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If you didn't watch the Vancouver Whitecaps match on Saturday afternoon, believe me when I say you didn't miss much. The Whitecaps were absolutely manhandled in a 4-0 road loss, the much vaunted depth that was touted in the off-season looking laughable now as the team was unable to replace key players that were lost to injury.
Carl Robinson had to do without Captain Pedro Morales, the only forward on the 'Caps to score a goal this season, Octavio Rivero, Christian Bolanos, and Nicolas Mezquida. Matias Laba was also unavailable due to his red card last week.
That meant some shuffling in the starting 11, although the backline was fully intact. Fraser Aird and Jordan Harvey took the wings, while Kendall Waston and Tim Parker partnered at Center Back. David Ousted took his usual spot in net, while Andrew Jacobson drew in the midfield with Russell Teibert, who was making his season debut, and the attack saw Christian Techera, Blas Perez, Marco Bustos and Masato Kudo. Yes, the Whitecaps were missing plenty of important players, but weren't these the guys that could supposedly hold the fort for the club? Instead, the Whitecaps suffered their worst defeat since 2011, which was also a 4-0 road loss to DC United. The Whitecaps looked bad in every facet of the game, and hung David Ousted out to dry for almost the entire 90 minutes. The Great Dane made 9 saves on the night, while DC United was able to launch 13 shots on net, and 24 shots in total. The Whitecaps managed just a single shot on net, and seven overall.
11 minutes in, and it was clear the Whitecaps weren't having their best night. Ousted came out to play though and made one of his best saves, diving to his right to stop an in close DC United shot.
Just 11 minutes in and Ousted's already busting out the moves #VWFC #DCvVAN pic.twitter.com/PoUWOpo24Z
— Vancouver Whitecaps (@WhitecapsFC) April 9, 2016
In the 39th minute, DC United were finally able to break through Ousted and the Whitecaps, with a quick counter attack goal. Chris Rolfe's shot was stopped by Ousted, but he was unable to control the re-bound and Fabian Espindola was able to pounce. Not a Whitecap other than Ousted in sight as the Whitecaps went down 1-0.
It became 2-0 in the 54th minute, after a close range header rang off the crossbar and the re-bound bounced directly to Espindola, who put in his second of the match.
A potential turning point was wasted away in the 67th minute, when Kekuta Manneh drove play up the pitch and into the box then played the ball in front of the keeper. It was swept back into the middle of the box, where Erik Hurtado collected and rang his shot off the post. In a golden opportunity for the Whitecaps striker, the score remained 2-0.
The two nearly hooked up for a goal again in the 77th minute, when Manneh launched a pass that Hurtado tried to one-time out of mid-air. It didn't work.
The match was pretty much out of reach by the time DC United added a pair of garbage time goals. In the 88th minute, Alvaro Saborio got loose on a break-away, before dumping a shot over David Ousted to make it 3-0.
In the 90th minute, the humiliation was extended with another DC United goal. This time Saborio took a nice pass deep in the box, before his perfect shot made it 4-0.
I don't have much to say here. The Whitecaps were missing players, but they still had a competitive MLS roster. This was an unacceptable effort, a horrible match to watch, and I can't wait to read the report card.