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VANCOUVER, British Columbia —Matías Laba was shown a straight red card in the first half, but the Vancouver Whitecaps still held on for a 0-0 tie with the Los Angeles Galaxy on Saturday night.
The midfielder was sent off in the 28th minute for a challenge on Los Angeles counterpart Mike Magee, outside the Whitecaps' penalty area.
Vancouver is now unbeaten in three straight, while Los Angeles picked up its first away point of the season.
After an emotionally charged opening 45 minutes that included Laba's dismissal, the Whitecaps sat back after halftime, down a man, content to soak up the pressure, and try to hit the visitors on the counterattack.
Vancouver goalkeeper David Ousted made a stunning desperation save off a deflected shot from substitute Gyasi Zardes in the 70th minute, to keep things level.
Alan Gordon, another Galaxy sub, had an opportunity to win it in stoppage time, only to have his header go wide.
A testy first half, included 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 Whitecaps striker Octavio Rivero.
Van Damme shoulder checked Nicolás Mezquida to the ground in the 24th minute to earn a yellow before Laba was sent off, which had the Whitecaps and the crowd at BC Place Stadium seething.
Minus stars Steven Gerrard, Robbie Keane, and Giovani dos Santos, because of injury, the Galaxy didn't really threaten until striker Sebastian Lletget had his glancing header stopped by Ousted in the 34th minute.
There was more bad news for the Whitecaps in the 43rd when wing Kekuta Manneh went down with what looked like an ankle problem and had to be subbed out for Christian Bolaños.
Vancouver was in good shape, and had an opportunity to grab an unlikely lead just before halftime, when Jacobson's stinging shot from 30-yards out, was stopped by a diving Brian Rowe.
Kendall Waston and Tim Parkerreturned to the heart of Vancouver's defence after missing out last week while away on international duty. Jacobson, normally a midfielder, and Pah-Modou Kah, started in that 1-0 victory over the Houston Dynamo, the Whitecaps' first home victory and clean sheet of the season.
Vancouver also had Bolaños and striker Blas Pérez back after games with their national teams.
The Whitecaps were minus striker Kudo Masato, who was suspended one game for embellishment on the play that led to Morales' first-half penalty against Houston.
While Gerrard (calf), Keane (arthroscopic knee surgery), and dos Santos (left leg), sat out for Los Angeles, the Galaxy's line-up still featured midfielder Nigel de Jong and defender Ashley Cole.
The Whitecaps opened most of the lower bowl for the game, increasing capacity from 22,120 to 27,837. Attendance was announced at 27,038.