Home Date: Whitecaps set to host KC

After a five-match road trip that spanned over a month, Vancouver Whitecaps FC (10W-7L-2D) finally return to BC Place on Sunday to host Sporting Kansas City (7W-3L-6D).

In a weekend that saw those immediately around them falter, Vancouver (10-8-2; 32 points) will feel disappointed that they couldn’t capitalise, although they remain tied at the top of the Western Conference standings with Seattle.

“With the amount of games that we have, everyone will play”, said Whitecaps head coach Carl Robinson.

On the offensive side Sporting were still able to create some chances in the first half. “Sometimes it comes back to bite you in the bum and it did today”.

Viewed as a stretch of games that could define their season, the Whitecaps picked up nine of a possible 15 points during their time away over the last six weeks, but were left lamenting a 2-1 loss to the Colorado Rapids that wrapped up the trip. Their next five matches all come against teams now in playoff position in the West. After taking on red-hot Kansas City, Vancouver visits Portland next Saturday before hosting San Jose and playing a home-and-home set against Seattle.

Kansas City (8-3-6) improved to 6-1-3 over its last 10 matches in MLS and is now just two points back of the Whitecaps with three games in hand.

“We’re quite content where we are”, said Robinson.

Sporting KC head home to face the Montreal Impact on July 18 before hosting the Houston Dynamo in the US Open Cup quarterfinals July 21. 500 at home, losing 1-0 to Sporting Kansas City.

“We talked about it in the lead up to the [Colorado] game. We’re going to need the whole squad”. “We need to be better at putting those chances away”. Each player finished with a yellow card. “I said to him [last weekend], he needs to push himself a bit more now”.

“I think everybody’s excited to get back into BC Place again”, Ousted said this week.

No MLS team has scored more headed goals in 2015 than Sporting KC (9) and Ellis added to the team’s aerial prowess with his second career MLS goal in the early stages of the second half.

Melia made a nice stop on Kekuta Manneh in the 11th minute before Parker’s glancing header from a corner was cleared off the line by Benny Feilhaber in the 13th.

Vancouver then came within inches of tying things up in the 62nd minute when Techera’s shot was blocked by Tim Melia before hitting off the chest of Matt Besler and being cleared off the goalline by Amadou Dia. Robinson didn’t want to lay blame, but it appeared fullback Jordan Harvey didn’t do enough to close down Nemeth. It’s a tough one to swallow today.

Jamaican striker Darren Mattocks and Canadian midfielder Russell Teibert are away at the Gold Cup, while captain Pedro Morales and defender Pa-Modou Kah are both dealing with calf injuries.