In past years, it absolutely would have been received as such.
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Sounders topped the table on 12 points to win their fourth Cascadia Cup. Last year, that would have been a disaster. But the Sounders handed the Whitecaps a home loss on May 16 before the Whitecaps blanked them 3-0 at CenturyLink Field on August 1. Time for the Sounders to step up and finally put some juice behind their preseason assertions about how important this tournament is to the club.
Vancouver likes to sit back, lull teams into a false sense of security then bite them on the counterattack. The scoreline wasn’t completely indicative of how tight this Cascadia Cup game really was.
“I was thinking about my family”, Pineda said.
“[Seattle is] a very experienced team”.
As is usually the case when these two Cascadia rivals meet, the first half was electric, with both sides trading scoring chances.
The Vancouver Whitecaps are in contention to finish first overall in Major League Soccer, but coach Carl Robinson thinks the Seattle Sounders are the heavy favourites entering Saturday’s home game against Seattle. The shutout was Frei’s 10th, a career high for the Swiss keeper, whose 15 minute denial of Rivero will nearly certainly be in contention for a sixth MLS Save of the Week award.
“Today was a good victory for us”.
It wasn’t long before Rivero was on the attack again. The pace of the game was so lively, that even the defence couldn’t resist getting involved in the offensive build-up.
Sounders’ goalkeeper Stefan Frei was also sharp when called upon and Kekuta Manneh had an off night. It was a tough goal for the hometown Vancouver fans to swallow after a disappointing showing from their team. Andreas Ivanschitz scored his first MLS goal as he beat Jordan Smith and then went five-hole on David Ousted to make it 1-0 right before the half.
Scott acknowledged that the silverware took a back seat to Seattle’s league goals.
Their most unsafe chance of the game came in the 19th minute when wide play led to a through ball that split the Sounders center back pairing, and gave Rivero a step on them both.
After pinging a shot off the post and in, Pineda rushed to Seattle’s travelling supporters in one of the corners at B.C. Place Stadium, kissing his Sounders badge as he was mobbed by teammates. A penalty kick was not awarded by referee Baldomero Toledo, a decision that was loudly protested by the Whitecaps’ players and coaches.
Down 1-0 at the break on Saturday, Vancouver had a decent chance in the 49th minute, but Mauro Rosales’ shot from just outside the box sailed harmlessly over the crossbar.
After Pineda made it 2-0, Waston was shown a yellow card in the 82nd minute for a hard challenge on Dempsey that had both sides incensed before Martins rounded out the scoring. In the 87th minute, he caught the ‘Caps on the counter and set up Martins for an open net to seal the victory.
Bad mistakes from left back Oniel Fisher almost cost the Sounders. “We were organized in that first half and we created some good chances”. I feel like whoever scores first really has the upper hand [in this rivalry].
“Obviously, we are happy with the result, I thought we played very well”.
Sometimes you do not get what you deserve.
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Despite the importance of the match, it is unlikely that either team will deploy many regular starters, given the late stages of the MLS season and the importance of the playoff push.
