It’s good to be home: Techera and Parker on target as Whitecaps defeat SKC

Vancouver Whitecaps FC celebrated their return to BC Place with three points against Sporting Kansas City. One goal in each half from Cristian Techera and Tim Parker were enough as the Whitecaps won 2-0, despite Fredy Montero missing a penalty.

The Vancouver Whitecaps‘ return to BC Place was worth the wait. Five weeks after the 2-1 win over Seattle, the Whitecaps marked the occasion with two goals, a clean sheet, and a missed penalty. Western Conference leaders Sporting Kansas City had no response to Cristian Techera and Tim Parker’s goals, allowing Vancouver to pick up their fifth win of the season.

Techera livens up first half

Whitecaps coach Carl Robinson named an unchanged XI for the fifth match in a row. The 4-1-4-1 formation worked well over the last month, as the Whitecaps won two out of four away games. Playing at home, however, Robinson’s tactics faced a difficult challenge in SKC’s solid defence.

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The lack of creativity in a midfield full of DMs (three of them: Matías Laba, Andrew Jacobson, and Tony Tchani) meant the ball got passed around a lot without going anywhere. Christian Bolaños, supposedly playing on the wing, spent much of the first half dropping back to pick up the ball from the central defenders and trying to bring it forward.

As a result, the best chances of the first half fell to SKC, off mistakes at the back from the Whitecaps. Until the 40th minute. Kendall Waston pinged a long ball out to Sheanon Williams on the right. Williams hit a cross into the box, Bolaños chested it down, and Techera volleyed into the bottom corner of the net. Techera has been in fantastic form this season, and now has three goals to his name.

Melia save denies Montero’s penalty

Vancouver had a great opportunity to double their lead soon after the break. In a decision reminiscent of Houston’s “soft” penalty last week, referee Baldomero Toledo judged that Fredy Montero had been fouled in the penalty area. Montero took the penalty himself, but Tim Melia did well to keep out the shot and then smother the rebound.

That’s two penalties out of two saved for Montero this season, although he did score from the rebound the first time. It might be time for someone else to take on the responsibility.

Parker seals the win

Just over 10 minutes after the penalty miss, the BC Place crowd was baying for a red card as SKC defender Roger Espinoza took out teenager Alphonso Davies with a reckless tackle. Toledo only showed a yellow card, likely because Espinoza appeared to slip, but the Whitecaps made SKC pay from the resulting free kick.

Bolaños floated the free kick goalwards, and Tim Parker got just enough of his head on the ball to divert it past Melia.

At 2-0 up, the Whitecaps looked more likely to punish Kansas City on the break than to concede. However, Montero hit the post with a header, and super sub Brek Shea couldn’t continue his run of coming off the bench and scoring. With three points, a clean sheet, and plenty of good performances, Robinson will have a lot of positives to take away from this match.

Man of the Match: Christian Bolaños

After a slow start to the season, the Whitecaps seem to finding their groove. The exact same sentence could be said about Bolaños, and that’s no coincidence. On Saturday, Bolaños assisted both goals and took on almost all the heavy lifting for creating chances from midfield. He also came very close to scoring with a shot that just crept over the crossbar.

Next up: Canadian Championship

It’s a quick turnaround for the Whitecaps, who are in action Tuesday night. Vancouver face the Montreal Impact in the first leg of the Canadian Championship semifinal. The Whitecaps will be hungering to get back into the CONCACAF Champions League. They’ll also be looking to erase the memories of last year’s heartbreaking last-minute loss to Toronto FC in the final.

Expect to see some changes to the lineup, however, and not just because of the three days between games. Teams are required to start a minimum of three Canadians in each match. The players must be Canadian citizens and/or hold a Canadian passport. Marcel de Jong, Russell Teibert, and Ben McKendry or Marco Bustos are likely candidates to start.

Next: Montreal Impact: Three Takeaways against Portland

The Whitecaps named their 23-man roster on Monday. They’ve rested several starters, including David Ousted, Jordan Harvey, Sheanon Williams, and Christian Bolaños. Meanwhile, several Whitecaps FC 2 players have been included. Goalkeeper Sean Melvin, defenders Sem de Wit and Deklan Wynne, midfielders Matthew Baldisimo and David Norman Jr., and striker Gloire Amanda all signed short-term agreements to be eligible for Tuesday.