SAN JOSE, CA – Vancouver Whitecaps FC (9W-15L-9D) and San Jose Earthquakes (8W-11L-14D) played to a scoreless draw on Sunday afternoon in a goalkeeper battle at Avaya Stadium.
Making his first MLS regular season start in over three years, Budweiser Man of the Match Paolo Tornaghi kept the clean sheet for Vancouver with a fine six-save performance. His counterpart David Bingham also came up big with seven saves of his own, including a couple big ones on Masato Kudo early in the second half.
Carl Robinson promised a “rejig” to his starting lineup for Sunday’s match with Whitecaps FC already eliminated from playoff contention. And that’s what we saw, with the ‘Caps head coach making seven changes from Vancouver’s last outing. Notably, Tornaghi got his first MLS regular season start with the ‘Caps since joining the club ahead of the 2014 season.
And he was busy in the early going.
In the seventh minute, Tornaghi came up with a big save after Simon Dawkins tiptoed into the left side of the box.
And then two minutes later, he dove to his right to stop a curling far-post effort from Cordell Cato. The Italian shot-stopper was credited with five saves in the first half.
The ‘Caps settled into the match in the middle stages of the opening half, creating a few half-chances of their own through some fine service from Cristian Techera as well a valiant volleyed effort from the diminutive Uruguayan in the 18th minute.
Their best chances, however, came early in the second half.
And they came off the foot of Kudo. In the 54th minute, the ball fell to Kudo after a mixup at the back but his point-blank effort was denied by David Bingham. The Quakes keeper shut the door again a few minutes later when Erik Hurtado released Kudo into the box with a nice little lob. Vancouver’s Japanese striker saw his first effort saved before banging the rebound off the crossbar.
It was just one of those days for both teams.
The ‘Caps now return home for next Sunday’s regular season finale vs. rival Portland Timbers (1 p.m. PT – tickets still available), who would clinch a playoff spot with a victory. Whitecaps FC, meanwhile, need to win by at least three goals to reclaim the Cascadia Cup. Any other result would see the Timbers lift the trophy.
MATCH DETAILS
Budweiser Man of the Match: Paolo Tornaghi
Referee: Fotis Bazakos
Attendance: 18,000
Scoring Summary
None
Stats
Possession: San Jose 59.1 % – Vancouver 40.9 %
Shots: San Jose 18 – Vancouver 14
Shots on Goal: San Jose 6 – Vancouver 7
Saves: San Jose 7 – Vancouver 6
Fouls: San Jose 10 – Vancouver 18
Offsides: San Jose 1 – Vancouver 3
Corners: San Jose 13 – Vancouver 1
Cautions
44’ – SJ – Anibal Godoy
68’ – VAN – Cristian Techera
Vancouver Whitecaps FC
70.Paolo Tornaghi; 8.Fraser Aird, 4.Kendall Waston ©, 26.Tim Parker, 2.Jordan Harvey; 11.Nicolás Mezquida (28.Giles Barnes 63’), 15.Matías Laba, 17.Andrew Jacobson, 13.Cristian Techera (33.Marcel de Jong 73’); 9.Masato Kudo (32.Marco Bustos 77’), 19.Erik Hurtado
Substitutes not used
1.David Ousted, 6.Jordan Smith, 18.David Edgar, 22.Christian Dean
San Jose Earthquakes
1.David Bingham; 7.Cordell Cato (2.Kofi Sarkodie 79’), 4.Marvell Wynne, 5.Victor Bernardez, 3.Jordan Stewart; 22.Tommy Thompson (6.Shea Salinas 70’), 17.Darwin Ceren, 30.Anibal Godoy, 49.Simon Dawkins; 8.Chris Wondolowski ©, 10.Henok Goitom (19.Chad Barrett 59’)
Substitutes not used
28.Andrew Tarbell, 27.Fatai Alashe, 32.Andres Imperiale, 91.Alberto Quintero
