KANSAS CITY, KS – Vancouver Whitecaps FC captured their first road win of the season on Saturday night as they defeated fellow Western Conference rivals Sporting Kansas City by a score of 1-0 at Children’s Mercy Park in Kansas City, Kansas.
Both teams exchanged possession in the early goings of the match, but it would be the ‘Caps who would get the first big chance as Sporting KC midfielder Oriol Rosell brought down ‘Caps forward Lucas Cavallini in the box, with referee Ted Unkel awarding a penalty kick.
Cavallini stepped up and chipped in his fourth goal of the season to give Vancouver the 1-0 lead on the road.
In the 31st minute, the ‘Caps had a chance to double their lead as Cavallini sent substitute Déiber Caicedo in behind the Sporting backline, but the Colombian was unable to direct his chipped effort into the back of the net.
Following the chance, the Blue and White would keep the home side at bay to take their 1-0 lead into the halftime interval.
Cavallini came close to grabbing his second goal of the match in the 63rd minute as Caicedo’s corner kick found the Canadian international at the back post but his header was blocked right on the goal line to deny the ‘Caps from extending their lead.
In the latter stages of the match, Sporting would have one last chance to tie the match through substitute Nicolas Isimat-Mirin but ‘Caps centre back Javain Brown cleared the defender’s headed effort off the line to preserve the victory for Vancouver, marking the first time they claim three points in Kansas City since September 30, 2017.
The ‘Caps have now claimed points in four of their last five MLS matches and will shift their focus to a Western Conference showdown against Real Salt Lake next Saturday, June 4 at BC Place in the club’s Indigenous People’s Match, with kick-off set for 4 p.m. PT. Tickets are available at www.whitecapsfc.com/tickets.
MATCH DETAILS
VWFC GE Appliances Player of Quality: Florian Jungwirth
Referee: Ted Unkel
Scoring Summary
24’ – VAN – Lucas Cavallini (penalty kick)
Statistics
Possession: SKC 59.1% – VAN 40.9%
Shots: SKC 15 – VAN 9
Shots on Goal: SKC 2 – VAN 1
Saves: SKC 0 – VAN 1
Fouls: SKC 11 – VAN 13
Offsides: SKC 2 – VAN 1
Corners: SKC 4 – VAN 5
Cautions
13’ – SKC – Kortne Ford
27’ – VAN – Sebastian Berhalter
44’ – SKC – Andreu Fontà s
52’ – VAN – Cristián Gutiérrez
57’ – SKC – Johnny Russell
Sporting Kansas CIty
29.Tim Melia; 2.Ben Sweat (24.Kayden Pierre HT), 12.Kortne Ford, 3.Andreu Fontàs (5.Nicolas Isimat-Mirin 69’), 18.Logan Ndenbe; 21.Felipe Hernández, 6.Oriol Rosell (27.Marinos Tzionis HT), 15.Roger Espinoza; 54.Rémi Walter, 7.Johnny Russell ©, 28.Cam Duke
Substitutes not used
1.John Pulskamp, 4.Robert Voloder, 17.Jake Davis, 48.Kaveh Rad**
Vancouver Whitecaps FC
55.Cody Cropper; 23.Javain Brown, 4.Ranko Veselinović, 28.Jake Nerwinski; 2.Marcus Godinho (14.LuÃs Martins 79’), 16.Sebastian Berhalter (27.Ryan Raposo 79’), 26.Florian Jungwirth, 17.Leonard Owusu (33.Michael Baldisimo HT), 3.Cristián Gutiérrez (22.Érik Godoy 60’); 11.Cristian Dájome © (7.Déiber Caicedo 27’) , 9.Lucas Cavallini
Substitutes not used
60.Isaac Boehmer, 8.Caio Alexandre, 45.Pedro Vite, 87.Tosaint Ricketts
