12-12-2019, 08:01 AM
VANCOUVER -- Kekuta Manneh made his limited minutes count Saturday. The second-half substitutes goal in the 86th minute gave the Vancouver Whitecaps a 2-2 draw with the Los Angeles Galaxy on Saturday before a sellout crowd of 21,000 at B.C. Place Stadium. "It means a lot to me," said Manneh, who came on at the start of the second half. "Thats what Im always looking to do, whether I start come off the bench -- make an impact for the team. "Today, for me to do that, it definitely means a lot." Manneh, a 19-year-old Gambian who is in his second season with the Whitecaps, fired in a shot from just outside the top of the Galaxy 18-yard box after taking a pass from Darren Mattocks. Following the goal, Manneh knelt and kissed the turf. In addition to setting up the tying marker, Mattocks scored Vancouvers other goal as the Whitecaps overcame 1-0 and 2-1 deficits. Stefan Ishizaki, in the first half, and Robbie Keane, in the second, scored for Los Angeles. The Whitecaps improved to 2-2-3, earning a point after two straight losses. "Ive said all along weve got good players all through the squad," said Whitecaps striker Kenny Miller. "Any can come off the bench and make an impact. And, obviously, today youve seen that. It gives you that (pace.) We (forwards) are in behind and it makes defenders drop off more (deeply) and, ultimately, thats what led to (Mannehs) goal. "There was a little bit of pace involved in that. It was a little bit of skill and a fantastic strike." The hosts rally prevented the Galaxy (2-1-2) from sweeping a back-to-back series with Vancouver after winning at home the previous weekend. "Im disappointed," said L.A. coach Bruce Arena. "I would have liked to get three points today. We obviously didnt do a good job protecting the lead." Miller was disappointed with his clubs first half effort, but was encouraged that the Caps created more chances than they did in Carson, Calif. It was the 10th all-time MLS meeting between the teams. The Whitecaps still have only one win against the Galaxy, which has claimed two of the past three MLS titles. But Vancouver coach Carl Robinson liked the way his club rallied from being "kicked in the backside" twice -- by trailing. "In the last two games, weve shown that we can compete with one of the top teams in Major League Soccer," said Robinson, who feels the Caps have lack confidence against elite competition. "We made it hard work. I dont think, in the first half, we had the belief that we could go toe-to-toe with them at home in front of our fans, and I think we were playing safe. "Obviously, then I made a tactical switch to try to inject a bit of life with the kid coming on, (Manneh), who I toyed with the idea of play with from the start." Ishizaki put the Galaxy on the scoreboard in the 38th minute as he and Baggio Husidic used their heads to score. Ishizaki jumped high to head in Husidics header into the centre of the box from the left side of the area. In addition to inserting Manneh for Canadian international midfielder Russell Teibert of Niagara Falls, Ont., Robinson also replaced central defender Andy OBrien with Johnny Leveron in central defence. OBrien had taken a yellow card in the first minute for a hard sliding tackle on Keane, so Robinson switched the defenders because he wanted to avoid a repeat of the Caps last game at home. On April 5, defensive midfielder Matias Laba was ejected for a second yellow card and the Colorado Rapids overcame a 1-0 deficit to win. "I took (OBrien) off just because I was worried about him getting sent off," said Robinson. In the 65th minute, Robinson tried to inject more speed by substituting Morales for Erik Hurtado and putting him out wide on the right wing. Two minutes later, with Hurtado part of the rush, Mattocks created a 1-1 tie as he ran onto Gershon Koffies long, curling lead ball along the right flank. Penedo beat him to it, but could not control the ball and it bounced off the goalkeeper and a defender back to Mattocks. Mattocks then put in a right-footed spinner from a seemingly impossible angle near the goal-line. "I didnt even look at the (net), to be honest," said Mattocks. "As a striker, you have to know where the goal is." Keane gave L.A. a 2-1 lead 10 minutes later as he fielded a header from second-half substitute Rob Friend, a Kelowna, B.C., native, and then volleyed a shot past Ousted from the goalkeepers doorstep. But just when it looked like Keane would be the winning-goal scorer for the second straight week, Manneh emerged the hero. He offered more fodder in the debate about his playing time after being used primarily as a substitute. "Im a little disappointed that Im not starting (every game), but Im pretty happy with my role," said Manneh, who started the first game against L.A. Both clubs goalkeepers made saves in the closing minute to secure the draw. Ousted made his 20th consecutive start dating back to last season -- a day after his wife gave birth to twin boys. "He was fantastic after, especially, one or two sleepless nights," said Robinson. Notes: Laba