With the Whitecaps and Toronto FC locked in a scoreless battle, the Vancouver midfielder was sent off in the 70th minute for protesting his foul for putting Nick Hagglund down. Shea got a yellow card for the infraction and a second one for continuing to mouth off.
Forced to play a man down, the Whitecaps were never the same and the Reds won 2-0 on goals four minutes apart by Victor Vazquez and Jozy Altidor in a Major League Soccer game at B.C. Place Stadium.
Turning point
“It was a turning point, because the game was pretty even,” said Whitecaps coach Carl Robinson of the ejection. “It played out exactly as I thought it would – not much action in the first half and then, the second half, we tried to get into the troops a little bit to have an impact and play on our front foot. We did.“For 20-plus minutes, we were trying to engineer the game and trying to get that goal, and then, obviously, Brek’s sending off out of nowhere, totally affects you.”
Robinson claimed that such comments by Shea are commonly heard throughout ever game. It was also implied that Toronto captain Michael Bradley, who was cautioned later for his role in a scrum involving several players in midfield, routinely gets away with more indiscretions. But those points were moot.
Shea needed to zip his lip, but he didn’t, and the Whitecaps suffered the consequences soon afterward. Second-half substitute Vazquez headed in a header from Altidore after another substitute, Raheem Edwards, made a sublime cross from the left flank – where Shea would have been covering him if he were still in the game.
Reds coach Greg Vanney deliberately put in Edwards, who is more comfortable with his left foot than defender Nick Hagglund, who was subbed out for him.
“Sometimes, you make moves and you look smart,” said Vanney. “Sometimes, you make moves and you don’t. It worked out for us today.”
Reds take advantage of situation
Four minutes later, Altidore closed out the scoring as he took a pass from Jonathan Osorio, turned with the ball while Kendall Waston tried to mark him, and scored from about 12 yards out.“Obviously, it was difficult for them (with) the man down,” said Vanney. “What’s nice for us is, last year, we were a man up on a number of occasions and didn’t score a goal, so I’m happy for the guys that we took advantage of the situation. It was an unfortunate situation, but we took advantage of it and took the points.”
As a result, TFC, who stole the CONCACAF Canadian championship from the Whitecaps last season on a last-minute away goal, improved to 1-0-2 in league play with all games occurring on the road. Meanwhile, the Whitecaps (0-2-1) remained winless.
"First half wasn't that good. (We needed) more energy, more enthusiasm," said Whitecaps striker Fredy Montero. "Second half, we came and we tried to play more with the ball. We got more space and, unfortunately, the red card changed the game for us."
The official cause of Shea’s ejection was listed as dissent. Robinson vowed to confirm exactly why referee Ismail Elfath decided to send him off, but the coach’s effort will likely not shed much light on the matter. And, really, what difference will it make?
The point, as Vancouver goalkeeper Spencer Richey indicated, was not to put yourself is such situations in the first place.
“We’ve had two sending-offs,” said Richey. “Finish the game with 11 guys. Whether it’s poor choice of the referee or on us, we’ve gotta find ways to not put ourselves in jeopardy of the decisions which are being made to change the number of guys on the pitch.”
Spoiled debut
Richey, a 24-year-old Seattle native, made his first MLS start. He got the call after No. 1 goalkeeper David Ousted was red-carded last weekend, and automatically suspended, for colliding with a San Jose player outside of his box as both were going after a loose ball. A red card and, subsequent suspension, are is automatic; however, Ousted's infraction, was perhaps forgivable, because he sought to prevent a goal.Shea’s ejection was simply unacceptable, especially after Robinson called for the team to be more disciplined at the outset of the season..
The temperamental midfielder deprived the Caps of a chance to beat a Canadian rival and make up for the league loss to San Jose and a setback in Mexico to Tigres UANL in the first leg of their CONCACAF Champions League series.
"It's kind of a funny one because, obviously, I wanted to get my debut," said Richey. "I felt like halfway through the second half we were pushing it, the match was going our way and then that sending off obviously changes things. It's disappointing to not get one point at least."
The first half was a tight yawner as TFC managed only one shot on target and the Whitecaps did not have any. But the flow of play became more interesting in the second half as both coaches went to their benches and made substitutions.Shea’s lack of discipline aside, the Whitecaps continued to struggle to get scoring chances. Their best chance came in the 60th minute – on the club’s first on-target shot of the game – as Russell Teimbert’s one-timer was collared by Toronto goalkeeper Alex Bono.
Later, Teibert put another good chance over the net and substitute Erik Hurtado shot wide on a break along right wing. Robinson, who is thinking about bringing in more offensive talent, called for his club to connect on more scoring chances.
“We need to hit the target more to have those chances,” said Robinson.
