The Vancouver Whitecaps bid adieu to their temporary home in Sandy, Utah, with a 2-2 draw against Minnesota United Saturday.
Cristian Dajome had both goals for the 鈥楥aps (3-7-6), including a stoppage time penalty kick that preserved a point for Vancouver.
The Colombian attacker leads the Whitecaps with eight goals on the season.
鈥淲hat I鈥檓 happy with him, is he doesn鈥檛 get rewarded with goals just because of the quality he has, it鈥檚 also the work rate that he puts in and how he helps the team without the ball and how he鈥檚 committed with the team,鈥� said head coach Marc Dos Santos. 鈥淗e鈥檚 a great teammate and he鈥檚 rewarded for that.鈥�
Dajome鈥檚 first of the night came in the 36th minute off a corner. Midfielder Russell Teibert collected an assist on the play.
But United鈥檚 Ethan Finlay stopped Vancouver from taking a lead into halftime, scoring in the 45th minute with help from Emanuel Reynoso.
Robin Lod gave Minnesota (6-5-5) a 2-1 advantage in the 75th minute, assisted by Wil Trapp.
The midfield grew congested in the second half, Dajome said, and Vancouver didn鈥檛 respond well.
鈥淲e didn鈥檛 pressure, we didn鈥檛 show for the ball,鈥� he said through a translator. 鈥淚 think it was part of the fact that we were ready to get the ball up top, but we just never got it. Sometimes when the ball would be applied, which we didn鈥檛 really look for that pass forward and we didn鈥檛 make it quick enough.鈥�
馃寠 2-2 馃
鈥� Vancouver Whitecaps FC (@WhitecapsFC) August 1, 2021
馃帴 Highlights#VWFC #VANvMIN pic.twitter.com/V4A43pV3uB
With time ticking down on the clock and Minnesota up 2-1, Finlay fouled Dajome in the box, gifting Vancouver a penalty kick.
Dajome blasted a shot into the right side of the net as United 鈥榢eeper Tyler Miller dove in the opposite direction.
Dajome hobbled out of the penalty area before collapsing on the field and being surrounded by his teammates.
The 27-year-old said he was hurt when Finlay fell on top of him during the foul, but called the injury 鈥渁 slight thing.鈥�
United held a 11-10 edge in shooting with four shots on target, compared to three for the Whitecaps.
Vancouver鈥檚 Thomas Hasal saved two of the four shots he faced. Miller made one save for United.
Saturday marked the last match the 鈥楥aps will play at Rio Tinto Stadium in this season.
The team started the year stationed south of the border due to pandemic-related border restrictions, but announced last week that it will play the rest of this season鈥檚 home games at B.C. Place in Vancouver.
First, though, the Whitecaps will embark on a road trip, facing the Galaxy in L.A. on Aug. 8. Minnesota will host the Houston Dynamo on Aug. 7.
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
The Associated Press
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