VANCOUVER, B.C. – Lady luck wasn’t smiling on the Vancouver Whitecaps in Wednesday’s 3-1 loss to Sporting KC.
Well-executed set pieces from Sporting and more than a little misfortune conspired to extend the ‘Caps’ winless streak to four.
OPTA Chalkboard: Sporting make restarts count
“It’s disappointing,” goalkeeper Joe Cannon told MLSsoccer.com following Wednesday’s 3-1 loss. “They had two chances and they scored three goals. I know they had a couple others that they missed, but it was a frustrating night – it seemed the ball was always on the other end.
“Bad timing on giving up the goals that we did, but hats off to Kansas City. They came in here, got up and played their game. Hopefully we can take something and learn from this, but you have to appreciate the last 20, 30 minutes, at least the effort our guys put in.”
Indeed, the soccer gods seemed to be smiling on Sporting Wednesday evening. Aurelien Collin’s opener was the result of a fortuitous bounce following a Roger Espinoza shot, with the ensuing rebound flying right into the path of the Frenchman, who slid to poke the ball across the line.
As for Martin Bonjour’s own goal? Well, it was essentially a freebie for KC, whose confident play on the night probably didn’t need much help.
“Martin kind of chested it and it took me by surprise,” Cannon said. “It went in and it was a really weird goal. I think he was surprised because it probably went over someone. Those are the bounces we were getting early in the season and now we’re not.”
And while the bounces seemed to be going Sporting’s way offensively, they also had more than a slice of luck defensively as well. Just three minutes after Bonjour’s own goal, Seth Sinovic sliced a Sebastien Le Toux cross, which spun backwards, seemingly destined to lob over Jimmy Neilsen. The Dane reacted quickly though, backpedalling before acrobatically punching the ball wide for a corner.
“It’s frustrating, but we have the guys to turn this around,” Cannon said. “We’ve got a big game Saturday [against FC Dallas]. Maybe the layoff [during the bye week] was a little bit long for us and we were a little hungover, but now we know what we have to do, and everyone’s looking for a response.”
Martin MacMahon covers the Vancouver Whitecaps for MLSsoccer.com.
HIGHLIGHTS: VAN vs SKC
