The Vancouver Whitecaps look to maintain their home dominance when they host Sporting Kansas City on Saturday.
The Whitecaps improved to 5-0-2 in their last seven home league games after scoring a franchise-high six goals in a 6-2 win over the visiting Houston Dynamo on Wednesday.
Vancouver (5-5-5, 20 points) became the first team in MLS history to score within the first 30 seconds of each half. The Whitecaps set franchise records for the fastest goals to start a half when Pedro Vite scored 15 seconds into the game, and Brian White found the back of the net just 10 seconds into the second half.
Sporting Kansas City (4-8-4, 16 points) finished May with consecutive wins for the second time in the month after a 2-1 victory over visiting FC Dallas on Wednesday. SKC are 4-1-1 in their past six league games after going winless through their first 10 contests (0-7-3).
Sporting Kansas City have collectively scored 12 goals in their past six league matches after scoring just three times in their first 10 MLS games combined.
Kansas City took a 2-0 lead on goals by Gadi Kinda in the 41st minute and Daniel Salloi in the 60th. Dallas pulled to within 2-1 on Jesus Ferreira’s tally in the first minute of stoppage time.
“I would say that our buildup play was actually really, really good,” Sporting Kansas City coach Peter Vermes said. “I also thought that late in the game, some unfortunate situations occurred.”
Vancouver had no trouble scoring against Houston, as the Whitecaps scored five times after the Dynamo took a 2-1 lead in the 16th minute.
Julian Gressel had the first two-goal game of his MLS career, while White, Ryan Gauld and Sebastian Berhalter each had a goal and an assist.
“The difference was that in the first half, we never wanted the ball back,” Vancouver coach Vanni Sartini said. “In the second half, we wanted the ball back every time. And that’s a reason why we played better.”
–Field Level Media
