Vancouver Whitecaps seal playoff place with victory over Colorado Rapids

Oct 26, 2014 at 3am UK

FT(HT: 0-0)

Kendall Waston scores the only goal of the game to guide the Vancouver Whitecaps to a 1-0 win over the Colorado Rapids, which sees them seal their MLS playoffs place.

Published: October 26 2014 | 04:45

Last updated: October 26 2014 | 21:37

The Vancouver Whitecaps secured their place in the MLS playoffs with a 1-0 victory over the Colorado Rapids as they edged out the Portland Timbers to the final post-season spot in the Western Conference.

The home side went close in the early stages when Mauro Rosales and Pedro Morales combined on the edge of the area, but Morales poked his effort just wide of the post.

Sebastian Fernandez almost gave his side the lead when he weaved his way past two defenders into the box, but Clint Irwin rushed out of his goal to narrow the angle to make a crucial block for the Rapids.

Charles Eloundou almost fired Colorado ahead on the stroke of half time as he raided down the left and cut inside onto his right foot. He then struck a powerful drive at goal, which was well saved by David Ousted, who tipped the shot past the post.

The Whitecaps had an excellent chance to double their lead when Morales released the run of Erik Hurtado down the middle, but his low shot from inside the box was well saved by Irwin with his feet.

Vancouver scored their vital goal in the 70th minute when Kendall Waston beat his marker and rose highest in the area to head a Rosales corner past Irwin into the net.

The Rapids made a late surge to find a leveller as Gabriel Torres latched onto a loose ball outside the box, and his powerful half-volley looked destined for the bottom corner before Ousted made the stop.

Vancouver managed to see out their victory, which was enough to book their place in the playoffs at the expense of the Timbers.

Share this article now:

Eastern Conference

	Team	P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	PTS
1	Inter Miami Inter Miami	34	22	8	4	79	49	30	74
2	Columbus Crew	34	19	9	6	72	40	32	66
3	FC Cincinnati Cincinnati	34	18	5	11	58	48	10	59
4	Orlando City	34	15	7	12	59	50	9	52
5	Charlotte FC Charlotte FC	34	14	9	11	46	37	9	51
6	New York City FC NY City	34	14	8	12	54	49	5	50
7	New York Red Bulls NY Red Bulls	34	11	14	9	55	50	5	47
8	CF Montreal Montreal	34	11	10	13	48	64	-16	43
9	Atlanta United Atlanta	34	10	10	14	46	49	-3	40
10	DC United	34	10	10	14	52	70	-18	40
11	Philadelphia Union Philadelphia	34	9	10	15	62	55	7	37
12	Toronto	34	11	4	19	40	61	-21	37
13	Nashville SC Nashville	34	9	9	16	38	54	-16	36
14	New England Revolution New England	34	9	4	21	37	74	-37	31
15	Chicago Fire	34	7	9	18	40	62	-22	30

Western Conference

	Team	P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	PTS
1	Los Angeles FC Los Angeles	34	19	7	8	63	43	20	64
2	Los Angeles Galaxy LA Galaxy	34	19	7	8	69	50	19	64
3	Real Salt Lake Salt Lake	34	16	11	7	65	48	17	59
4	Seattle Sounders Seattle	34	16	9	9	51	35	16	57
5	Houston Dynamo Houston	34	15	9	10	47	39	8	54
6	Minnesota United Minnesota Utd	34	15	7	12	58	49	9	52
7	Colorado Rapids Colorado	34	15	5	14	61	60	1	50
8	Portland Timbers Portland	34	12	11	11	65	56	9	47
9	Vancouver Whitecaps Vancouver	34	13	8	13	52	49	3	47
10	Austin FC Austin	34	11	9	14	39	48	-9	42
11	Dallas	34	11	8	15	54	56	-2	41
12	St Louis City	34	8	13	13	50	63	-13	37
13	Sporting Kansas City Kansas	34	8	7	19	51	66	-15	31
14	San Jose Earthquakes Earthquakes	34	6	3	25	41	78	-37	21