Vancouver Whitecaps edge out Toronto

Mar 2, 2013 at 11.30pm UK

Vancouver Whitecaps survive a frantic opening period to come out on top against Toronto on the opening day of the MLS season.

Published: March 3 2013 | 01:36

Last updated: March 3 2013 | 10:30

Vancouver Whitecaps have beaten Toronto 1-0 on the opening day of the 2013 Major League Soccer season.

Both teams fielded lineups that would have been familiar to British football fans but it was Vancouver who came out on top.

The away side started well, with former Cardiff City forward Robert Earnshaw causing problems for the Whitecaps defence.

Hogan Ephraim, once of Queens Park Rangers, was also a threat for Toronto but saw his effort saved midway through the half.

Vancouver grew into the game after that and although they had the lion's share of possession, they failed to find the right service for Kenny Miller, and the teams went in level at the break.

Five minutes into the second half, the home side finally worked their way through the Toronto defence, but Alain Rochat was denied by a fantastic save from Joe Bendik.

Miller himself then had his header stopped by an equally good save, before the home side took the lead. Local boy Gershon Koffie found space in the box before firing past Bendik for the opener.

It could have been 2-0 10 minutes later when Nigel Reo-Coker played in Darren Mattocks, but a goal-line clearance from Richard Eckersley denied him.

The home side remained comfortable thereafter and saw out the victory to begin their campaign with a win.

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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