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“You could say that Sporting is going through a phase A or B, but it’s always Sporting Kansas City. It’s always a very strong side at home.”

The Whitecaps set a season high with 86 per cent of their passes completed, with centre-back Erik Godoy leading the way with 86 — 28 more than Adnan, his next closest teammate.

Vancouver was outshot 15-11 (7-3 on target) and, yet again, had trouble penetrating the midfield on the ground. And the K.C. goal came when Felipe was dispossessed, allowing a streaking Johnny Russell to get in behind Adnan and fire a shot on Maxime Crepeau that was saved, but fell to Németh at the back post for a tap-in.

Photo by Jay Biggerstaff / USA TODAY Sports

REDEMPTION FOR CORNELIUS

With the ball in the back of the net, Cornelius raised his hand to his ear, shushing the crowd.

It probably silenced some critics back home, too, who blamed him for some early struggles, including a penalty kick in Houston.

“It just came to me. Nothing too much behind it,” he said. “I felt there was a lot of outside noise to me …. so it just came to me.”

“At the end of the day, Derek is just waiting for chances to play,” added Dos Santos. “And then there’s the game in Houston, that sometimes it’s still in his head and is slowly getting out. He’s stronger from it. He deserves the goal. And the reason why he deserves the goal has nothing to do with Sporting or the game today, but he’s been an incredible teammate. He’s understood very well the form that Doneil and Erik are in. He’s worked in training. He’s a good teammate. Again, I love it when good people get rewarded. It’s fair. The guys are happy for him. It was a great play on the goal.”