Pair of red cards cost short-handed Whitecaps in 2-0 loss to Dynamo

HOUSTON – A pair of red cards cost the Vancouver Whitecaps on Saturday night.

Kendall Watson and Matias Laba were shown red cards, leaving Vancouver down two men for nearly 30 minutes of action, in a 2-0 loss against the Houston Dynamo.

“They were working mounds against us,” said Whitecaps head coach Carl Robinson. “Sometimes it’s not your day, sometimes things go against you. I think everything went against us today.”

Both Watson and Laba will miss Vancouver’s next game against Colorado Rapids on Sept. 9 due to automatic red cards. Laba will then sit out the Whitecaps’ Sept. 19 game against Seattle Sounders FC for yellow card accumulation.

“Arguably, they’ve been two of our best players this year, so it’s disappointing that they’ll miss games, but that’s why you have a squad. Unfortunate events happen,” said Robinson.

Ricardo Clark and Raul Rodriguez scored for Houston, which snapped a three-game winless streak.

Erick Torres deflected a cross from Shaenon Williams, setting up a sliding goal by Clark from just inside the 6-yard box in the 34th minute.

Rodriguez capped the scoring in the 87th, putting away a corner kick by Brad Davis with a header from the right side of the 6-yard box to the far corner.

Vancouver’s Darren Mattocks slipped behind the Houston (9-10-8) defence early in the match, but the save by Tyler Deric thwarted the Whitecaps’ (14-10-3) best scoring opportunity — one of just three shots on goal.

Robinson made six changes from Wednesday’s lineup when Vancouver beat the Montreal Impact for the Amway Canadian Championship title.

Vancouver is in second place in the Western Conference with 45 points — one behind first-place LA Galaxy. Houston is three points behind San Jose for the final playoff spot in the West.

NOTES — The Whitecaps have a bye next week. … Vancouver’s Russell Teibert and Sam Adekugbe are leaving for international duty as Canada plays in a two-leg series against Belize in the CONCACAF third round of 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifying.

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With files from The Associated Press