Whitecaps survive Matias Laba’s red card, play Galaxy to scoreless draw

VANCOUVER – Los Angeles Galaxy head coach Bruce Arena had just watched his team spend more than an hour up a man, and he wasn’t all that happy about it.

The Vancouver Whitecaps held on for a 0-0 tie with the Galaxy on Saturday despite seeing Matias Laba shown a straight red card by referee Jair Marrufo in the first half.

The midfielder was sent off in the 28th minute for a challenge on Los Angeles counterpart Mike Magee — a call that left the Whitecaps and their fans incensed.

And while Arena said he hadn’t see a replay of the tackle, the former U.S. men’s national team boss vented about the state of officiating in Major League Soccer.

“There’s just been too many red cards,” said Arena. “It’s ruining games. Those are difficult games. It doesn’t make the game entertaining. I don’t think the fans like it.

“It seems like every game in this league there’s a red card now. It’s tough.”

When told of Arena’s comments, Whitecaps head coach Carl Robinson agreed.

“Fans pay their hard-earned money to watch games of football and watch the best players on the field,” he said. “We’ve got one of the top midfield players in the league whose made a tackle today and he’s been sent off … I’m not sure why.”

Vancouver goalkeeper David Ousted, who made an outstanding save in the second half to help earn his team a point, said players across MLS are unsure of what constitutes a foul.

“I understand what (the league’s) trying to do protecting the players, but right now we’re trying to take tackling out of the game,” said Ousted. “That’s not going to purify the game, it’s not going to make it any prettier to look at and it’s especially not going to evolve this league.”

While the Whitecaps (2-1-1) stretched their unbeaten run to three, they also lost captain Pedro Morales (hip) and winger Kekuta Manneh (ankle) to injury in the first half.

“They don’t look great,” Robinson said when asked for an update.

Los Angeles (2-1-1) picked up its first road point of the season, but Arena the Galaxy left a victory on the table.

“We were deficient in our ability to create a few more chances,” he said. “We could have been better in the last third of the field.”

Following an emotionally charged opening 45 minutes that included Laba’s dismissal, the Whitecaps sat back after halftime, content to soak up pressure and try to hit the visitors on the counter attack.

The Galaxy’s best chance came in the 70th minute when Ousted made a stunning desperation stop with his head off a deflected shot from substitute Gyasi Zardes.

“It was the face,” the ‘keeper said with a grin. “Whatever works, whatever we can get in front of it to keep it out.”

A testy first half saw action at both ends, two injuries, two yellow cards and Laba’s straight red.

Los Angeles defender Jelle Van Damme had a great chance in the 12th minute, but his shot hit the side netting.

Daniel Steres, the Galaxy’s other centre back, was then shown a yellow card five minutes later for holding back Whitecaps striker Octavio Rivero on a sequence that also saw Morales subbed off injured for Andrew Jacobson.

Van Damme shoulder checked Nicolas Mezquida to the ground in the 24th minute to earn a yellow of his own before Laba was shown the door.

Minus stars Steven Gerrard, Robbie Keane and Giovani dos Santos because of injury, the Galaxy didn’t really threaten with their numerical advantage until striker Sebastian Lletget saw his glancing header stopped by Ousted in the 34th.

There was more bad news for the Whitecaps in the 43rd minute when Manneh went down and was subbed out for Christian Bolanos.

Despite playing with 10 men, Vancouver was in pretty good shape and had an opportunity to grab an unlikely lead just before halftime, but Jacobson’s stinging shot from 30 yards out was stopped by a diving effort from Galaxy ‘keeper Brian Rowe.

“Great character, great spirit, great fight by the group,” said Robinson. “Obviously disappointed we’ve picked up a couple of injuries to key personnel.

“It was just one of them nights tonight where every single thing seemed to go against us.”

Notes: Kendall Waston (Costa Rica) and Tim Parker (U.S. under-23) returned to the heart of Vancouver’s defence after missing out last week while away on international duty. … The Whitecaps also had Bolanos (Costa Rica) and striker Blas Perez (Panama) back in the fold. … Vancouver was minus striker Masato Kudo, who served a one-game suspension for embellishment. … While Gerrard (calf), Keane (arthroscopic knee surgery) and dos Santos (left leg) sat out, the Galaxy’s lineup still featured midfielder Nigel de Jong and defender Ashley Cole.

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