VANCOUVER — Thor was in the house but the Vancouver Whitecaps couldn’t bring the hammer down on the L.A. Galaxy as the teams played to a 0-0 Major League Soccer draw Saturday night.
The Whitecaps controlled a majority of the play against the Galaxy but couldn’t score despite several opportunities. Both striker Kei Kamara and forward Cristian Techera failed to convert good chances. Teenaged forward Alphonso Davies was also dangerous, using his speed to move the ball and find openings.
The game ended in a frenzy as the Whitecaps had several corner kicks but failed to convert.
Actor Chris Hemsworth, who plays Thor in the Marvel superhero movies, was part of the announced crowd of 22,120 who watched the game at BC Place Stadium. Hemsworth is in Vancouver shooting a movie.
The Whitecaps (2-1-1) extended their home undefeated streak to 11 games (6-0-5). The Galaxy are 1-1-1.
Kamara put on a one-man show in the 71st minute. He ran down a long ball, sliced between two L.A. defenders, then watched goalkeeper David Bingham come out of his net before sending a shot wide. Afterward Kamara lay on his back on the field, arguing he had been fouled.
Techera threatened on a free kick in the 61st minute. His left-footed shot from just outside the box went wide and high. In the 37th minute he took a long ball from midfielder Efrain Juarez then sent a shot just over top of the Galaxy net.
Earlier Techera made a couple of nifty moves which caused an L.A. defender to fall. He fed a ball into the box that Kamara couldn’t handle.
The Galaxy’s Emmanuel Boateng had the Vancouver crowd holding its breath in the 56th minute. He got behind the Whitecaps’ defence and waited for goalkeeper Stefan Marinovic to charge out of his net before sending his shot wide of the goal.
The Galaxy lineup was depleted with several players missing due to injury, suspension or international duty. Among the key players missed were brothers Giovani and Jonathan dos Santos, both out with hamstring injuries, and forward Ola Kamara, called up for international duty with Norway.
Neither team scored in the opening 45 minutes although the Whitecaps spent a lot time in the Galaxy end, moving the ball and looking for weak spots.
There were a few anxious moments early in the game when Davies went to ground after colliding with the Galaxy’s Perry Kitchen. Davies lay on the ground for a couple of minutes while the trainer worked on his ankle but returned to action.
It was a physical game. Besides Davies, Kamara also was knocked to the ground a couple of times.
NOTES: The Whitecaps’ last home loss was a 2-1 defeat by Portland on July 23. … Karama was honoured prior to match for scoring his 100th regular-season MLS goal March 10 at Houston. He missed last week’s game with a groin injury. …. Vancouver defender Kendall Waston (Costa Rica) and forward Myer Bevan (New Zealand) were unavailable after being called up for international duty.
THE CANADIAN PRESS