Sporting KC earn draw with Whitecaps on late penalty kick

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Alan Pulido's header puts Sporting KC ahead

Alan Pulido scores off of the header to put Sporting KC up by a goal in the 20th minute.

Updated: Jun 4, 2024, 06:21 am

The Vancouver Whitecaps FC and visiting Sporting Kansas City played to a 1-1 draw on Saturday night.

After Alan Pulido scored in the first half to give Kansas City the lead, Ryan Gauld tied the game for the Whitecaps with a penalty kick in the 88th minute.

The tie continued what has been an impressive turnaround for Kansas City (4-8-5, 17 points), which is 4-1-2 in its past seven league games. Sporting Kansas City was winless through their first 10 contests.

The Whitecaps (5-5-6, 21 points) improved to 5-0-3 in their last eight home league games despite being held to just a single goal. Vancouver set a franchise record for most goals in an MLS game in a 6-2 win over visiting Houston Dynamo on Wednesday.

Sporting Kansas City took a 1-0 lead in the 20th minute off a corner kick.

Erik Thommy delivered a cross towards the near post where Pulido curled a header over his defender and goalie Yohei Takaoka and into the back of the net.

The Whitecaps appeared to equalize four minutes later, but Gauld's volley from outside the penalty box was overturned on video replay because Vancouver's Tristan Blackmon was deemed offside.

Vancouver tied the game in the 88th minute after Kansas City defender Robert Voloder took down Deiber Caicedo in the penalty box.

While there was no call on the field, a penalty kick was awarded after video replay.

Gauld blasted the attempt past goalie Kendall McIntosh, who dove the wrong way.

While Vancouver maintained possession for 54.8 percent of the game, Kansas City outshot the Whitecaps 12-11. But Kansas City put just two shots on target, while Vancouver had three shots on net.

The Whitecaps completed 84.3 percent of their 561 passes, while Kansas City found its target 82 percent of its 450 passes.

--Field Level Media