When rookie Darren Mattocks drew his second yellow card, earning a red card in Saturday's match between the Vancouver Whitecaps and Colorado Rapids, it looked like the home team might struggle to avoid losing at BC Place.
Sebastien LeToux not only made sure that didn't happen, he helped the Whitecaps take all three points in Saturday's battle of Western Conference playoff contenders.
LeToux headed home a Davide Chiumiento cross to give Vancouver a 1-0 victory, a win earned on the strength of some strong goalkeeping from Joe Cannon, and some quality defending from the Whitecaps back-line.
The loss spoiled an outstanding night for Rapids goalkeeper Matt Pickens, who recorded seven saves to keep Colorado in the match.
Here are the match highlights:
What did you think of the match? Impressed with the way Vancouver squeezed out three points despite playing a man down? Still not sold on Colorado's credentials as a playoff contender?
Share your thoughts below.
I don’t think it was a dive at all. He trips on the turf, and if you watch the replay, he doesn’t even do anything until the Colorado player kicks the ball at his head. The second yellow I can give you, but the first one was way to harsh. He didn’t get up and scream at the official for a penalty.
Can’t agree about Mattocks. The dive made laugh–if he’d timed it better, it’d look more legitimate. But he waited a beat, then got clipped by an invisible player.
The trailing foot he used in the dumb tackle was what made it a yellow. Hit the guy with your first foot trying to dislodge the ball = only a foul. Nail him with your trailing foot afterward = making it obvious you meant to hit him.
Mattocks just needs to be a little more crafty–people get away with that kind of crap all the time, but they are better at hiding it.
I love Vancouver’s third jerseys!
Brutal, brutal officiating all the way around. The two Mattocks yellow cards were very, very harsh and the missed penalty against Vancouver were the most obvious, but the ref clearly enjoyed being the center of the afternoon far, far too much.
Colorado should be very frustrated, because they really dominated large chunks of the game and really got unlucky with some of the shots off the frame and ran in to a hot Joe Cannon. The first half was brutally boring, just no rythym from either side. I struggle with Thorrington on the field, I feel like there has got to be a better alternative with all of the talent sitting on the bench.
All in all, a huge break for Vancouver and a rough result that Colorado probably didn’t deserve