VANCOUVER, BC – Vancouver Whitecaps FC kept their playoff hopes alive with a 3-0 home win over Western Conference rivals Los Angeles Galaxy at BC Place on Wednesday night.
The best chance of the first half came when Tristan Blackmon found the ball at his feet in the box, but his shot went over the net as the teams went into halftime level at 0-0.
Blackmon was at the centre of action again in the 50th minute. On a free kick sent in by Ryan Raposo, Ranko Veselinović headed it forward to Blackmon who's header ended up in the hands of goalkeeper Jonathan Bond.
Whitecaps FC finally opened the scoring in the 57th minute. After a scramble in the box, Ryan Gauld blocked a clearance and slammed in a strike to send the home crowd into a frenzy and give the 'Caps a 1-0 lead.
11 minutes later it was 2-0 for the 'Caps. A great build-up saw Ryan Gauld feed Luís Martins before the left back crossed in a ball that was deflected by Brian White to Pedro Vite for his first MLS goal and first for Whitecaps FC.
Tosaint Ricketts then rounded out the scoring in the 86th minute, finishing off a breakaway after an exquisite ball from Julian Gressel. It was Ricketts fourth goal in six appearances versus the Galaxy.
The Blue & White continue their three-game home stretch on Saturday when they host Cascadia rivals Seattle Sounders FC. Tickets remain available at whitecapsfc.com/tickets.
MATCH DETAILS
VWFC GE Appliances Player of Quality: Pedro Vite
Attendance: 16,681
Referee: Fotis Bazakos
Scoring Summary
57’ – VAN – Ryan Gauld
68’ – VAN – Pedro Vite (Brian White, Luís Martins)
86’ – VAN – Tosaint Ricketts (Julian Gressel)
Statistics
Possession: VAN 32.2% – LA 67.8%
Shots: VAN 11 – LA 12
Shots on Goal: VAN 6 – LA 2
Saves: VAN 2 – LA 3
Fouls: VAN 7 – LA 9
Offsides: VAN 0 – LA 1
Corners: VAN 3 – LA 9
Cautions
7’ – VAN – Leonard Owusu
38’ – VAN – Luís Martins
62’ – VAN – Pedro Vite
63’ – LA – Víctor Vázquez
82’ – VAN – Sebastian Berhalter
Vancouver Whitecaps FC
1.Thomas Hasal; 28.Jake Nerwinski, 4.Ranko Veselinović, 6.Tristan Blackmon, 14.Luís Martins (2.Marcus Godinho 70'); 20.Andrés Cubas, 17.Leonard Owusu (16.Sebastian Berhalter 70'); 27.Ryan Raposo (19.Julian Gressel 64'), 25.Ryan Gauld ©; 45.Pedro Vite (31.Russell Teibert 80'), 24.Brian White (87.Tosaint Ricketts 80')
Substitutes not used
55.Cody Cropper, 11.Cristian Dájome, 18.Alessandro Schöpf, 23.Javain Brown
LA Galaxy
1.Jonathan Bond; 2.Julián Araujo, 22.Martín Cáceres, 3.Derrick Williams, 77.Chase Gasper; 8.Mark Delgado, 5.Gastón Brugman (10.Douglas Costa 80'), 6.Riqui Puig (16.Sacha Kljestan 86'), 7.Víctor Vázquez (99.Dejan Joveljić 65'); 9.Kévin Cabral (11.Samuel Grandsir 65'), 14.Javier Hernández © (26.Efraín Álvarez 80')
Substitutes not used
33.Jonathan Klinsmann, 18.Kelvin Leerdam, 20.Nick DePuy, 37.Daniel Aguirre
