Vancouver Whitecaps 2-Houston Dynamo 2

Persistence pays off. After being denied on multiple occasions and facing a bit of a scare late, the Vancouver Whitecaps return home gave them at least a positive result to start-their mini-homestand. After hammering the Houston Dynamo on set pieces in the second half Kendall Waston finally put one through, rescuing a 2-2 draw late in front of 18,813 at BC Place.

With Vancouver looking for their first win in three matches and Houston looking for their first win ever at BC Place both sides went on the attack early. In just the third minute of the match Kei Kamara nearly marked his return to the starting lineup with a goal, finishing off a cross into the box from midfielder Bernie Ibni-Isei with a header that just went over the bar. Kamara had missed three of the last four matches with an adductor strain. The Sierra Leone had an immediate impact, creating several attacking chances and creating space for Anthony Blondell.

While Vancouver was looking to the air for goals the Dynamo used the ground game, using their speed to open up the Whitecaps defense. Right midfileder Alberth Ellis had his hands full with Whitecaps left-back Siem De Jong, who kept the Honduran international close by and away from goal. Ellis’ pass into the box was cleared away by De Jong in the ninth minute,ending Houston’s first attacking chance.

But the Dynamo were not dissauded by their initial setback. In the 18th minute, Ellis hit a little chip down the right flank over De Jong that was caught by goalkeeper Brian Rowe. Thirteen minutes later he tried something similar getting past De Jong but this time hitting a low shot. Rowe was up for the challenge making the save.

The best attacking players are always making little changes to their approach with hopes for better fortunes for their side. In the 32nd minute Ellis did just that, taking a high cross from Oscar Bonniek Garcia and darting down the right flank. As opposed to taking the shot he layed in a pass into midfielder Tomas Martinez at the top of the eighteen yard box. Martinez made the most of his shot burying it past Rowe to give Houston the 1-0 advantage. The Argentine Designated Player’s goal was his first of the 2018 season.

To get back into the match and to break the lockdown Dynamo defense Vancouver needed to get creative. They did just that in the 44th minute when on a free kick midfielder Felipe quickly made a pass to center-back Kendall Waston down the right. Waston got past his defender and hit a low cross in for fellow defender Jose Aja. His slight misdirection was enough to get past Houston goalkeeper Joe Willis and make things level just before halftime. Aja’s goal was his first-ever in Major League Soccer.

Midway through the second Whitecaps head coach Carl Robinson made a key substitution, bringing in Yordy Reyna to add some speed and spice to their attack. From there the Whitecaps attack were off to the races, forcing the Dynamo defense to chase them down and foul, when necessary. In the 70th minute off of a free kick from Felipe Waston hit a low effort that forced Willis to make an emergency diving effort. Felipe laid in another excellent free kick just six minutes later for Aja whose shot just went wide.

The Dynamo defense picked up the slack and helped out their goalkeeper with a couple of key clears late in the second half. In the 83rd minute Reyna found Shea outside all alone against Willis. While he was unable to get his shot off initially his second chance required a save from Wolf. On the rebound Fuenmayor made the goal-line clear to keep things level at one. He made another quality stop just minutes later on a goal-line clear from a shot by Waston.

Despite laying dormant from most of the second half Houston came alive late using the counter-attack to take the lead late. Substitute Arturo Alvarez hit a shot that was deflected off of De Jong and ended up right at the feet of Mauro Manotas, Manotas then went far post giving Houston the lead in the 90th minute, his fifth of the 2018 season.

Houston’s problems on set pieces came back to haunt them though as Vancouver were given once last chance in the third minute of extra-time. After having been denied earlier in the half on a set piece Waston made the most of his second chance, getting his first goal of the season and the 2-2 draw for his side.

Thanks to Waston’s goal Vancouver (4-5-2, 14 points) maintained their undefeated record against Houston at BC Place (6-0-3, 21 points). They will hope that their positive run at home will continue on Wednesday when they host the San Joe Earthquakes (10:30 PM EST/7:30 EST, TSN/ESPN +).

As for Houston (3-3-3, 12 points) while coach Wilmer Cabrera will take the point their inability to hold on to the lead late will certainly leave a bad taste in his and his player’s mouths. Their road trip continues next Sunday with a visit to Toyota Park in Bridgeview where they will face the Chicago Fire ( 4:00PM EST/3:00 PM CST, UNiMas).

Editor’s Note: On hand to cover the match was Prost Amerika photographer Gerrit te Hennepe. You can check out his shots from the match below and all of his Whitecaps photos from the 2018 season on SmugMug.

 

 

MATCH SUMMARY

Vancouver Whitecaps-Brian Rowe, Marcel de Jong, Jose Aja, Kendall Waston, Sean Franklin, Alphonso Davies, Felipe, Aly Ghazal (Efrain Juarez 66′), Bernie Ibini-Isei (Brek Shea 83′), Kei Kamara, and Anthony Blondell (Yordy Reyna 68′)

Goals- Aja (44′) and Waston (90′ +4′)

Yellow Cards- Kamara (61′) and Waston (93′ +3′)

Houston Dynamo-Joe Willis, Adolfo Machado , Alejandro Fuenmayor, Leonardo, Andrew Wenger, Eric Alexander, Darwin Ceren (Oscar Boniek Garcia 14′), Alberth Ellis (Arturo Alvarez 73′), Tomas Martinez (Luis Gil 71′), Romell Quioto, and Mauro Manotas

Goals- Martinez (35′) and Manotas (90′)

Yellow Cards- Bonniek Garcia (64′), Alvarez (88′), and Martinez (90′)

ATTENDANCE: 18,813