LA Galaxy 0 – Vancouver Whitecaps FC 2

Blondell, Kamara lead ‘Caps to a 2-0 scrimmage victory over LA Galaxy

 

CARSON, California: Strikers Anthony Blondell and Kei Kamara each found the net to give Vancouver Whitecaps FC a 2-0 victory over LA Galaxy in a closed-door scrimmage on the StubHub Center training pitch on Wednesday afternoon.

The friendly is the ‘Caps penultimate tuneup match of the preseason, with the March 4 regular season opener versus Montreal Impact less than two weeks away.

Vancouver took the lead in the 33rd minute with Blondell heading home Bernie Ibini’s cross from the right side.

Kamara slotted the insurance goal in the 63rd minute on a play set up by a Nicolas Mezquida cross from the left, and Erik Hurtado drawing defenders with his activity.

Blondell and Kamara now each have three goals apiece in the preseason, while Ibini and Mezquida both have three assists to their names so far.

In net, Stefan Marinović, as well as former LA Galaxy keeper Brian Rowe, each played 45 minutes for the ‘Caps to combine for the clean sheet. The match saw the ‘Caps employ a full line change at the half, giving 22 different players valuable pitch time.

On the other end, LA Galaxy opted for a younger starting XI, but finished the match with an experienced group, with Giovani dos Santos, Ola Kamara, and Romain Alessandrini each playing the game’s final 23 minutes.

The two sides meet again for their final preseason fixture on Saturday, February 24 at StubHub Center. The match kicks off at 7 p.m. and will be streamed live on whitecapsfc.com.

Scoring Summary
33′ – VAN – Anthony Blondell (Bernie Ibini)
63′ – VAN – Kei Kamara (Nicolas Mezquida)

Caution
35′ – VAN – Anthony Blondell

LA Galaxy
41.Justin Vom Steeg; 27.Cordell Cato (22.Emrah Klimenta HT), 5.Daniel Steres (28.Michael Ciani HT), 20.Tomas Hilliard-Arce (16.Jorgen Skjelvik 67′), 4.Dave Romney (25.Rolf Feltscher 67′); 6.Baggio Husidic (2.Perry Kitchen 67′), 14.Servando Carrasco (8.Jonathan dos Santos 67′); 17.Sebastian Lletget (7.Romain Alessandrini 67′), 18.Julian Buescher (88.João Pedro 30′, 10.Giovani dos Santos 67′), 19.Chris Pontius (24.Emmanuel Boateng 67′); 15.Ariel Lassiter (11.Ola Kamara 67′)

Vancouver Whitecaps FC
First half
1.Stefan Marinović; 15.Sean Franklin*, 14.David Edgar*, 22.Aaron Maund, 67.Alphonso Davies; 6.Efrain Juárez, 31.Russell Teibert, 29.Yordy Reyna; 7.Bernie Ibini, 9.Anthony Blondell, 20.Brek Shea

Second half
12.Brian Rowe, 28.Jake Nerwinski, 4.Kendall Waston ©, 26.Tim Parker, 17.Marcel de Jong; 16.Tony Tchani, 42.David Norman Jr., 11.Nicolas Mezquida; 13.Cristian Techera, 23.Kei Kamara, 19.Erik Hurtado

* Training camp invitee