Brian White scored a goal and added an assist Wednesday night as the visiting Vancouver Whitecaps dominated the Houston Dynamo for a 3-0 win.
Emmanuel Sabbi and Sebastian Berhalter chipped in first-half markers for Vancouver (12-5-5, 41 points), which won for just the second time in six fixtures. It outshot Houston 14-13 and needed only two saves from goalie Yohei Takaoka to earn its ninth clean sheet.
The Dynamo (7-11-5, 26 points) missed an opportunity to jump into the West playoff picture; they remain 10th, one spot out of the postseason. Wednesday’s game marked the second straight time they were blanked.
The Whitecaps’ domination started almost as soon as the clock did. They attacked with and without the ball, establishing a big advantage in possession early.
Just four minutes into the match, a crossing pass from the right side by Edier Ocampo found the head of Vancouver defender Mathias Laborda in the box. Houston goalie Jonathan Bond made a fine save on Laborda but couldn’t get in position quickly enough to contest Sabbi’s lefty strike into the right corner of the net, his third goal of the season.
Berhalter made it 2-0 in the 42nd minute via some good work by White. Allowing the attack to patiently build, White got the ball back from a teammate and teed up Berhalter for his second marker, a right-footed blast that deflected off a defender and past a helpless Bond.
At halftime, Vancouver owned a 9-4 advantage in shots and a 5-0 margin in shots on frame. That only expanded in the 56th minute with White’s 11th tally of the year.
Then Sabbi was fouled in the box by Dynamo defender Felipe Andrade for a penalty kick. White took it and Bond managed to make the stop, but the rebound caromed right back to White for a tap-in goal that ended the match’s competitive phase.
The result enabled the Whitecaps to jump Minnesota United, a 1-0 loser to LAFC, for second place in the Western Conference standings.
–Field Level Media
