VANCOUVER, B.C. -- The Vancouver Whitecaps remain perfect at home, claiming a 2-1 win over the Houston Dynamo at BC Place thanks to goals from left back Jordan Harvey and forward Kenny Miller.
Harvey scored the opener in the 14th minute, pouncing into the path of a header across goal from Andy O'Brien to tuck the ball past Tally Hall. Pedro Morales was instrumental on the goal, sending a pinpoint right-footed cross from the left onto O'Brien's head.
Miller then doubled Vancouver's lead in the 58th minute, scoring from the spot by slotting the ball into the bottom right corner. The Scottish Designated Player had to take the penalty twice though, scoring both times – after referee Kevin Stott blew down Miller's initial spot kick due to encroachment by a number of Whitecaps players.
Darren Mattocks generated that penalty, juking around Kofi Sarkodie, who handled the ball in the box after a failed attempt to tackle the Jamaican.
Ricardo Clark narrowed the lead by scoring for the Dynamo in the 75th minute, heading home a Brad Davis free kick. David Ousted tried to stretch across to his left to make the save, but the connection from Clark found the bottom right corner.
Though the Whitecaps were clearly the better side for most of the match, Clark's tally gave the visitors hope. Though Morales bossed the game in the first half, Houston aimed to neutralize him better after the restart and largely succeeded, playing a more physical game on the Chilean.
Vancouver's first clear opportunity in the match came in the 12th minute, as Miller sent a left-footed cross right across goal into the path of the rushing Mattocks. The Jamaican made contact but couldn't hit the target, his shot flying over Hall's crossbar.
The Dynamo came close to finding an equalizer to Vancouver's early opener in the 16th minute, as Giles Barnes narrowly headed wide of target, getting on the end of a cross from the right from Sarkodie.
Houston again narrowly missed out after Davis hit a shot across goal from the left at an acute angle that Ousted tipped onto the crossbar. Barnes set Davis up for the 49th minute opportunity with a clever backheel in the area.
Miller nearly added a second in the 93rd minute, but his curling right footed effort went just wide to the right of target.
With the win, the Whitecaps move to 2-0-2, ahead of next Saturday's home match at BC Place against the Colorado Rapids. As for the Dynamo, they drop to 2-1-0, with their next outing a home match against FC Dallas on Saturday at BBVA Compass Stadium.
MLSsoccer.com Men of the Match
Rank |
Player |
What We Saw |
1 |
<a href="//www.mlssoccer.com/players/pedro-morales" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: 12px;">Pedro Morales</span></a> |
Pulled the strings for the victors, and showed his impressive passing ability off, especially in the first half |
2 |
<a href="//www.mlssoccer.com/players/darren-mattocks" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: 12px;">Darren Mattocks</span></a> |
Still hasn't found the back of the net, but did everything else well, including drawing the penalty on the winner |
3 |
<a href="//www.mlssoccer.com/players/brad-davis" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: 12px;">Brad Davis</span></a> |
Was subdued by his standards, but showed flashes of skill on the flank and set up Houston's goal |
