{"id":611861,"date":"2026-04-18T06:40:13","date_gmt":"2026-04-18T06:40:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/611861\/"},"modified":"2026-04-18T06:40:13","modified_gmt":"2026-04-18T06:40:13","slug":"whitecaps-blank-sporting-kansas-city-3-0","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/611861\/","title":{"rendered":"Whitecaps blank Sporting Kansas City 3-0"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a style=\"display:block\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theglobeandmail.com\/resizer\/v2\/DOAYFVYT25E5NBU7VHV54BBDPU.JPG?auth=10d5cde3eb6fdf5d0445aa1985465cff1e212579df985dc0360935513e878e9c&amp;width=600&amp;height=400&amp;quality=80&amp;focal=2357%2C1042\" aria-haspopup=\"true\" data-photo-viewer-index=\"0\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"figcap-text\">Vancouver Whitecaps FC forward Emmanuel Sabbi celebrates scoring during the first half against the Sporting Kansas City at BC Place.Anne-Marie Sorvin\/Reuters<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-article-body__text text-pr-5\">Emmanuel Sabbi scored and notched an assist as the Vancouver Whitecaps blanked visiting Sporting Kansas City 3-0 on Friday.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-article-body__text text-pr-5\">The result marked Vancouver\u2019s third straight victory and kept the \u2019Caps atop the MLS standings with a 7-1-0 record. <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-article-body__text text-pr-5\">Sabbi opened the scoring in the 13th minute with his second goal of the season then provided a helper on Thomas Muller\u2019s 28th-minute tally.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-article-body__text text-pr-5\">Bruno Caidcedo also scored for Vancouver, registering his first goal for the Whitecaps in the 23rd minute.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-article-body__text text-pr-5\">Vancouver goalkeeper Yohei Takaoka made one save to register his fifth clean sheet of the season. John Pulskamp registered two stops for Kansas City (1-6-1).<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-article-body__text text-pr-5\">The \u2019Caps controlled play through much of the game, maintaining 50.7 per cent possession and outshooting SKC 25-3, with a 6-1 edge in on-target shots.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-article-body__text text-pr-5\">Sporting has now lost four MLS games in a row, with its lone victory of the season being a 2-1 decision over the L.A. Galaxy on March 14.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-article-body__text text-pr-5\">The \u2019Caps took an early lead off a scramble in the SKC six-yard box.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-article-body__text text-pr-5\">Striker Brian White was tripped up as he went for a shot in the penalty area and his teammate Mathias Laborda was similarly chopped down as he went after the loose ball. Sabbi then got to it and sent a right-footed shot in to put Vancouver up 1-0 in the 13th minute.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-article-body__text text-pr-5\">Caidcedo doubled the lead 10 minutes later, driving in and chipping a shot through two defenders. The ball pinged off the post and in for his first MLS goal.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-article-body__text text-pr-5\">Vancouver acquired the 21-year-old Ecuadorean forward in a transfer from Barcelona SC in January. <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-article-body__text text-pr-5\">A big play from Sabbi helped the home side to a 3-0 cushion.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-article-body__text text-pr-5\">The American midfielder dove near the corner flag to scoop the ball off the line and keep it in play, then crossed it in to Muller. The German soccer legend headed it in past Pulskamp in the 28th minute for his fourth goal of the season.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-article-body__text text-pr-5\">Muller now has 13 goals and five assist across his first 25 games with the Whitecaps.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-article-body__text text-pr-5\">Vancouver was dominant across both ends of the field in the first half, maintaining 53 per cent possession and outshooting Kansas City 16-0, with four on-target shots.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-article-body__text text-pr-5\">Sebastian Berhalter came close to boosting the home team\u2019s tally in the 47th minute. The American midfielder stepped up for a free kick near the top-right corner of the penalty area and sent the ball soaring over SKC\u2019s wall, into Pulskamp\u2019s chest.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-article-body__text text-pr-5\">Kansas City\u2019s first shot of the game came in the 65th minute when substitute Ian James fired the ball from the top of the six-yard box, only to see Vancouver defender Tristan Blackmon slide in for a block.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-article-body__text text-pr-5\">The visitors had a prime opportunity in injury time when Manu Garcia won a free kick following a foul by Laborda. He stepped up to take the set play and sent a shot into Takaoka\u2019s hands. The \u2019keeper dove to the turf to hold onto the ball.<\/p>\n<p>NOTES<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-article-body__text text-pr-5\">Sabbi went down in the 79th minute and was looked at by trainers before he walked off the field. He was replaced by Cheikh Sabaly in the 82nd minute. \u2026 Right back Nikola Djordjevic came on for Edier Ocampo in the 82nd minute, making his \u2019Caps debut. \u2026 Vancouver leads the MLS in goals with 22 on the season. \u2026 An announced crowd of 21, 777 took in the game at B.C. Place. <\/p>\n<p>UP NEXT<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-article-body__text text-pr-5\">Whitecaps: Wrap a five-game homestand April 25 against the Colorado Rapids. <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-article-body__text text-pr-5\">SKC: Visit the Chicago Fire on April 25.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Open this photo in gallery: Vancouver Whitecaps FC forward Emmanuel Sabbi celebrates scoring during the first half against&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":611862,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194298],"tags":[901,888,902,879,877,903,49,48,876,895,896,891,878,875,46,549,295,894,887,914,880,881,893,889,890,884,904,885,909,910,912,907,911,905,908,882,898,899,714,897,906,865,61,900,892,886,55,883,913],"class_list":{"0":"post-611861","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-vancouver","8":"tag-alberta","9":"tag-arts-news","10":"tag-bc","11":"tag-breaking-news","12":"tag-breaking-news-video","13":"tag-british-columbia","14":"tag-ca","15":"tag-canada","16":"tag-canada-news","17":"tag-canada-sports","18":"tag-canada-sports-news","19":"tag-canada-trafficcanada-weather","20":"tag-canadian-breaking-news","21":"tag-canadian-news","22":"tag-economy","23":"tag-education","24":"tag-environment","25":"tag-federal-government","26":"tag-foreign-news","27":"tag-globe-and-mail","28":"tag-globe-and-mail-breaking-news","29":"tag-globe-and-mail-canada-news","30":"tag-government","31":"tag-life-news","32":"tag-lifestyle","33":"tag-local-news","34":"tag-manitoba","35":"tag-national-news","36":"tag-new-brunswick","37":"tag-newfoundland-and-labrador","38":"tag-northwest-territories","39":"tag-nova-scotia","40":"tag-nunavut","41":"tag-ontario","42":"tag-pei","43":"tag-photos","44":"tag-political-news","45":"tag-political-opinion","46":"tag-politics","47":"tag-politics-news","48":"tag-quebec","49":"tag-sports-news","50":"tag-technology","51":"tag-travel","52":"tag-trudeau","53":"tag-us-news","54":"tag-vancouver","55":"tag-world-news","56":"tag-yukon"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/611861","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=611861"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/611861\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/611862"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=611861"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=611861"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=611861"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}