Whitecaps extend home undefeated streak to 6 games with win over Sounders
Red Bulls take down CF Montreal; Injury-riddled Toronto FC falls to Austin FC
Midfielder Pedro Vite scored late in the first half as the Vancouver Whitecaps extended their home undefeated streak to six Major League Soccer games with a 2-0 win over the Seattle Sounders Saturday night.
Seattle also scored an own goal resulting from a blistering shot by midfielder Ryan Gauld early in the second half.
The Whitecaps are 4-1-2 at home after losing their first match of the season. The Sounders came into the game having won three of their last six games on the road.
Vite opened the scoring in the 44th minute. Defender Ali Ahmed looped a shot that landed in front of the goal. Vite fought through Seattle midfielder Alex Roldan to send a left-footed shot past goalkeeper Stefan Frei.
It was Vite's third goal across all competitions and second in MLS play this season.
44' | Pedro Vite battles it out and just gets his foot in there to open our scoring! <a href="https://twitter.com/Pedro_Vite45?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Pedro_Vite45</a><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/VWFC?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#VWFC</a> 1-0 <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Sounders?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Sounders</a>
—@WhitecapsFCGauld, who was questionable for the game due to left hamstring tightness, looked to have made it 2-0 in the 58th minute. He took a pass from defender Luis Martins and fired a low, hard shot to the corner of the net. Officials ruled Frei stopped the initial shot but the ball hit the post then hit him before entering the net.
Vancouver began the night on the outside looking in on the playoff standings. The win improved the Whitecaps to 17 points (4-4-5) and leapfrogged them into seventh place in the MLS Western Conference.
The Sounders (7-5-2) lead the West with 23 points.
The Whitecaps came close to opening the scoring in the 27th minute. Midfielder Sebastian Berhalter threaded a pass to Gauld who sent a shot just wide of the net. Earlier in the half, Berhalter launched a shot from the top of the box that squirted by the corner of the net before defender Javain Brown could get a foot on it.
Burke's 1st-half goal lifts Red Bulls over CF Montreal
Andres Reyes and Cory Burke scored first-half goals to lead the New York Red Bulls to a 2-1 victory over visiting CF Montreal on Saturday night.
Defender Joel Waterman answered six minutes later for Montreal (5-8-0) when he took a pass from George Campbell and scored for the first time this season to knot the score at 1.
The Red Bulls regained the lead in the 38th minute on a goal by Burke. Cristian Casseres Jr. notched an assist on Burke's second netter of the campaign.
Scory Burke scores, no matter what the whistle says 😤<a href="https://twitter.com/Audi?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Audi</a> I <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/RBNY?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#RBNY</a> <a href="https://t.co/dCsQEGHkcp">pic.twitter.com/dCsQEGHkcp</a>
—@NewYorkRedBullsThe two clubs have alternated wins in the last eight match-ups. Montreal beat the Red Bulls 2-0 earlier this season. Montreal has beaten New York twice in the same season just once — in 2019.
Carlos Coronel turned away one shot in goal for the Red Bulls. Jonathan Sirois saved four shots for Montreal.
The Red Bulls (3-4-7) improved to 3-0-1 in all competitions under new coach Troy Lesesne. Waterman's goal was the first allowed by the Red Bulls since Lesesne replaced Gerhard Struber.
Montreal has lost seven of its last eight on the road, the first six by shutouts.
The Red Bulls travel to play the Seattle Sounders on Saturday. Montreal returns home to host Inter Miami on Saturday.
Zardes's late strike leads Austin FC past Toronto FC
Substitute Gyasi Zardes scored in stoppage time to give Austin FC a 1-0 victory over injury-ravaged Toronto FC on Saturday in the first-ever meeting between the MLS clubs.
Substitute Adam Lundkvist's cross was not cleared with Nick Lima's ensuing backward header hitting the crossbar. The ball came back to Zardes who headed it home for his 99th career MLS goal.
The goal had been a long time coming. Austin outshot the visitors 16-4 (3-0 in shots on target).
Gyasi Zardes called game. 😎 <a href="https://t.co/9qtf1mqQ6k">pic.twitter.com/9qtf1mqQ6k</a>
—@AustinFCToronto, meanwhile, has not scored in league play since C.J. Sapong's strike in a 1-0 win over New York City FC on April 29 — a drought of 304 minutes.
Toronto (2-5-7) has won just one of its last 11 games (1-5-5) in all competitions. It is winless in its last five outings (0-4-1) during which it has been outscored 7-1.
TFC had yet to win on the road this season (0-4-3) and is 2-15-7 away from home in league play since the beginning of last year. Its last road win was Aug. 27 in Charlotte.
In all, Toronto was missing 10 players through injury or suspension.
The TFC injury list also included defenders Sigurd Rosted and Shane O'Neill, midfielders Michael Bradley, Jonathan Osorio, Alonso Coello and Victor Vazquez and forwards Adama Diomande and Deandre Kerr. Midfielder/forward Jahkeele Marshall Rutty was suspended.
Toronto hosts D.C. United next Saturday.
With files from The Associated Press
