Gauld’s late penalty helps Vancouver Whitecaps claim point in draw with Kansas | CBC Sports

A late penalty from Ryan Gauld helped lift the Whitecaps to a 1-1 Major League Soccer draw with Sporting Kansas City on Saturday night in Vancouver.

Kansas (4-8-5) opened the scoring in the 20th minute after Whitecaps midfielder Pedro Vite went to clear the ball by flicking it up, only to put it out for a corner.

Sporting captain Alan Pulido was found at the edge of the six-yard box and his header looped over the diving Yohei Takaoka to find the back of the net.

Vancouver substitute Deiber Caicedo was brought down in the box in the 88th minute, with the referee awarding a penalty after a video review, allowing Gauld to score his second goal in two games.

The Whitecaps thought they had tied the game in the 23rd minute as Gauld’s deflected shot trickled past goalkeeper Kendall McIntosh only for the referee to deem it offside.

The Whitecaps host CF Montreal on Wednesday night in the Canadian Championship final. Their next MLS match is Saturday against visiting FC Cincinnati. Sporting KC will host Austin FC next Saturday.

Carranza leads Philadelphia over Montreal

Julian Carranza scored a goal in each half to lead the Philadelphia Union to a 3-0 victory over visiting CF Montreal on Saturday night.

Philadelphia increased its lead to 2-0 on Mikael Uhre’s sixth goal this season — unassisted in the 36th minute.

Carranza used an assist from Daniel Gazdag in the 61st minute to net his ninth goal of the season and cap the scoring.

Andre Blake did not have to make a save to earn his seventh clean sheet for the Union. Blake has 22 shutouts since the start of the 2021 season. He has saved 83.6 per cent of shots on goal for his career. No other goaltender who has faced a minimum of 25 shots is over 80%.

James Pantemis did not have a save, making his second start this season for Montreal (6-9-1).

The Union are 17-1-2 in their last 20 home matches, outscoring opponents 61-11 along the way.

Montreal returns home to play Minnesota United on Saturday. Philadelphia travels to play the San Jose Earthquakes on Saturday.

Minnesota forces draw against Toronto

Kervin Arriaga scored in the 89th minute to lift Minnesota United into a 1-1 tie with visiting Toronto FC in MLS play Saturday.

Toronto centre back Aime Mabika made a goal-saving block off a Mender Garcia shot from close range in the 87th minute. And Toronto goalkeeper Sean Johnson made a marvellous save off a header only to see the ball go to Arriaga who sidestepped two defenders and fired a shot that deflected in off midfielder Mark-Anthony Kaye.

TFC hung on for the tie as Minnesota kept coming in stoppage time.

Toronto went ahead on a 58th-minute counter-attack led by Federico Bernardeschi after Minnesota lost the ball near the TFC goal. The Italian charged up the middle of the pitch with the ball eventually finding its way to Richie Laryea, whose cross went through the penalty box to Insigne who beat Canadian ‘keeper Dayne St. Clair for his second goal of the season.

Minnesota had its chances but was unable to turn them into shots on target until the dying moments. Only three of its 19 shots were on the mark.

Toronto (3-5-9) extended its unbeaten run to three games (1-0-2). It had won just two of its previous 13 outings in all competitions (2-5-6).

Minnesota (5-6-5) came into the game in seventh spot in the West. It has won just one of its seven league games at home (1-1-5) this season.

Toronto hosts Nashville next Saturday.