Whitecaps face up to adversity

The Vancouver Whitecaps showed that they can handle considerable adversity against one of the best teams in Major League Soccer on Saturday night.

The Whitecaps played most of the game with 10 men due to a controversial red card and lost two key players to injury in the first half – but still fought the vaunted Los Angeles Galaxy to a 0-0 draw at B.C. Place Stadium.

Vancouver (2-2-1) remained unbeaten in three games, while the Galaxy (2-1-1) have gone two games without a loss.

 “I thought the guys did very well,” said Whitecaps goalkeeper David Ousted, who stole the show with his fine play. “Tremendous work ethic. I think we showed a lot of character, especially being down (to) 10 men. It’s about being compact and being focused – and we showed that today.”

Bunkering down

The Whitecaps were forced to play a man down after midfielder Matias Laba was sent off in the 28th minute, receiving a direct red card for a tackle on L.A. midfielder Mike Magee. To make matters worse, Vancouver also lost midfielders Pedro Morales and Kekuta Manneh to injuries in the first 43 minutes.

Consequently, the Whitecaps spent most of the game building a defensive bunker, booting the ball into the Galaxy half of the pitch and letting them come back.

“We tried to get it up the field once in a while to see if we could make a goal, but it wasn’t to be today and the point is a good result,” said Ousted.

He made the save of the game in the 70th minute with an acrobatic stop on a shot from inside the Vancouver box by second-half substitute Gyasi Zardes. With what did Ousted get a piece of the ball?

“It was the face,” said Ousted. “So, whatever works.”

He and the Whitecaps faced up to a depleted, but still highly talented Galaxy squad. L.A. played without star striker Robbie Keane to a knee injury as well as goalkeeper Dan Kennedy and midfielders Jeff Larentowicz and Steven Gerrard, who were sidelined with leg injuries. But the Galaxy still had stars Jelle Van Damme, Ashley Cole and Nigel de Jong on the pitch, along with the always dangerous Magee and Zardes, who saw limited action after returning from international duty. They managed little against a Vancouver back line that featured stellar play by central defender Kendall Waston.

Red cards ruining games, says Galaxy coach

L.A. coach Bruce Arena called the result “fair” under the circumstances. Arena said he would have to review a replay of the infraction that led to Laba’s ejection. But in a rare move, Arena tacitly blasted referee Jair Marruto for the call.

“There’s just been too many red cards in this league,” said Arena, a former U.S. national men’s team coach. “It’s ruined the games. Those are difficult games. (The red-card increase) doesn’t make the games entertaining. I don’t think the fans like it.”

Vancouver coach Carl Robinson agreed with Arena’s comments and said he will appeal Laba’s ejection.  

“Yeah, there are too many red cards,” said Robinson. “Fans pay a lot of money to watch games of football and watch the best players on the field. Us as a group of coaches and the players in (the dressing room) are just unsure. We’ve got one of the top midfield players in the league. He’s made a tackle today and he’s been sent off, and I’m not sure why.”

MLS has introduced new foul interpretations this year designed to protect players. Whitecaps defender Tim Parker, who excelled upon his return to the Caps after toiling for the U.S. Under-23 squad that failed to qualify for the 2016 Olympics, said players were advised that fouls would be called tighter. But they are having trouble recognizing the new rules.

Ousted believes the league’s desire to protect players from injury is “a good thing, but it’s misplaced once in a while.”

“And, I think it ruins games more than it actually benefits the players, and I think it’s something that needs to be looked at,” said Ousted.

He called on players to speak out more on the issue. However, L.A. coach Arena was not about to call out his players for a poor effort.

Morales and Manneh out for a while?

Arena thought his players were “deficient” in their “ability to create scoring chances,” but still felt his team played well. Vancouver’s best scoring chances came when Andrew Jacobson’s shot from distance forced goalkeeper Brian Rowe to make a rare save in first-half added time and midfielder de Jong booted the ball away from second-half substitute Blas Perez in the 85th minute. That chance resulted from a sensational heel pass by Cristian Techera.

“Technically, we could have been better in the last third of the field,” said Arena. “Obviously, we’re playing on (artificial) turf and, maybe, we’re not that comfortable on it, but that isn’t an excuse. On the other side, you could give Vancouver a lot of credit. They’re very disciplined and dropped their team back and got in good positions and did the job defensively.”

The draw bodes well for the Whitecaps as they try confirm their status as a legitimate MLS Cup contender. But they might be forced to play for an extended period without Morales, who only played 17 minutes before going down and pointing to soreness in his thigh area. Manneh, who has been troubled by an ankle injury suffered in the second leg of last year’s playoff loss to Portland, logged 43 minutes and was still limping after the game.

Robinson was not optimistic about the either player’s chances of returning soon.

“They don’t look good at the moment,” said Robinson.