Vancouver Whitecaps 2, Chicago Fire 1 | MLS Match Recap

Josie Becker

The Vancouver Whitecaps defeated the Chicago Fire 2-1 on Wednesday night in Vancouver, with Blas Perez carrying the team with a brace in a game that was overshadowed by an unfortunate accident in the first half.

There was a major delay from the 12th to 19th minutes, when Masato Kudo and Matt Lampson collided. Kudo's head hit Lampson's shoulder at full speed. He was down for several minutes, but stood on his own before being carted off the field. He will be evaluated further at a local hospital.

Perez came in to play the lone forward, and put Vancouver ahead before halftime with a tap in of a Christian Bolanos cross from the wing. He scored the winning goal for the Caps in the 89th minute with a beautiful bicycle kick that Lampson could do nothing about. Kekuta Manneh popped the ball up in the penalty area, and Perez just waited for it to come within range before executing the overhead smash.

The Fire were able to come back in the second half and draw the game level for a time when Arturo Alvarez found Kennedy Igboananike in the top corner of the penalty area. Igboananike danced around a bit, and then hit a slow roller that took a bit of a deflection and snuck inside the near post past David Ousted.

Box Score

36' - VAN - Blas Perez (Christian Bolanos)
62' - CHI - Kennedy Igboananike (Arturo Alvarez, Joey Calistri)
89' - VAN - Blas Perez (Kekuta Manneh)
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Three Things

IT'S ALL CONNECTED: Opta credits the Whitecaps with completing 85 percent of their 574 passes tonight, which bests their mark of 84.38 percent pass completion last time out against Portland. Those marks were Vancouver's best in a league match since the start of the 2015 season. Unsurprising that the Whitecaps held 60 percent of the possession.
WHY CAN'T WE DO IT ON THE ROAD: Tonight's road loss was the 28th straight match (19L, 9D) without a road win for the Fire. That surpasses the New York Red Bulls for the longest road winless streak in MLS history.
OPEN UP THAT ACCOUNT: The brace tonight was Perez's first goals since being traded to the Whitecaps, in his longest time on the pitch since the third game of the season. We'll see if he's called on to do more in the next few weeks.