Undermanned Vancouver Whitecaps fall 2-1 to FC Dallas in regular-season finale

VANCOUVER — This isn’t the way the Vancouver Whitecaps wanted to end their regular-season campaign.

The good news is playoffs are just around the corner.

“I feel still very confident,” Whitecaps superstar Thomas Muller said after Vancouver dropped a 2-1 decision to FC Dallas on Saturday.

The result snapped the club’s 11-game unbeaten streak (7-0-4) across all competitions and dropped the ‘Caps (18-7-9) to second place in Major League Soccer’s Western Conference standings.

“We wanted to be first in the Western Conference,” Muller said. “But life is like it is. You have to accept sometimes some results. You can control only how you approach a game, not what kind of results you get.”

With the win, Dallas (11-12-11) moved up to No. 7 in the standings and escaped the wild-card game. Instead, the Torros will face the ‘Caps in the first round of the MLS playoffs.

A start date for the best-of-three series has not yet been announced.

Finishing the regular season second in the West is an achievement the Whitecaps should be proud of, said head coach Jesper Sorensen.

“It’s been a season with a lot of highs and also a couple of lows. But the season, I think, has been very good so far,” he said. “We’re not over, and we’re looking forward for the last part of it.”

Saturday’s matchup hinged on a call that saw Vancouver defender Mathias Laborda sent off in the 11th minute.

Many in the sold-out crowd of 26,741 fans at B.C. Place were still filtering to their seats when, eight minutes into the game, the centre back bumped Dallas striker Samuel Sarver as he sprinted in with the ball.

Referee Allen Chapman initially showed Laborda the yellow for the play, then went to video review. After checking the footage, the official sent him off with a red card that will see him suspended from the first game of the playoffs.

“Seeing it again, it’s a foul. But I think it’s also maybe a hard call for a red card,” Sorensen said. “But obviously the guys who checked it and the referee thought it was a red card.”

The Whitecaps will look into appealing the red card, the coach added.

Dallas took advantage of its undermanned opponent in the 17th minute off a set play.

Patrickson Delgado swung a ball into the back post off a corner kick and Osaze Urhoghide tucked a low shot into the Vancouver net to give the visitors a 1-0 lead.

The physicality continued in the 27th minute when ‘Caps midfielder Emanuel Sabbi outbattled Lalas Abubakar to win a ball. Sabbi drove into the penalty area, where Abubakar dove to take him down. Chapman responded by quickly pointing at the penalty spot.

Muller stepped up to take the kick in the 28th minute. He stutter stepped, then fired a low shot into the bottom of the net to tie the score at 1-1.

The German soccer legend now has eight goals and four assists across all competitions since signing with the Whitecaps in mid-August.

A defensive lapse early in the second half saw the visitors once again take the lead.

Under pressure inside the area, Sarver chipped a ball the unmanned Kaick Ferreira and he popped a shot in to give Dallas a 2-1 lead in the 47th minute.

Despite going down a man early, Vancouver controlled 63.1 per cent of possession across the game and outshot the visiting side 17-11. On-target attempts were even at 7-7.

“In the end, I’m proud of this team. Normally, I’m not used to playing these kind of games where if you are one man down, you still get your opponent in so many situations suffering,” said Muller, who spent 17 seasons playing for Bayern Munich in the German Bundesliga before coming to MLS.

“It’s not a bad day for us. I think it showed still how good we are. And we can build on that more than we should take it as a setback.”

The ‘Caps had ample chances in the second half, including off a 78th-minute free kick.

Sebastian Berhalter sent a ball into the top of the area, where Tate Johnson got a touch, sending it to Muller. The attacking midfielder then blasted a shot off, narrowly missing the post.

Berhalter came close in the 90th minute, too, with a free kick from the top of the area that Dallas ‘keeper Michael Collodi tipped away with a diving save.

“I think we were close, and we had opportunities. We couldn’t really take them today,” Sorensen said. “We’ve been good, also, late in the game, to get a goal back, but we couldn’t do it today. But I think overall, I think we look strong 10 against 11, and I think that it was an exciting game.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 18, 2025.