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#vwfc could have done with this guy @AlphonsoDavies who made a guest appearance this afternoon. Biggest cheer of the night. pic.twitter.com/lmQILExt2F — Oscar Beardmore-Gray (@oscarbg95) July 14, 2019

It was the second straight win for Sporting (6-7-7), who extended their points lead on Vancouver (4-9-8) to five points with a game in hand. The Whitecaps haven’t won since May 25, and have just one victory in their last 10 league games.

Boos rang down after Gerso’s goal — the first time catcalls have come out this season — as fans started streaming for the exits early.

Including Wednesday’s scoreless draw with Cavalry FC in the Canadian Championship, the Whitecaps have been shut out in three of their last four games, getting outscored 10-1 along the way.

“(At) this stage right now, we’re a little bit fragile. We’re in a position now where every time an opponent scores, it looks ‘heavy.’ And we need to grow at that. We need to have a different type of mental toughness and react in a better way,” said coach Marc Dos Santos.

“I told the players what I’m going to say now. I have to apologize to the fans for the first half. I think that’s where the game happened. It was very sloppy, lack of intensity, lack of willingness, mentally not in the game for a game that had so much importance for us.

“Then in the second half, it became an exaggerated result. … When we don’t score, 2-0, and then the result got exaggerated. But the first half was key to our performance today. We didn’t deserve to win today.”

Photo by Anne-Marie Sorvin / USA TODAY Sports

Here’s what we learned …

BAIR NECESSITY

Theo Bair got his first career MLS start Saturday, with regular striker Fredy Montero suspended for the match after getting a red card last week in L.A.