Agustin Pelletieri’s foul on Vancouver midfielder Pedro Morales put a serious crimp in Chivas USA’s plans for a 2-0 start, as a red card inside of the first 13 minutes put the home side down to 10 men on Sunday night, but the Goats scored before managing a 1-1 tie.
It wasn’t a clear-cut red, as Pelletieri came in nearly side-footed. Yet his foot ended up on top of Morales, who crumpled to the grass. Referee Ramon Hernandez did not hesitate a moment to take the red out of his pocket.
Erick Torres scored for Chivas USA, while Kekuta Manneh found the late equalizer for the Whitecaps.
Even with only 21 men on the field, there was little to nothing of danger in the first half. The two teams were set to walk to the dressing room 0-0 when Nigel Reo-Coker made an awful giveaway.
Morales picked up the ball and raced up the middle of the pitch, passing left to Erick Torres. The striker took a touch to the middle of the field and fired on net from just outside the 18, with the ball hitting Jay DeMerit in the rear end and crossing the goal line.
And just like that, despite being down to 10-men for 33 minutes, Chivas USA was a half away from a — could you believe it? — 2-0 start.
The Goats nearly doubled their advantage after an uncalled foul on DeMerit sprung a 3v2 break. Torres left the ball for Barrera, whose shot was saved by David Ousted.
Darren Mattocks caught a long ball near the penalty spot, but barely nudged the ball through the legs of Chivas USA keeper Dan Kennedy, giving the Goats defense time to rescue the ball before it crossed the line.
But dynamic sub Manneh finally broke through for Vancouver. An industrious Mattocks worked the ball down the left side of the field before cutting back to Manneh, who finished low and hard to tie the score in the 81st minute.
Both teams joined FC Dallas and Real Salt Lake as Western Conference teams with four points through two matches.
Vancouver is in New England next Saturday for a 2p.m. ET kickoff against the Revs, while Chivas USA heads to Dallas for a first-place matchup at 8:30p.m. ET on the same day.
