Vancouver's Joe Cannon makes a save vs. Colorado's Conor Casey (Reuters)
On Saturday the Vancouver Whitecaps hosted the Colorado Rapids in a classic six point match. Both clubs were sitting around the middle of the Western Conference table and were hoping a win would help them fire up a midseason run at the top.
The Rapids actually played pretty well, and enjoyed an edge in possession for most of the evening. Their first chance of the match came on 4 minutes as Edu tried to seize a back pass to the Vancouver goal, but Joe Cannon was able to pounce on it. Martin Rivero also had two pretty good looks for Colorado. In the 28th minute he sent a drive in from the top of the 18 that just sailed wide of the target. Then in minute 34 Cannon was once again called into action, deflecting another Rivero shot wide for a corner.
The best chance for the Whitecaps in the first half came in the 43rd minute when Sebastian Le Toux got 1v1 with Rapids 'keeper Matt Pickens, but Pickens played it expertly, snuffing out the chance and sending the teams into the half still scoreless.
Things appeared to take a turn for the worse for Vancouver around the hour mark. In the 59th minute Whitecaps rookie Darren Mattocks was hit with a yellow card for diving in the 18. Then just a minute later he picked up another yellow for a bad tackle on Drew Moor in his own attacking third. Mattocks hit the showers early, and Colorado had a chance to take it to the Whitecaps with a man advantage.
Unfortunately for the men in Burgundy, it didn't quite work out like they planned. In the 80th minute Vancouver would score the match's only goal. The 'Caps attacked on the counter and Davide Chiumiento hit Le Toux with a gorgeous cross and the former Union man easily put it past Pickens to make it 1-0.
The Rapids didn't give up though, and they had a flurry of chances late on. In the 82nd minute Rivero hit the post, then in the 88th the woodwork denied the Rapids again. Hunter Freeman saw his curling effort hit the frame and bound away, as Vancouver held on to the 1-0 win at full time.
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