played the full game in his return from suspension for the ejection against Colorado. a Keane and OBrien were teammates while playing for the Republic of Ireland. OBrien was born in England but holds dual English-Irish citizenship. a Whitecaps midfielder Mehdi Ballouchy has resumed full-contact workouts after suffering a season-ending torn knee ligament, which required surgery, while playing for San Jose in 2013. a Striker Omar Salgado, Vancouvers first-ever draft pick, who is on loan to Charleston Battery of the USL, is sidelined with a sprained foot suffered March 29, but has resumed partial training. Salgado missed most of the past two seasons with foot fractures sustained on different occasions while playing for the U.S. under-20 team. a Friend, 33, played before about 25 family members and friends. He is in his first and last season in MLS after playing in Germany, the Netherlands and Norway. He plans to retire after the season. a Vancouver midfielder Nigel Reo-Coker was an unused substitute and has yet to play since suffering a concussion in a freak off-field mishap with a bike rack. 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The Canadiens Get: LW Thomas Vanek and a conditional fifth-round pick.Jon Jones went from pound-for-pound the best fighter inside the octagon to just plain pounded. Jones took a beating, the worst one of his record reign, in a bout against Alexander Gustafsson that knocked the light heavyweight champion on the canvas for the first time in his career and put his belt in jeopardy. Looking as human and humbled as ever, Jones wouldnt let his hard-earned championship slip away easily and gutted out another title defence -- a UFC record sixth straight -- that set up him up to find another challenger of the month. Enter Glover Teixeira. Teixeira boasts a whopping 20-bout winning streak that dates nine years and is coming off a first-round TKO of Ryan Bader. Jones (19-1) and Teixeira (22-2) fight in the main event of UFC 172 Saturday night when the promotion makes its debut in Baltimore. Phil Davis fights Anthony Johnson in the other headline bout. Jones, one of UFCs biggest active pay-per-view draws, won a unanimous decision against Gustafsson at UFC 165 in September. Gustafsson cut the champion at the right eye midway through the first round. And with a minute left, he took Jones down for the first time in the champions UFC career. Jones said he knew he was as close as ever to dropping the belt. "I realized I needed to switch up my strategy and begin improvising a little bit more, and thats what I did," he said. "I think with Gus I was trying to fight like a technical kick boxing match and I think I was losing at that. I just had to switch my style up and start flowing a little better and start winging things, making up, creating, and finding new openings." He found enough of them to escape and put his name in the record book. With the win, Jones passed UFC Hall of Famer Tito Ortizs light heavyweight mark of five straight successful title defences. After beating Shogun Rua on March 20, 2011 to win the belt, Jones went on to defeat Rampage Jackson, Lyoto Machida, Rashad Evans, Vitor Belfort, Chael Sonnen and Gustafsson.dddddddddddd. He beat all but Evans and Gustafsson during the streak via TKO or submission, and three times earned UFC fight of the night honours. Known as "Bones," Jones said its time to return to his dominant form to keep the streak going. "Im totally prepared to fight for five rounds, but my goal in this fight is to dominate the fight in a way that no one seen possible," he said. Domination is in my psychology. Its the way I train. Its the way I eat. Its the way I visualize. Its the way I believe. "If I dont dominate the fight, Ill still be happy with the victory. But domination is what Im planning on." Teixeira, the No. 2 title contender, is 5-0 since jumping to UFC but a 5-1 underdog in the fight of his life. "My strategy against Jon Jones is simple, go out there and be myself and knock this guy out," he said. "Ive been training my whole life for this." Jones, a former college wrestler and the brother of two NFL players, nearly suffered a broken arm in his win over Belfort and broke a toe against Sonnen. Winning while hurt, then turning around the Gustafsson bout in the final two rounds, proved to Jones he can win under any circumstances. "After that Gustafsson fight, Im even more confident in my will," he said. "I know I have a lot of will. I know that Im armed with that going into this battle on Saturday night. Jones has two brothers in the NFL, including Arthur, a Super Bowl champion with the Ravens who now plays for the Colts. Arthur Jones will be at Baltimore Arena with some of his former teammates rooting on his brother for the feel of a hometown advantage. "They supported our family while he was here and thats why I wanted to fight here," Jon Jones said. "I hope his leaving doesnt change anything because I still love the fans and the support they have given to me and our family." 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