just inside the left post.
• The Timbers hit for a third just three minutes later again on the counter, as Adi and Darlington Nagbe teamed up on a Timbers break, Adi finishing it off with a finish between Ousted’s legs from inside the area.
• Whitecaps FC head coach Carl Robinson made four changes to the team that fell 2-1 to FC Dallas at Toyota Stadium. Steven Beitashour and Andy O'Brien came into the back four in place of Ethen Sampson and Christian Dean, Pedro Morales started in the midfield for Mehdi Ballouchy, and Erik Hurtado came in up top in place of Darren Mattocks.
• VANCOUVER WHITECAPS FC (4-3-1-2): David Ousted - Steven Beitashour, Andy O'Brien, Kendall Waston, Jordan Harvey - Mauro Rosales (Kekuta Manneh 65), Matias Laba, Russell Teibert - Pedro Morales - Sebastian Fernandez (Nicolas Mezquida 76), Erik Hurtado (Darren Mattocks 76).

TEAM NEWS

• Whitecaps FC suffered their second consecutive defeat in the loss at Portland, the first time since April 5-12 they’ve lost back-to-back games this season.
• “There’s 15 points to play for. We’re chasing them now. It’s a different scenario when you’re chasing a team than when a team is chasing you,” said Whitecaps FC head coach Carl Robinson. “So the ball is in their court, but we can concentrate on our business and make sure if we can play like that and get a break here and there and get more people in the box to try and have the desire to score goals, then we won’t be far away.”
• It was also a sixth shutout at the attacking end in the last nine games for Whitecaps FC, and their second 3-0 loss to Portland in the last three weeks.
• “We have to get a goal from somewhere to start. When we go a goal down, we’re probably not playing with the same energy or desire or confidence that we should do. But we have to learn because we’re not always going to score the first goal,” said Robinson. “In the early part of the season we always scored the first goal. We were a team that was playing with confidence and creating chances and not wilting. [In Portland] obviously we conceded the first goal. We lost our way a little bit.”
• Whitecaps FC also conceded multiple goals in a game for the fifth time in the last 10 contests – the other five matches have been defensive clean sheets.
• “I think we need to come to terms with us chasing and keep doing that the rest of the season. I don’t think we need to worry about anything other than getting points for ourselves,” said goalkeeper David Ousted. “We can’t look at anybody else. We need to chase those points and do whatever we can. At the end we’ll look at it.”
• Whitecaps FC boss Robinson returned to the lineup that he used in the 2-0 win vs. San Jose 10 days prior, which was just the third victory for Vancouver since June 7.
• “You say we’re a young group and the only way you learn is by playing. A situation like this will stand us in good stead,” said Robinson. “In terms of the strikers, we’ve seen some fantastic goals this season. It’s been sort of in lumps and periods where we haven’t scored goals. We’re not going to throw anyone under the bus. We’ve got five games left and they’re a very important five and it starts with Salt Lake in the next game.”
• The RSL match is the first of back-to-back games at BC Place for Whitecaps FC, which will then be followed by trips to Seattle and San Jose.
• “It's a big challenge for us and if we want to play in big games, important games, we've got to cope with this pressure,” said Robinson. “There's a little bit of pressure on next week, some would say massive pressure, but put the pressure on me and let them play the way I know they can play. If we can do that and if we can get a chance or two and take a chance or two, then hopefully we can get a win.”

REAL SALT LAKE
Real Salt Lake won their fourth game on the trot on their home ground, rolling to a 5-1 win against the Colorado Rapids on Friday evening at Rio Tinto Stadium. RSL are in third place in the Western Conference with 49 points from 29 matches.

