ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Thomas Muller scored in the seventh minute of stoppage time, Nelson Pierre also scored a late goal and the Vancouver Whitecaps beat Orlando City 2-1 on Saturday night to take sole possession of first place in the Western Conference with a week left in the regular season.
Vancouver (18-6-9) has 63 points, three more than second-place San Diego, and closes the Major League Soccer regular season next Saturday against Dallas.
Orlando (14-8-11) is seventh in the Eastern Conference with 53 points, one behind Nashville. Eighth-place Chicago has 52 points and Columbus has 51.
Muller capped the scoring with a finish off a feed from Ryan Gauld and has nine goal contributions (six goals, three assists) in six matches with the Whitecaps.
Dagur Thorhallsson opened the scoring for Orlando City (14-8-11) in the 24th minute. On the counterattack, MartĂn Ojeda flicked a short arcing cross to McGuire for a header to a charging Thorhallsson for the finish from the centre of the area.
Pierre, who replaced Daniel RĂos in the 74th minute, scored his first career goal in MLS to make it 1-1 in the 81st. The 20-year-old homegrown made his third appearance for Vancouver and put away a first-touch finish off a shot by Sebastian Berhalter that deflected off the post.
Orlando’s Robin Jansson left the game due to an apparent knee injury and was replaced in the 18th minute by Duncan McGuire.
It was the first meeting between the clubs since April 20, 2019. The Whitecaps are 4-1-1 all time against Orlando City.
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The Associated Press
