Sporting Kansas City stunned the Vancouver Whitecaps with a four-goal second half fightback that saw the 'Caps give up 2-0 and 3-1 leads, before finally falling to a stoppage time Paulo Nagamura winner in a 4-3 loss on Saturday night.
Vancouver looked to be home and dry after a first-half brace from Kekuta Manneh and a stunning free kick from Pedro Morales, but the home side's never say die approach saw the Whitecaps blow a two-goal lead for the second time in four days, after their midweek Amway Canadian Championship draw with Montreal.
"I think in a day or two we might be able to take some positives, but right now all I can think of is the negatives," Whitecaps defender Jordan Harvey told Vancouver's TSN 1410 radio after the match. "It's disappointing because we had the lead multiple times in the game. We defended so well, for so long and limited their chances in the first half. The second half, they laid it on thick and we couldn't capitalize on the other end."
Whitecaps head coach Carl Robinson paid credit to a "very good" Kansas City side, but didn't want to get too caught up in the dissecting Vancouver's defensive downfall immediately after the game.
"To go away from home and score three goals is very good," Robinson told TSN Radio. "It's not surprising to me because I know that we've got that attacking unit, attacking players that can do that. That's a positive to come out of the game.
"Obviously the negative is we've conceded four goals and if you concede four goals, more than likely you don't win a game and that's what happened."
The 'Caps coach also addressed the officiating in the match and he was particularly irked by a number of decisions that went against his side in the second half, including a stoppage time penalty shout from Octavio Rivero. Robinson could be seen speaking with referee Juan Guzman and his officiating team at length after the game.
"Some of those decisions that were in the game were eye scratching," Robinson said. "Is it the reason we lost? No, but let me tell you, we're talking about good players, good teams, good franchises coming in ... and officiating has got to improve. Without a doubt."
It would prove to be a costly night for Vancouver. A victory would have seen the Whitecaps move into first place in the Supporters' Shield race, but the defeat saw them fall to second in the Western Conference, with those around them closing the gap.
It remains to be seen how Vancouver respond to this defeat with another tough Western Conference match looming against FC Dallas next Saturday (10 pm ET, TSN1 and MLS LIVE).
"You want to play in meaningful games," Robinson said. "We've got a lot of meaningful games coming up in the next period of time, which is good. Good teams, but let the teams play. Let the teams decide who is the best team on the pitch – no one else."
Michael McColl covers the Vancouver Whitecaps for MLSsoccer.com.
