Kimito Nono scored a brace, including the tying goal in the 80th minute, as visiting D.C. United rallied for a 3-3 draw with the Western Conference-leading Vancouver Whitecaps on Saturday night.
Lucas Bartlett also scored and Sean Johnson finished with six saves for D.C. United (6-8-12, 30 points), which remained 11th in the Eastern Conference but closed to within three points of the playoff line.
Thomas Muller had a goal and an assist and Bruno Caicedo and Brian White also scored for Vancouver (15-6-5, 50 points). Yohei Takaoka made four saves for the Whitecaps, who saw their first-place lead shrink to three points over FC Dallas, a 1-0 winner over Los Angeles FC on Saturday.
D.C. United took a 1-0 lead in the 16th minute on Nono’s first career MLS goal, tapping in a rebound near the goal line into the right corner of the net.
Vancouver tied it nine minutes later when White roofed a rebound of his own shot from the edge of the 6-yard box for his 17th goal, extending his goal streak to four games.
The Whitecaps took a 2-1 lead in the third minute of first-half stoppage time when Caicedo, cutting down the left side of the box, finished a give-and-go with Muller with a right-footed shot inside the far right post for his fifth goal.
D.C. tied it in the 65th minute on Bartlett’s fourth goal of the season, a header into the far left corner off a Keisuke Kurokawa corner kick.
Muller put the Whitecaps back in front seven minutes later, when he dribbled down the middle of the field and blasted a right-footed shot from outside the middle of the penalty box into the right corner for his ninth goal.
Nono tied it again in the 80th minute with a one-touch, mid-air right-footed shot from the right side of the box off a curling cross by Hosei Kijima.
–Field Level Media
