Whitecaps “never got going” in loss to FC Dallas

Martin Rennie

Frustration was the keyword for the Vancouver Whitecaps following a 2-0 defeat to FC Dallas on Wednesday at BC Place.

Conceding goals to Fabian Castillo and substitute Jonathan Top 10 minutes apart in the second half, it was David Ferreira who starred.

The Colombian helped the visitors open the scoring on 60 minutes, flicking on a throw in from Zach Loyd to Castillo, who zig-zagged through the Vancouver defence before knocking a ball in off the left post for the opener.

In the 70th minute, Ferreira was at it again, beating Andy O’Brien with strength before setting Top – who starred in the recent U.S. Development Academy Final against the Whitecaps Residency — up for a tap-in to seal the victory.

“It was just one of those games that never got going,” head coach Martin Rennie said.

“It was stop, start, all the time. There was never any real rhythm to it and as a result we never managed to get the ball moving the way we would like. I think all the players and coaches would say, ‘hey, we could have done a better job tonight, we could have done, much, much more like what we’re used to.’

“But tonight wasn’t good enough, and we’re disappointed about that.”

In many ways it was referee Matthew Foerster who became the man the Whitecaps were pointing fingers at post match. He blew an abnormal 41 fouls between the sides, whistling 24 of those calls against the home side.

Ferreira himself had a part in that side of the match as well, generating six of those fouls.

“I just thought every single decision, the referee blew the whistle, and I don’t know why,” Barry Robson told reporters. “He gave us a free kick for a hand ball in the first half. He blown that stupid white line [with the spray can] and it was inside the box and it was a penalty but he said it was a free kick outside the box. So you work that out – I can’t.”

The constant stoppages were clearly irritating for Robson especially, who made little effort to conceal his feelings on the matter.

“It’s the most frustrating game I think I’ve ever played in,” he said. “I found it really hard tonight. It’s just one foul, then it’s stop, then it’s start, then it’s stop. It’s so frustrating. The referee blows for every single body contact. What can you do? It’s something I’m not used to and the frustration does get to you.”

Vancouver’s best chance of the match came right before half-time, as Camilo cracked a free kick off the crossbar from just outside the area.

It was the lone highlight of a fairly dire first half in which perhaps the only other notable moment was an outburst of “O Canada” from the Southsiders in the 10th minute, as the Whitecaps supporters group serenaded Women’s Olympic soccer bronze medal winners Sophie Schmidt, Karina LeBlanc and Emily Zurrer, who were honoured before kick-off.

The match saw Vancouver make five changes to its starting lineup from Saturday’s 2-1 win over Real Salt Lake, as Andy O’Brien, Kenny Miller, Joe Cannon, Atiba Harris and John Thorrington came in for Jay DeMerit, Darren Mattocks, Brad Knighton, Dane Richards and Gershon Koffie for reasons ranging from suspension, international call-ups and injury.

Richmond native Caleb Clarke also came on for his MLS debut, in a big moment for the Canadian youngster, as he replaced Miller nine minutes from time.

“It’s not something we’re going to dwell on for too long,” Rennie said. “The good thing for us is, a couple of days from now we have a huge game against Seattle [Sounders], so we have a chance to rebound really quickly and we have to learn from a few things we didn’t get right tonight.”

The Whitecaps, falling to 10-8-7, square up with the Sounders in Seattle on Saturday in a Cascadia derby match.

Martin MacMahon is a Vancouver-based soccer writer. Follow him on Twitter: @martinmacmahon