Brian White and Fabrice Picault each had a goal and an assist in the first half, leading the Vancouver Whitecaps to a 3-1 victory over FC Dallas in Frisco, Texas, on Saturday night.
With the win, the Whitecaps (2-0-1, 7 points) have points in three straight to open the MLS season.
The Whitecaps have won their first two away matches of the season after a 2-0 win in San Jose last weekend — it took Vancouver eight matches to earn road victory last season.
Sebastian Lletget scored the lone goal for Dallas (1-3-0, 3 points), which has just three points in four games to open the MLS season. With the loss, Dallas drops to 8-3-3 against Vancouver at home.
Vancouver scored on all three of its first half shots on target and led 3-1 at the whistle.
Mathias Laborda put a White cross into the far-left corner of the goal in the 25th minute, putting the Whitecaps on the board.
The visitors took a 2-0 lead in the 29th minute when White headed in a Picault cross from the center of the area for his first goal of the season.
Dallas responded in the 40th minute when Jesus Ferreira sent a free kick into the area and Lletget headed it in.
Vancouver restored its two-goal lead two minutes later as Picault, the former Dallas midfielder, headed in a cross from Ryan Raposo.
Dallas had an excellent opportunity to pull to within one in the 70th minute, but Petar Musa’s right-footed strike from eight yards out sailed over the bar.
Whitecaps coach Vanni Sartini served the third game of a six-game suspension on Saturday for his outburst during the 2023 MLS Cup playoff loss against LAFC in November.
Up next, the Whitecaps return home to entertain Real Salt Lake on March 23, while Dallas travels south to Austin to face their interstate rival on March 30.
–Field Level Media