By:Aaron Campbell (Twitter:@AaCamp81)
Top 2:
Tim Parker
Welcome home Tim Parker. With 300 family and friends in the stands of Yankee Stadium the local stepped up for his Vancouver Whitecaps and had a great game. With his usual center back partner Kendall Waston not playing due to his two yellow cards on Wednesday, Parker was able to be dominate in the box while remaining calm, cool and collected.
Was able to make some nice defensive clearances to stop NYCFC attacks. With Jordan Smith lining up next too him he was able to make sure there was no hige defensive mistakes down the left side of the pitch.
Kekuta Manneh
Had a hard time picking the second of the top 2 between Manneh and Nicolas Mezquida. I gave the slight edge to Manneh based on how he finished the game and the hustle he showed to draw the penalty to allow the Whitecaps to tie up the game 2-2.
Typically his game doesn’t suit a narrow pitch. He likes using his speed to get down the wings to beat defenders. He was able to get some decent runs at defenders running in a straight line to the goalkeeper and not going around them down the side of the pitch.
Bottom 2:
Andrew Jacobson
A Jacobson sloppy turnover lead to the set up on the NYCFC first goal and after that he was never able to settle into this game. Seemed too rushed in the middle of the pitched when he had the ball and rarely made a decent pass to his teammates. With him being an ex-NYCFC player he should of been able to adjust his game to the narrow pitch.
Matias Laba
After a great game last weekend against FC Dallas, Laba has had two games in a row where he has struggled. He made mistakes all over the pitch, from sloppy passes to silly fouls that he was lucky not to get yellow cards on.
The only play where he didn’t make a mistake was when he was picked by Brilliant on the 2nd Villa goal off the corner. It also doesn’t help playing against Villa and Pirlo and having your defensive midfield partner Jacobson also have a game to forget.
