FC Dallas 1 (De Guzman) - Vancouver 0

The Vancouver Whitecaps gave up a goal deep in injury time to lose their 5th straight game against FC Dallas, who now sit only a point behind the Whitecaps for the final playoff spot in the MLS Western Conference.

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The Vancouver Whitecaps returned to action this weekend after the international break holding the final playoff spot against the FC Dallas team 4 points behind them in the standings. The Whitecaps have lost their last 4 games and head coach Martin Rennie looked to shake up the lineup for tonights game. Brad Knighton got the start in goal, with Y.P Lee, Jay DeMerit, Martin Bonjour and Jordan Harvey as the back four. Alain Rochat started out in defensive midfield with John Thorrington and Gershon Koffie alongside him in midfield, and the front three consisted of Camilo, Kenny Miller, and Barry Robson.

On the bench for the Caps were Joe Cannon, Matt Watson, Carlyle Mitchell, Dane Richards, Darren Mattocks, Jun Marquez Davidson, and Russell Teibert.

FC Dallas was on the front foot early on this one, their pressure culminating in a penalty kick chance in the 15^th minute. David Ferreira took the chance which Brad Knighton palmed away.

A couple minutes later John Thorrington went down with an injury when Ferreira stepped on his ankle. Thorrington stpeed off momentarily but would shake it off and continue playing.

In the 25^th minute the Whitecaps got their first good chance towards goal, with Jordan Harvey getting onto the end of a bouncing ball and hitting it just wide of goal.

Starting to find their legs, the Whitecaps continued bringing the pressure and were rewarded with a free kick in the 28^th minute. Camilo's effort was blocked by the wall but the rebound fell to Thorrington, his long effort from 30 yards out just curled wide of the post.

Near the end of the first half Dallas had a couple of chances on goal, first off a Brek Shea cross found Ferreira in the box and his shot rattled off the post. Soon after that Shea's long range effort was tipped over the bar by Knighton for a corner.

The score would be scoreless at the half, with the Whitecaps lucky not to be behind after the first 45.

In the 2^nd half Gershon Koffie earned a yellow card for stopping a free kick from quickly being taken. A minute after that Kenny Miller got pushed in the back just outside the Dallas box by Matt Hedges but no call was given.

FC Dallas made their first substitution in the 54^th minute, with 19 year old Fabian Castillo coming in for Andrew Jacobson.

The substitution almost brought dividends immediatly with Castillo crossing in for Blas Perez but Perez could only sky his shot over the bar from 6 yards out.

Soon after that Darren Mattocks would enter the game for Kenny Miller to try and provide some offensive spark for the Whitecaps.

Mattocks started to give the Dallas defense fits with his speed ultimately resulting in a couple of corner kicks shortly after his introduction. The game started to open up after that with teams starting to run up and down the pitch.

In the 71^st minute FC Dallas defender George John went down with ankle injury, and needed to be stretched off the field, Zach Loyd came in to replace him.

In the 80^th minute the Whitecaps sent in Russell Teibert for Camilo to shore things up defensively as Dallas started to push forward for the victory.

In the 83^rd minute John Thorrington had a glorious chance to put the Whitecaps up late as Teibert's ball into the box bounced off a Dallas defender right onto the foot of Thorrington, Dallas keeper Kevin Hartman got just enough of the ball to keep the game tied at 0.

The Vancouver Whitecaps had to hold the fort in the final couple minutes as Dallas threw everything but the kitchen sink towards Brad Knighton. Knighton came up big again stopping Blas Perez from point blank range before the ball went off the post and the follow up play was called offside.

The Whitecaps had to survive 6 minutes of stoppage time. In the 3^rd minute of stoppage time Castillo had a chance in all alone but his shot from close range looped over the bar.

In the 95^th minute FC Dallas finally broke through. Off a corner kick, the ball bounced out to Julian De Guzman, who's long range volley curls just inside the post, beating Brad Knigton and giving the FC Dallas the 1-0 victory late.

Dallas is now only 1 point back of the Whitecaps for the final playoff spot in the Western Conference. Vancouver has a game in hand and an easier schedule playing their next 4 games at home, but FC Dallas has the momentum going into the final stretch of games. The Whitecaps return home to face the Colorado Rapids next Saturday at BC Place, hoping to snap a 5 game losing streak.