LAST MATCH

• The Rapids took the lead in the 21st minute. Left all kinds of space when a rebound fell to his feet, Jose Mari had plenty of time to tee it up a 30-yard shot just inside the left-hand post.
• But RSL leveled the score 11 minutes later. Taking a pass from midfielder Ned Grabavoy on the left, Joao Plata took the ball inside the area and drilled it into the upper right corner of the net past Colorado goalkeeper Joe Nasco.
• Just a minute later, Javier Morales drove a corner kick straight into the goal, the ball taking a slight touch off Rapids defender Thomas Piermayr as it sailed into the net. Then three minutes later, Nasco couldn't get the handle on a corner kick – and RSL defender Chris Schuler was quickest to it to push it over the line off his stomach.
• The score was 4-1 just before halftime when Morales sent a ball into the area for Plata, and after he tried to put the ball goalward under a challenge, Nasco turned the ball into his own goal while trying to retreat between the posts.
• The long night for Nasco was complete in the 63rd minute when the Rapids 'keeper couldn't handle another corner kick, and after he fumbled it, young RSL defender Carlos Salcedo slammed it into the net for his first MLS goal.
• RSL head coach Jeff Cassar made two changes to the team that suffered a 3-2 loss to Seattle Sounders FC at CenturyLink Field. Carlos Salcedo came into the back four for the suspended Nat Borchers, and Sebastian Jaime started up top in place of Robbie Findley.
• REAL SALT LAKE (4-3-1-2): Nick Rimando - Tony Beltran, Chris Schuler (Aaron Maund 46), Carlos Salcedo, Chris Wingert - Luke Mulholland, Kyle Beckerman, Ned Grabavoy (Luis Gil 83) - Javier Morales - Sebastian Jaime (Robbie Findley 70), Joao Plata.

TEAM NEWS

• Real Salt Lake scored five goals in a game for the second time this season in the win against Colorado. RSL had also scored five in a 5-2 win against Houston on May 11; it’s one goal short of the club record set in a 2009 win vs. New England.
• Real also scored three goals in a five-minute span, the quickest three goals scored in club history.
• “We obviously want to possess and move the ball. But the final third is where it’s at. So it’s very important for us to feel confident in creating chances, which we did,” said midfielder Ned Grabavoy. “I think for our group these kinds of games can be difficult when a team comes in that is injury-riddled and having a really tough time getting results. So for our team to show up and really try to make a statement and be aggressive is probably the most important thing.”
• Joao Plata scored for a second consecutive match and now has 13 goals on the season, tied for sixth in the MLS Golden Boot standings. Plata had seven goals total in his first three seasons combined.
• “He’s our best player. He is. He is our best soccer player. So, I think everyone has a different view on what that would mean but he is our best soccer player. I don’t know what else I could say,” said Grabavoy.
• Said RSL head coach Jeff Cassar: “He's been fantastic all year. He's been quality all year. It was a great build up, a great little combination play. It was fun to watch. At the end of the day I'm just sitting there clapping because I really enjoyed watching that. I think all of our goals tonight were very high quality because we put so much pressure on them.”
• Real Salt Lake scored two goals from corner kicks and one from an indirect free kick. They now have 14 goals from set pieces this season, the most in MLS (moving ahead of Seattle and FC Dallas).
• Defender Carlos Salcedo scored his first professional goal, stabbing home the rebound from a corner kick, and became the first Homegrown Player in RSL history to score a goal.
• “Javier [Morales] just told me that on corner kicks to make sure to stop and try to get away from your mark, so I did that and didn’t even notice that I stopped,” said Salcedo. “Went back to try and get off my mark and I just saw that the ball was coming and faked that I was going to go for the ball, wait for it, and as it was going down just tried to hit it as hard as I can.”
• Morales scored for a second consecutive game, and his third goal in the last four matches. He has nine goals this season, a new single-season career-high in his eighth MLS campaign. He has four goals and four assists over his last six games.
• Sebastian Jaime made his first MLS and RSL start, playing 70 minutes in the attack alongside Plata.
• “I thought he was fantastic. He put it in on both sides of the ball, made fantastic runs, won aerial battles, which was a plus for us. Just overall a very good performance,” said Cassar.