Brian White scored four goals as the Vancouver Whitecaps extended their lead at the top of Major League Soccer’s Western Conference with a 5-1 thrashing of Austin FC on Saturday.
Fourth-placed Austin went into Saturday’s road game at BC Place knowing that a victory could have left them level on points with Vancouver at the top of the standings.
But a rampant Whitecaps line-up never looked like being troubled by Austin as they cruised to a dominant victory that leaves them four points clear at the top of the table.
After a brief and bizarre stoppage to play after eight minutes, when a mouse needed to be caught and removed from the field, Vancouver went in front in the 13th miute.
Colombian Edier Ocampo crossed from the right flank and after Daniel Rios deftly flicked on, White was on hand to finish with ease.
White doubled Vancouver’s tally in the 38th minute after a poor clearance from Austin goalkeeper Brad Stuver. Vancouver’s Emmanuel Sabbi threaded a pass to White who slipped a low shot beneath Stuver.
Sabbi then turned goalscorer in the 47th minute, getting on the end of a flick by Serbian defender Ranko Veselinovic to blast home from close range.
White completed his hat-trick in the 59th minute to make it 4-0, and only a superb goalkeeping performance from Stuver — who pulled off a series of fine saves including from a 72nd-minute Giuseppe Bovalina penalty — prevented Vancouver from adding to their total.
Eventually however Austin’s resistance was broken again, White grabbing his fourth of the game in the 82nd minute. Austin finally got on the scoresheet in the 90th minute with a long-range consolation strike from Dani Pereira.
The win allowed Vancouver to stretch their lead at the top of the standings after second-placed Minnesota could only draw 0-0 with winless Toronto FC earlier Saturday.
In the Eastern Conference, Charlotte FC and FC Cincinnati both leapfrogged Columbus and Inter Miami at the top of the table thanks to slender 1-0 wins on the road.
Charlotte moved into first place in the East with a 1-0 win over Montreal thanks to a 16th-minute Pep Biel goal, while Cincinnati defeated D.C. United by the same margin to go second.
Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami and Columbus can jump back into the leading positions with wins on Sunday.
