VANCOUVER, B.C. – The Vancouver Whitecaps put on a good show in their first midseason friendly since the visit of Manchester City in 2011, battling it out to a 2-2 draw with English Premier League side Crystal Palace in front of 14,788 fans at BC Place on Tuesday night.
The 'Caps took the lead from a David Edgar goal just after halftime. But the Londoners came storming back, taking the lead from a Fraizer Campbell double before a spirited late surge from Vancouver. Kendall Waston’s powerful 77th-minute header gave the MLS side a share of the spoils on the night.
A lot of players saw time on the pitch, but ‘Caps coach Carl Robinson felt a valuable and fun evening of soccer gave his team the perfect workout before heading out on a tough four-game road stretch.
"I enjoyed watching the game," Robinson told reporters after the match. "I said to the guys, 'smile, work as hard as you can, and go and do the correct things you need to do' – the fundamentals of football against a top team, top players and they get the opportunity to play against them. Everyone, from the starters to the substitutes enjoyed it. Good football match."
The crowd were served up little action in a rather pedestrian first half. Vancouver created the best of the chances against this year's losing FA Cup finalists, but Erik Hurtado was wasteful in front of goal and the teams went in goalless at the break.
The action livened up in the second half, and as the changes came thick and fast, so did the goals.
Vancouver took the lead in the 51st minute when their recent signing Edgar, playing his first minutes as a Whitecap, powerfully headed home from Cristian Techera, highlighting one of the reasons Carl Robinson was keen to add the Canadian international to his squad during this transfer window.
The English side hit back in style with two goals by Campbell in a four-minute burst, turning the first past Marco Carducci from a neat near-post flick before giving Palace the lead in the 66th minute when he turned in a low Connor Wickham cross.
Vancouver pressed hard for the remainder of the game and Waston tied things up with 12 minutes of the match remaining, powerfully heading home a pinpoint Brett Levis cross.
The ‘Caps could have won it late, and created a slew of chances, the best of which was a Kyle Greig header that was saved on the line.
The draw was a fair result on the night, with Palace's assistant coach Keith Millen taking away several things to work on from their Canadian outing.
"We really enjoyed the game," Millen said after the game. "Some of the goals weren't great from out point of view, but for the fans, I'm pleased there are some goals in the game. It became end-to-end and very spread but that happens when you make a lot changes, a lot of substitutions.
"We were trying a different [3-5-2] shape tonight. We've only had two days to really work on that shape. We knew it wasn't going to be perfect, but there were some pleasing aspects from our point of view and stuff that we know we have to work on and get better at."
Levis and Greig were two of four Whitecaps 2 USL players to get a call-up to the game, along with strikers Daniel Haber and center back Sem de Wit. Although they only saw limited minutes of the pitch, their contributions impressed Robinson as they knock on the door for a chance with Vancouver's MLS squad.
"I wanted to give them the opportunity to play and step in with my players, MLS players," Robinson said. "We have this team for a reason and the USL team, when they get an opportunity to play in a game like this, against top players, it means a lot.
"They all done themselves very proud … There was a number of good performances from those guys and the little details in football are the most important, and goals for and goals against. These boys have got to learn because the top players do it the best."
