The Vancouver Whitecaps

pummeled Orlando City on Saturday night, using a late goal surge to defeat the Lions 5-2.

VANCOUVER — The return of several key players wasn’t enough to get Orlando City back on track.

Striker Dom Dwyer and centerbacks Chris Schuler and Amro Tarek got their first MLS minutes in a while for the Lions, but still the slumping club came up short. Despite an early goal in the second half while playing down a man, the Lions were pummeled 5-2 by the Vancouver Whitecaps Saturday night at BC Place. The game drew an announced sold-out crowd of 22,120.

“For me, at the moment, you can’t play 90 percent well,” Or- lando City coach Jason Kreis said. “I’ve been saying it now for five games in a row: We’re playing 90 percent well. The problem with that thinking is it tends to make you forget about the 10 percent. For me, that’s the difference right now.”

For a moment, it looked like the return of Dwyer would be enough to power Orlando City to at least a draw. He came on in the 63rd minute and Orlando City scored seconds later. Midfielder Josué Colmán found an overlapping Tony Rocha, who sent in a cross for Sacha Kljestan, who finished the sequence and leveled the match at a goal apiece.

The goal was scored after left back Mohamed El-Munir picked up his second yellow card of the match and was sent off in the 58th minute.

“I thought that that was going to be the moment,” Kreis said. “I really thought that that was going to be the difference-maker, when we scored that goal, being a man down. I thought that we