The winless streak is over for the Vancouver Whitecaps, which rallied from an early deficit to defeat FC Cincinnati, 2-1, Saturday night at Nippert Stadium.
Felipe scored the late winner for the Whitecaps, tapping in a Russell Teibert cross slipped through the legs of FC Cincinnati goalkeeper Przemyslaw Tyton as Vancouver snapped a nine-match winless streak.
The hosts struck early when Allan Cruz struck his team-leading fourth goal of the season six minutes after kickoff. Cruz collected a ball headed into his chest by Darren Mattocks and slipped a shot from the edge of the six-yard box past Maxime Crepeau.
The Whitecaps leveled three minutes from halftime on Inbeom Hwang’s thunderous first-time strike, his second goal of the season. The South Korean stepped into a headed clearance following a Fredy Montero free kick lobbed into the box and blasted his shot from nearly 30 yards out.
The hosts probed for the go-ahead goal with Crepeau saving a shot off the crossbar in the 46th minute to deny Cruz a brace and Mathieu Deplagne putting a long-distance volley off the crossbar as Crepeau retreated and crashed into his own net just before the hour mark.
Moments after conceding against the run of play, FC Cincy nearly leveled, but Leonardo Bertone’s attempt caromed off the post.
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Three Things
- THE BIG PICTURE: In a game between two teams desperate for points, the Whitecaps took all three for the first time since May 25. Did they steal them? Maybe, but they were opportunistic, while FC Cincinnati will rue the missed chances while conceding late in each half.
- MOMENT OF THE MATCH: Felipe doesn’t care if its a 30-yard banger or a tap-in in front of goal. They all count the same and the Brazilian’s first goal of the year couldn’t have felt sweeter since it was the winner.
- MAN OF THE MATCH: Hwang again did a lot of the dirty work for the Whitecaps, he had 22 passes in the opposition half, 26 in the Whitecaps half, eight successful passes in the final third, two key passes, two clearances and two interceptions and one sensational equalizer.
Next Up
- CIN: Saturday, August 10 at Columbus Crew SC (7:30 PM ET | MLS LIVE on ESPN+ in US, on DAZN in Canada)
- VAN: Saturday, August 10 at Portland Timbers (11:00 PM ET | TSN 1/4, MLS LIVE on ESPN+ in US)
