Whitecaps sneak past Sounders
Fredy Montero scores twice against his former club as Vancouver wins 2-1
VANCOUVER — Fredy Montero scored twice against his former club as the Vancouver Whitecaps defeated the Seattle Sounders 2-1 on Friday night.
The Colombian striker headed a Cristian Techera cross beyond the fingertips of Seattle ’keeper Stefan Frei in the 65th minute for his second goal in Major League Soccer for the Whitecaps.
Montero, who scored 47 times and added 34 assists in 119 regular-season appearances with Seattle from 2009 to 2012, dropped to his knees after the breakthrough and pointed to the sky in a muted celebration before he was joined by teammates.
The goal from the 29-year-old, who is on loan to Vancouver (2-3-1) this season from his Chinese club, was the Whitecaps’ first shot on target of the night.
Montero doubled the lead in the 80th minute off a corner when he nodded home Kendall Waston’s flick on.
After Clint Dempsey hit the post in the 86th minute — his second time striking the woodwork — Will Bruin got one back for defending MLS Cup champions Seattle (1-2-3) in the 89th minute.
The Sounders, who saw their four-game unbeaten streak snapped, had a late chance in injury time on a Dempsey flick that Waston cleared off the Vancouver goal line.
Seattle had a good opportunity six minutes into the second half when Dempsey forced a diving save from Whitecaps goalkeeper David Ousted before Waston blocked Nicolas Lodeiro’s follow up.
Ousted was at it again moments later, stretching to stop Lodeiro’s low shot from just inside the penalty area before Montero struck twice.
After falling 3-0 at Real Salt Lake in a blizzard last weekend, the Whitecaps and Sounders played under the roof of a raucous B.C. Place Stadium where both sets of supporters were in full voice from kickoff.
Whitecaps head coach Carl Robinson experimented with a 3-5-2 formation against Real Salt Lake — the first time the club had gone with that setup — but reverted to his familiar 4-2-3-1 against Seattle.
It took Vancouver awhile to get going, but Christian Bolanos flashed a header over the Sounders’ bar in the 28th minute off a Techera cross before the pint-sized midfielder delivered another ball into the box moments later that Alphonso Davies sliced into the stands.
Friday’s match was the Whitecaps’ last appearance at B.C. Place until May 20. Vancouver visits Portland next weekend before travelling to Montreal, Colorado and Houston over the next month.