Cubas scores first MLS goal as Whitecaps slay LAFC

VANCOUVER — The Vancouver Whitecaps took down Major League Soccer's top team on Saturday, beating Los Angeles FC 1-0.

Andres Cubas provided the game winner, scoring his first MLS goal in the 89th minute.

L.A. (11-4-3) dominated the first half but Vancouver (7-8-3) rallied in the second and outshot the visitors 10-7 over the course of the game, including two shots on target.

Former Whitecaps goalkeeper Maxime Crepeau made a single save in his return to BC Place. Jeers and boos rained down on the 28-year-old Canadian nearly every time he touched the ball.

Crepeau started in 32 games for Vancouver between 2019 and 2021, but requested a trade ahead of the 2022 campaign due to what Caps sporting director Axel Schuster has described as a "very personal situation."

Vancouver goalkeeper Cody Cropper did not register a save but collected his fourth clean sheet of the season.

Cubas connected for the game-winning strike in the 89th minute, taking the ball off his chest at the top of the penalty area and sending a right-footed shot skittering past Crepeau and into the bottom left-corner of the net.

The Caps signed Cubas, a Paraguayan international, at the end of April.

The Whitecaps gained momentum late in the game and striker Brian White appeared poised to put the home side on the board in the 75th minute after a ball slipped through L.A.'s backline.

White streaked in alone and got a solid shot off, but sent the ball careening off the goalpost, prompting the American to bury his face in his hands.

Vancouver was the first side to put a shot on net, forcing Crepeau to make a highlight-reel save in the 65th minute.

White sent a cross into the box and former LAFC defender Tristan Blackmon sent a blistering header toward the L.A. net,