By:Aaron Campbell (Twitter:@AaCamp81)
Match Report Courtesy of Whitecaps FC
Vancouver Whitecaps FC (CCL: 2W-0L-0D) got back to their winning ways on Tuesday night at BC Place – and they did so in emphatic fashion.
Cristian Techera scored twice and Erik Hurtado had a goal and an assist as the ‘Caps cruised to a 3-0 win over Sporting Kansas City (CCL: 0W-1L-1D) in CONCACAF Champions League play.
It was a dominant performance from Vancouver, who also hit the woodwork twice, and an important result too. The ‘Caps now sit comfortably atop their Champions League group with six points – five points clear of both Sporting KC and Central FC.
All three teams have two matches remaining.
Tuesday’s match came just three days after Vancouver and Sporting KC met in MLS play. On that night, Sporting KC claimed a 2-0 victory at Children’s Mercy Park.
This was a different story.
“We haven’t been doing well enough, but I challenged them, especially after Saturday’s game,” said Whitecaps FC head coach Carl Robinson. “I challenged them – because they’re all good players, they’re good people – to have a go. And we certainly had a go tonight.”
The ‘Caps, who made nine changes to their starting lineup after Saturday’s defeat and switched to a 4-4-2 formation, came out firing.
Brett Levis, who just signed his first MLS contract earlier in the day, set the tone with a second-minute slide tackle. And Matias Laba, who didn’t play on Saturday, looked as motivated as ever.
Robinson’s side fought for every ball, for every inch. It was a positive start – and it got even better when Techera opened the scoring in the eighth minute. The play started when Masato Kudo picked off an ill-advised SKC free kick deep in their own end.
Kudo then played the ball out wide to Hurtado, who sent a cross to Techera at the back post. The 5-foot-2 Uruguayan took care of the rest, heading in the game’s opening goal from close range.
Hurtado was at it again four minutes later.
This time, he ran onto a fantastic ball over the top from Russell Teibert before calmly lobbing the keeper to put Whitecaps FC up 2-0.
And he nearly made it 3-0 early in the second half, hitting the post on a well-taken strike from the top of the box. KC also had a couple decent opportunities early in the second half, but this was Vancouver’s night.
Techera added an exclamation mark in the 64th minute, calmly finishing a breakaway after a nice throughball from Laba. It was Techera’s third goal of this year’s CONCACAF Champions League, which is tied for the tournament lead.
“I think people forget he’s a young player, and young players go through confidence spurts,” Robinson said of Techera. “Unfortunately a number of players were going through that at the same time. But we’ve just got to get back to work and roll our sleeves up and fight and scrap and kick and run. I thought we’d done that today,”
The ‘Caps continue their CCL campaign on September 23 at Children’s Mercy Park against this very Sporting KC side, before concluding the group stage at home against Central FC on September 28. A win in either of those matches would guarantee Vancouver’s first-ever quarter-final berth, while a draw would also put them in a strong position.
For now, though, they shift their focus back to the MLS playoff race. Next up is a clash with LA Galaxy on Saturday in Carson, California (7:30 p.m. PT on TSN1 and TSN 1040 radio).
MATCH DETAILS
Attendance: 16,383
Referee: Erick Miranda
Scoring Summary
8’ – VAN – Cristian Techera (Erik Hurtado)
12’ – VAN – Erik Hurtado (Russell Teibert)
64’ – VAN – Cristian Techera (Matias Laba)
Stats
Possession: Vancouver 34.2% – Sporting KC 65.8%
Shots: Vancouver 11 – Sporting KC 12
Shots on Goal: Vancouver 7 – Sporting KC 3
Saves: Vancouver 3 – Sporting KC 4
Fouls: Vancouver 22 – Sporting KC 9
Offsides: Vancouver 0 – Sporting KC 0
Corners: Vancouver 2 – Sporting KC 8
Cautions
32’ – VAN – Russell Teibert
39’ – VAN – Kendall Waston
88’ – VAN – Fraser Aird
Vancouver Whitecaps FC
70.Paolo Tornaghi; 6.Jordan Smith, 4.Kendall Waston ©, 26.Tim Parker, 46.Brett Levis; 8.Fraser Aird, 15.Matías Laba (17.Andrew Jacobson 90’), 31.Russell Teibert, 13.Cristian Techera (67.Alphonso Davies 76’); 9.Masato Kudo, 19.Erik Hurtado (27.Blas Pérez 68’)
Substitutes not used
39.Spencer Richey*, 11.Nicolás Mezquida, 14.Cole Seiler, 33.Marcel de Jong
*WFC2 call-up
Sporting Kansas City
1.Jon Kempin; 17.Saad Abdul-Salaam, 55.Amer Didic, 4.Kevin Ellis, 24.Ever Alvarado; 6.Paulo Nagamura ©, 93.Soni Mustivar (35.Ualefi 64’), 23.Emmanuel Appiah; 39.Cameron Porter, 9.Diego Rubio, 22.Connor Hallisey
Substitutes not used
25.Alex Kann, 5.Matt Besler, 14.Dom Dwyer, 27.Roger Espinoza, 94.Jimmy Medranda
