Whitecaps Return to Top Spot in West after Rout of FC Dallas

Well, the Vancouver Whitecaps did not "languish" in second place in the Western Conference for long. They are back in first place in the conference after a 5-0 rout of FC Dallas in their last match.

Vancouver had dropped to second place after a loss to Houston, who lost their last match and now trail the Whitecaps by two points in the West.

Is Vancouver back? 

The Whitecaps have won two of their last three matches, both on clean sheets, after going winless in five matches after the World Cup break. I wrote last week that now is the time for Vancouver to get back on track with a rather soft upcoming schedule in their next few matches. In those matches, FC Dallas was the toughest, sitting fifth in the Western Conference.

In the Whitecaps' next four matches, St. Louis CITY SC is the only team they face in the top six in the West, sitting in sixth place. In their next match, they hit the road to face Sporting Kansas City, who are in the basement in the West, and then in their last match of September, they host a DC United team that is currently ninth in the Eastern Conference standings.

Vancouver had only totaled five goals in six matches before blowing up for five in throttling FC Dallas.

Dominating Dallas 

In the Vancouver win over Dallas, they dominated the match, winning time of possession 64% to 36% and taking 10 shots on goal while allowing only one. It was a far cry from their previous match, when they had only one shot on goal in a 1-0 loss to Houston.

Bryan White scored twice, and the Whitecaps had a 4-0 lead heading into the half. Emmanuel Sabbi, Édier Ocampo, and Bruno Caicedo also all found the back of the net in the blowout.

It remains to be seen if the Whitecaps have gotten over their post-World Cup hangover. However, they have won two of three matches, their upcoming schedule is far from killer, and the 5-0 rout of Dallas was impressive. Also, four of their next six matches are at home.