Whitecaps spoil Rooney's rare visit

Wayne Rooney drew a crowd Saturday night, but he did not dazzle it.

The Vancouver Whitecaps held the former English Premier League star in check, blanking Rooney’s D.C. United squad 1-0 before a sellout crowd of 22,120 at B.C. Place Stadium. Rooney, making his first – and probably last – Major League Soccer appearance in Vancouver rarely touched the ball during the run of play.

That was not so much a case of Rooney playing poorly. It was more a case of Vancouver closing the door defensively.

“We were, by far, the better team, created the better chances,” said Rooney who, unlike many visiting stars to B.C. Place this season, made himself available to reporters promptly after the contest. “We were very unlucky not to get anything out of the game.”

The Whitecaps (6-12-9) ended their home losing streak at six games. They registered their first home win since May 25 against FC Dallas.

But D.C. (10-8-9) outshone the hosts in almost every statistical category by a wide margin – except one: Shots on target. Both teams had two and the Whitecaps scored on one of theirs, when Yordy Reyna converted a sublime pass from Russell Teibert in the 18th minute.

Vancouver rookie goalkeeper Maxime Crepeau, who has been a rainbow during a season full of dark clouds, recorded his fifth shutout of the campaign – an amazing feat number considering that the Caps have just six wins.

“Any clean sheet feels amazing,” said Crepeau. “At that point, it’s three points. After that, it’s keeping a clean sheet. If it’s against Rooney, even better. It’s a great evening.”

With the Whitecaps destined to miss the playoffs and going through a management reorganization, Rooney was the primary drawing card. The crowd cheered the former Manchester United icon during the pre-game introductions and offered a mixture of jeers and cheers when he touched the ball – mostly on free kicks and corner-kicks. He also received a nice – but not overwhelming – round of applause when he subbed off in the 74th minute.

“The stadium is very nice,” he said. “The fans are good, too.”

After exiting the pitch, he castigated the fourth official for a lack of hand-ball calls on the Whitecaps in their 18-yard box and perceived recent poor officiating. Later, while speaking with reporters, he noted he had been criticizing the officiating lately, expressed his belief in his right to do so, and called on Howard Webb, the league’s head of officiating, to come to D.C. and explain how calls were made.

Rooney also expressed concerns about long coach-class air travel to Vancouver.

“The travel doesn’t help, obviously,” he said. “It was a very long trip, two flights. Maybe we should have used one of the charter flights to come here.”

MLS limits the number of flights that teams may take during a season. A loss by an eastern team on the West Coast due to travel fatigue is nothing new. But Rooney refused to use the long travel as an excuse for his lack of output.

“It’s part of the job, unfortunately, so you have to do it,” he said. “But there’s a better way to do it. Unfortunately, we didn’t take that way.”

Travel fatigue was likely not a factor. D.C. outshot the Caps 24-8, held roughly a 65-35 edge in possession percentage and was much accurate than Vancouver with passes and crosses. While Rooney did not exactly shine, he deserved credit just for showing up.

In the past, some eastern-based stars have found reasons not to come to Vancouver, because of the artificial turf at B.C. Place and other factors. But, Rooney, who recently ventured back to the U.K. to announce that he would serve as a player-coach with Derby County starting in January, said he was all-in for the game – charter or no charter.

“There was no reason for me not to come on this trip,” he said.

“(The possibility of Rooney staying home from a long road game) was never an issue,” added D.C. coach Ben Olsen. “We talked about that. That’s what it is. He’s on the team and he’ll come to every game that we play if he’s healthy, and that was the case.”

Whitecaps coach Marc Dos Santos said the club strived to prevent D.C. from getting through balls to Rooney between defenders, who were instructed to be compact in front of the net and allow D.C. to make crosses from the wings.

“What I told the players before the game is: even if many people come to see Rooney, the sum of our parts (has) to be the difference maker,” said Dos Santos. “I think that today in every facet of the game, in everything we did, there was such a commitment from everyone. I’m proud of that, there’s no sign of this team giving up.”

Dos Santos is evaluating players for their commitment to the team’s long-term cause, especially after some humiliating losses at home. It went without saying that the Whitecaps have little to play for the rest of the season. So a win over the legendary Wayne Rooney’s squad added some meaning to a lost season.

However, Teibert contended that the Caps did not do anything special to deter him from scoring.

“Our approach to the game is: We have to stick to what we do defensively,” said Teibert. “We’ve been sound defensively in the past four games. We have to keep building on that. Rooney is a big name, he attracts a lot of attention everywhere he goes, but our game plan was essentially the same.”

Whitecaps seeking more firepower after draw with TFC

Now, the decisions begin for Marc Dos Santos.
The Vancouver Whitecaps coach has begun a search for more firepower in advance of the international transfer window that opens July 7. Vancouver's need for more offensive talent was evident in Vancouver's 1-1 tie Friday with Toronto FC.
"The run they've made (in May) has been fantastic," said Dos Santos, noting the Caps (4-6-6) have earned 17 points in their last 11 games. "There's a lot of positives. But, now, it's obvious that you need to reinforce what's here already."
Toronto FC (5-6-3) rallied to tie the game in the 90th minute as second-half substitute Nick DeLeon's attempted cross deflected in off a Vancouver defender. The goal came after Fredy Montero had given the Whitecaps a 1-0 lead on a penalty-kick in the 84th minute.
He suggested the Whitecaps were fortunate to earn a point .
"We have to admit that the tie is fair," he said. "That's a fair result for both teams. If we don't admit that, then we're delusional and we don't progress as a team."

