VANCOUVER — David Ousted mused this week that a fortunate bounce might be what was needed to shake the Vancouver Whitecaps from their scoring drought.
The veteran goalkeeper’s words proved to be prophetic.
Vancouver benefited from an FC Dallas own goal in the 35th minute, and the floodgates opened in the second half as Jordan Harvey and Kekuta Manneh added two more in a much-needed 3-0 victory on Saturday.
The Whitecaps (3-4-1) entered play having been shut out in three straight games, including back-to-back losses, but grabbed the lead when Manneh whipped a cross into the Dallas penalty area that ‘keeper Chris Seitz punched into his own net off defender Maynor Figueroa.
"We just keep believing. We’re creating chances," said Manneh, who was dangerous all night. "If we weren’t creating chances we would have been worried.
"We knew it was just going to be a matter of time."
Despite not putting the ball in themselves, the goal was the Whitecaps’ first of the season from open play after scoring six in the first seven games from dead-ball situations.
Harvey made it 2-0 with his second of 2016 in the 63rd minute off a Cristian Techera corner after the ball fell to him in the Dallas penalty area.
Vancouver then sealed it in the 77th when Blas Perez — just into the match as a sub against his former team — touched the ball onto Manneh, who beat Seitz between the legs for his first of the campaign.
The goal-starved Whitecaps have had to deal with a lot of questions regarding their lack of offence in recent weeks, and the relief on the players’ faces was obvious as they celebrated at the final whistle.
"You could see it in their eyes that everybody wanted to win this game," said Manneh. "We had a few bad results in the run in. We met as players and decided we needed to change things around."
Dallas (5-2-2), which remains atop Major League Soccer’s overall standings with 17 points, saw its six-game unbeaten streak come to an end in a match where the visitors had a fair share of the opportunities.
"Disappointed. It was one of those nights," said Dallas head coach Oscar Pareja. "When we wanted to, we created chances. I thought the team looked good."
Ousted kept his team ahead 1-0 in the 50th minute when he swatted away a Michael Barrios shot with his left hand and was forced into another stop off of Canadian international Tesho Akindele in the 61st before Harvey and Manneh put the game out of reach.
Prior to the Whitecaps grabbing the lead in the first half, Dallas had a couple of chances to go in front. Fabian Castillo beat Vancouver’s offside trap in the 10th minute and tried to chip Ousted, but his shot landed on top of the net.
Maximiliano Urruti, who was booked for diving moments later, then blasted a looping effort in the 20th from outside the box that Ousted did well to palm over the crossbar.
"I played well today," said Ousted, who picked up his third clean sheet of the year. "There were times where I needed to step up and make that save that kept us in it."
Notes: Vancouver was without captain Pedro Morales — who has scored four goals this season — for a third straight game because of a hip injury. … Dallas captain Matt Hedges also sat out after the defender underwent surgery to repair a torn meniscus this week. … The Whitecaps host Sporting Kansas City on Wednesday before travelling to take on New York City FC next Saturday.
