Toros gore Whitecaps’ playoff chances
Vancouver loses second straight at home on Hedges’ header with minutes to go
FC DALLAS 2, WHITECAPS 1
Bad habits are the ones that kill you and the Vancouver Whitecaps’ penchant for giving up late goals might just be what snuffs out their season.
A Matt Hedges header off a corner kick three minutes from the end of regulation put visiting FC Dallas through to a 2-1 victory Sunday afternoon at B.C. Place, the second straight home loss for Vancouver. It was the 11th goal the Caps have conceded in the final 15 minutes of games this year.
“Same again,” said Whitecaps coach Carl Robinson, “because after a lot of hard work, getting back into the game after a really poor first goal, we concede in the 86th minute.
“I just told them in there that the game is pretty close with most teams week in, week out. It comes down to the little details. Everyone works as hard as everyone, everyone runs and tackles, but it’s the details in your job … that decide games.
“It’s my responsibility. I’m in charge. I’m the leader, I’m the captain of the ship. It’s my fault we lost today.”
Kei Kamara scored for Vancouver (11-11-7), who slipped into eight place in the Western Conference, while Santiago Mosquera had the other goal for Dallas (15-6-8), which moved into first.
Here’s what we learned ...
WEATHERING THE STORM
The Whitecaps have the secondbest winning percentage in MLS when scoring first (9-0-2) and for a 10-minute period in the first half, where they held 62 per cent possession and outshot Dallas 3-0, it looked like they might grab an early lead again.
Cristian Techera banged a shot off the crossbar, Kendall Waston got his head to a couple corners, but it was an attempted bicycle kick by Kamara that should have resulted in their best scoring chance. Kamara’s 20th-minute effort clearly went off the raised hand of defender Victor Ulloa, but no call was made by referee Alan Kelly. There was no VAR review, either, and under MLS rules no questions can be posed to the officiating crew regarding communication between the on-field referee and the review booth.
“I love Kel. I think he’s great. You can have open dialogue with him, you can shout at him and he’ll smile at you,” said Robinson. “I haven’t seen (the replay), but that’s not why we lost the game. The reason we lost the game was we didn’t mark on two set pieces, which we’ve done all year.”
DANCING DAVIES
The only player, as usual, who could stop Alphonso Davies Sunday was Davies himself. He continued his aggressive play, losing possession a few times as he tried to get through multiple defenders, but did earn two yellow cards on Dallas players.
He had a game-high 10 dribbles — matching his previous career best against Colorado in July — and his futsal-esque skills led to the tying goal.
The Bayern-bound teen split two defenders, beat another on the left and managed to get a left foot on a cross that found Kamara for a powerful header from seven yards out in the 66th minute. It was his team-high 11th assist of the year — seventh in MLS — and Kamara’s club-best 13th goal of the year.
WHAT THIS MEANS
It was a weekend where all the results went in the Caps’ favour. All three teams immediately ahead of them — Portland, Seattle and Real Salt Lake — lost.
The Sounders were shockingly outplayed by the L.A. Galaxy Sunday, losing 3-0, while Portland met the same fate against bottomfeeding Minnesota, losing 3-2. RSL visited league-leading Atlanta and lost 2-0. The Galaxy moves a point up on Vancouver into seventh place in the West.
The Sounders stayed on 44 points from 28 games in sixth place, just behind Salt Lake (45 points, 30 games) and Portland (47 points, 30 games). Real visits West-leading Sporting Kansas City next week.
“Yeah, we’re disappointed,” said Robinson. “If we’re being honest, we’ve not quite been good enough the last two games. It doesn’t matter how you play — I don’t think there was too much in the game today, chances-wise — and last week was a perfect example. (We played) great and lose . ...
“It was always going to be (a tough match),” Robinson said of a Sept. 29 away date with the Galaxy.
“There are two or three teams fighting for one place … but you can’t be fearful. We’ll approach this match like we’ll win it. It’s put your big-boy pants on or go home.”