Carl Robinson critical after Whitecaps blow two-goal lead to Sporting KC

KANSAS CITY, Kan. – Carl Robinson didn’t mince words after the Vancouver Whitecaps’ 4-3 loss to Sporting Kansas City on Saturday night.

The Whitecaps coach was critical of the officiating after two late goals by Paulo Nagamura gave Kansas City the victory.

“A bad number of decisions marked today,” said a frustrated Robinson. “Great environment, great place to play, super fans here. Unbeaten at home … fantastic. But it has to be managed and handled by the right person, today it wasn’t.”

Nagamura tied it in the 87th minute, finishing Chance Myers’ cross with a laser from behind the area. Nagamura then finished Soni Mustivar’s cross with a glancing header in the fourth minute of stoppage time. The final whistle came shortly after the ensuing kickoff.

Dom Dwyer scored on a header in the 81st minute to cut Sporting’s deficit to 3-2. It was his eighth goal of the season.

Pedro Morales’ 25-yard free kick gave Vancouver (13-9-3) a 3-1 lead in the 75th minute. It was the Whitecaps’ second two-goal lead of the evening. Kekuta Manneh capitalized on Sporting giveaways for a pair of first-half goals for Vancouver.

Kevin Ellis pulled Sporting (11-4-7) to 2-1, scoring an opportunistic header in the 53rd minute.

The Whitecaps dropped to second in the Western Conference with the loss — one point back of LA Galaxy and two ahead of Sporting KC.

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With files from The Associated Press