Vancouver lost to Man city

A largely first-string Vancouver Whitecaps squad put the scareinto Manchester City at Empire Field in the first half on Monday, but a world-class goal from England winger Shaun Wright-Phillips in the second half secured the blue side of Manchester a 2-1 win in Vancouver.

The Whitecaps started strongly in the first half, keeping 54.9 percent of the ball and taking 13 shots at Manchester City goalkeeper Joe Hart. Five of those shots were on target and England’s No. 1 had to look sharp right from the start, as Whitecaps striker Eric Hassli forced Hart to push the ball over the bar with a long-range effort only three minutes into the match.

Perhaps Hart’s biggest save of the first half happened 20 minutes in following Mustapha Jarju earning his team a free kick. Camilo Sanvezzo stepped up to take it and curled a powerful effort toward the bottom right corner, but the big Englishman showed his pedigree by stretching to push the ball out for a corner.

Ten minutes later Empire Field erupted as Camilo scored a deflected effort off of Manchester City defender Stefan Savic. The Brazilian attacker started the play by hitting a penetrating passover to Shea Salinas on the rightwing, and the Texan ran down the line before passing it back into the middle for Camilo to strike from distance. The deflected goal had a hint offortune about it but it was a well-constructed play and the Whitecaps were full value for the goal.

Manchester City’s best chance of the half happened six minutes before from half-time, as Ryan McGivern crossed to the rushing Adam Johnson, but the England international missed from close range, scuffing his shot. City showed their intent shortly after the break as Vladimir Weisscurled a shot from outside the box that nearly found the topright corner, but Nolly was equal to the task, palming away with his right hand.

In the 68th minute a powerful John Guidetti header turned out to be too much for Nolly, and found its way into the back of the ‘Caps net to bring the teams level at one goal a piece. Manager Roberto Mancini’s son Andrea found the Swede and it looked as though Mario Balotelli was closer to disrupting the play than the Whitecaps defense.

But the real highlight of the match came in the 84th minute, as Wright-Phillips showed his pedigree with a world-class long-range effort to give his team a 2-1 lead. Nolly had no chance on the play as the ball was hit with power and precision right into the top left corner. City continued to pile on the pressure near the end, but a couple of stops from Nolly meant the match ended 2-1 for the Citizens.

The Whitecaps now turn their focus to Major League Soccer play on the road at Buck Shaw stadium this Wednesday against the seventh placed team in the Western Conference, the San Jose Earth quakes.

Manchester City, for their part, continue their preparations for their Premier League and Champions League campaigns with another Herba life World Football Challenge match against LA Galaxy on Sunday at The Home Depot Center.


copied from mlssoccer.com