VANCOUVER, B.C. – A couple of spectacular strikes were the highlight-reel moments from the Vancouver Whitecaps' 2-1 win over Real Salt Lake on Saturday afternoon. But it was some quick thinking from Cristian Techera that grabbed all three points for the home side.
The teams went into halftime level after Gershon Koffie's 25-yard thunderbolt was cancelled out by a spectacular Javier Morales free kick. The second half was an end-to-end, entertaining affair, before Techera nipped in to grab his first MLS goal, and the headlines, in the 79th minute.
The win brings Vancouver (7-5-2; 23 points) back into a share of the lead at the top of the standings for now, extending their gap over Real Salt Lake (4-5-5; 17 points) to six points in the process.
It was a quiet start to the game as both teams sought to sound each other out and find their bearings on the brand-new playing surface at BC Place.
The Whitecaps had the first real chance 20 minutes in when Mauro Rosales sent a perfect cross in to Techera, who had ghosted in at the back post. But the diminutive Uruguayan blasted his first time effort wildly over.
Four minutes later, Koffie crashed a shot off the bar from close range after an excellent cutback from Octavio Rivero, and it was starting to feel like it might not be Vancouver's day.
Any such fears were dispelled by Koffie in the 36th minute, when he picked up the ball after a bad touch from Joao Plata and rifled an unstoppable 25 yard-effort into the postage stamp corner.
It was an excellent strike. But Real hit a dramatic equalizer with one of their own on the stroke of intermission after a Pa Modou Kah foul gave RSL a free kick on the edge of the Whitecaps’ penalty box. Morales saw space to the right of the wall and curled a beauty pasted David Ousted in the 'Caps goal.
Real came out the stronger to start the second half. But Rivero should have put Vancouver back ahead on the hour mark when he was played in alone, only for Nick Rimando to come up with a clutch kick save.
The game flowed back and forth openly, and the visitors were thwarted in the 63rd minute when Ousted acrobatically palmed away Elias Vasquez's goalbound header from a corner.
Vancouver turned up the pressure down the stretch, forcing a string of corners and some scrambled defending. But they got their reward with 11 minutes remaining when Vasquez tried to chest the ball back to Rimando and Techera nipped in from several yards away to take the ball, round the ‘keeper and slot home the winner.
Vancouver won't have much rest, as they return action on Wednesday evening when they make the long cross-Canadian trip east to face the Montreal Impact. Real Salt Lake have the luxury of just over a week off before they take on the Colorado Rapids in a Rocky Mountain Cup clash next Sunday.
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