Vancouver's offence was disjointed most o the night, even though the Caps held an edge in ball possession (approximately 52 per cent to 48 per cent) in the first half. Toronto enjoyed a 63-per-cent to 37 per cent edge in the second half.

"I have to rewatch the game, but looking at it and thinking about it quickly, I think that once we got possession in their half (of the pitch), especially in the first half, it was sloppy, bad decision-making on the ball, missed passes," said Dos Santos. "It wasn't good, in my opinion. I think it was probably our worst first half this year, and that made it obvious that it was difficult for us then to create chances."
Whitecaps goalkeeper Maxime Crepeau prevented Toronto from turning the game into a rout as he made three difficult saves in a three-minute span in the second half before any scoring occurred. DeLeon's goal came at a time when Dos Santos was looking to sub off midfielder Hwang In-Beom, who had been hurt in the first half and was cramping and very fatig

Dos Santos said he wanted to sub off Hwang In-Beom because he "was cramping a lot and was very fatigued" before Toronto scored, but he was not able to because the ball did not go out of play.

"And then there's a lack of pressure on our left side, their right side," said Dos Santos. "From there, the play comes in. I didn't see the goal yet. I think it got deflected, and it's unfortunate because we wanted to make the sub. ... I felt they got in easy there and got the cross in that deflected in."

"We're solid defending crosses and I don't have no words for this play when the ball is on DeLeon's foot coming in, Ali (Adnan) is doing his job trying to block the cross and then it's going past me (and) kisses the post really close," said Crepeau. "It's difficult to end up the game like that. It's heartbreaking."

Vancouver received a chance to steal a win as Montero converted his penalty-kick after second half substitute Yordy Reyna was taken down in the Toronto box on a breakaway by Reds defender Drew Moor. But the Whitecaps let up in the five minutes after the goal as the Reds became much more desperate, and DeLeon emerged as the hero.

“A loss really would have deflated a lot of guys," said DeLeon.  'Just to fight back with how much time was on the clock, I think, was big for us.” 

He said the Reds, who have struggled for much of the season while star striker Jozy Altidore battled injury, can build off the comeback tie heading into the three-week international break.. In the meantime, the Whitecaps were left to ponder what might have been on a night when they feted their 1979 Soccer Bowl championship team.

Many of the 1979 team's stars, including Willie Johnston and former coach Tony Waiters, were honoured before the game.

"It was a special night," said Dos Santos. "Unfortunately, we didn't give them the win."  .

 

Crepeau backstops Whitecaps to win over Timbers

Maxime Crepeau had plenty of action Friday night – and he did not disappoint.

Crepeau made five saves as the Vancouver Whitecaps blanked the Portland Timbers 1-0 at B.C. Place Stadium. The saves total was a bit misleading, although Crepeau, a 24-year-old Greenfield Park, Que., native, stopped mostly difficult shots. He was under siege for much of the night as the Whitecaps (3-5-3) scored early and hung on for their second straight win, moving into playoff contention in the process.

Fredy Montero scored the game’s only goal in the ninth minutes as he took a pass from Russell Teibert in the Timbers box and roofed a shot inside the near post.

Portland (3-6-1) was credited with 27 shots in all – with five on target, 15 off target and another seven blocked by Vancouver defenders. By comparison, the Caps only recorded 12 shots altogether.

But Crepeau was not complaining about Portland’s barrage.

"Tonight, the heat lamp was a little bit more on our side. It was back and forth.

"It's easier for me to be focused when we have action. If you are having one action every 35 minutes, you really need to keep up mentally for that ball. If the ball is coming in waves and waves, you are right in there."

Crepeau earned his third shutout of the season while logging his 10th start. Not bad considering that he played in lower tiers before earning his first permanent Major League Soccer spot this season. 

Vancouver’s starting goalkeeper job was up for grabs as the start of the campaign after the Whitecaps jettisoned both of their stoppers after missing the playoffs in 2018. But Crepeau, who was acquired in a trade in December from the Montreal Impact for $50,000 in targeted allocation money and a third-round 2020 SuperDraft pick, has relegated American veteran Zac MacMath to a backup role.

The Caps paid a much higher price for MacMath, sending pesky midfielder Nicolas Mezquida and $100,000 in TAM to the Colorado Rapids.

Despite being part of Canada’s men’s national program, Crepeau was a relative unknown. But he has a strong pedigree. In 2018, he recorded a USL single-season record with 15 clean sheets while on loan to Ottawa Fury FC. He won the circuit’s goalkeeper of the year award, posting 82 saves with a 72.6 save percentage with a 1.00 goals-against average.

Now, Crepeau has the Whitecaps dreaming of more success.

"We are happy,” he said. “It was an important win. We want to keep going with three wins in a row (after the next meeting) against Atlanta (on Wednesday).”

Meanwhile, the Timbers headed home unhappy, largely because of Crepeau.

“(Give) credit to their goalkeeper (and) to their team” said Timbers coach Giovanni Savarese. “They defended well. They sacrificed. But I thought also, we were really unlucky today. We did a lot of good things. We created a lot of chances. We moved the ball well. We dominated -- especially in the second half. Yes, they did have counters. But we dealt very well with the counters."

The Timbers earned 12 corner-kicks as a result of their steady pressure – but could not capitalize.

"We had many corners, many shots, a lot of possessions," said Savarese. "But, unfortunately, that doesn't win you games. Unfortunately, what we missed today was the goals."