Ryan Gauld and Brian White scored second-half goals as the visiting Vancouver Whitecaps moved into first place in the Western Conference with a 2-0 victory against the short-handed Seattle Sounders on Saturday night.
The Sounders (1-4-3, 6 points) finished the game with nine players after a pair of red cards, to Jackson Ragen in the 43rd minute and Alex Roldan in the 75th.
Goalkeeper Yohei Takaoka made two saves in posting the shutout for the Whitecaps (5-2-1, 16 points), who won in Seattle for the first time since 2016 — snapping an 0-8-2 streak in which they were outscored 22-4.
Gauld scored in the 58th minute and White in the 71st, both on Seattle turnovers deep in its own end of the field.
On the first goal, Andres Cubas stole a pass by Seattle’s Yeimar Gomez Andrade at the top left of the 18-yard box. Cubas sent the ball wide to Sam Adekugbe on the left wing, and his cross found a wide-open Gauld near the penalty spot. Gauld blasted a shot just under the crossbar that goalkeeper Stefan Frei was able to get a hand on but couldn’t stop.
The clincher came when White stole the ball from defender Xavier Arreaga just outside the top of the penalty area. White dribbled in on a breakaway and put a shot past a hard-charging Frei and into the lower right corner of the net.
The complexion of the match changed late in the first half.
Ragen was issued a yellow card for pushing Gauld to the ground near midfield. Jorge Gonzalez, the video assistant referee, buzzed down to the field for referee Ramy Touchan to review the play. After a lengthy check of the field-side monitor, Touchan determined Ragen also stepped on Gauld’s calf and the card was changed to a red, leaving Seattle short-handed the rest of the game.
With the Sounders down 2-0, a frustrated Roldan received his red for a severe foul on Ali Ahmed.
Frei, celebrating his 38th birthday, was credited with two saves.
–Field Level Media
