The Vancouver Whitecaps trounced Real Salt Lake 4-1 on Sunday night, their first Major League Soccer victory under interim coach Vanni Sartini. Midfielder Ryan Gauld scored one goal and assisted on two others.
Real Salt Lake, who was also playing its first game under a new coach, fell to 7-8-6. It was RSL’s second straight defeat and fourth in six games.
The Whitecaps sacked head coach Marc Dos Santos on Friday, following an unexpected 4-3 loss to Pacific FC of the Canadian Premier League in the Canadian Championship quarterfinals. Phil Dos Santos, Marc’s brother, and a club assistant coach has also been dismissed from his job.
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Vancouver defeats Real Salt Lake 4-1 thanks to three second-half goals.
Sartini, the team’s methods director, took over as acting head coach. Ricardo Clark, the assistant coach, and Yousef Daha, the goalie coach, both kept their jobs.
After Freddy Juarez and the club parted ways on Friday, former assistant Pablo Mastroeni took over as temporary head coach for Real Salt Lake.
Gauld fired the ball into the box on a corner kick, giving the Whitecaps a 1-0 lead midway through the first half. It deflected off RSL defender Marcelo Silva and past goalie Andrew Putna’s fingertips.
Cristian Dajome, a Vancouver attacker, smashed a shot from a tight angle early in the second half. Putna made the save, but White pounced on the rebound to score his third goal in three MLS appearances.
Gauld scored in the 64th minute on a header from defender Javain Brown’s cross. Jungwirth made it 4-0 when he headed home Gauld’s corner kick.
RSL came within a goal in the 42nd minute when Noah Powder’s long-range rocket hit the post and landed at the feet of striker Justin Meram. Meram’s attempt went over the top of the goal with nothing but an open net in front of him.
In the 18th minute, midfielder Russell Teibert came within a whisker of putting Vancouver ahead. The Whitecaps skipper attempted a cross into the box, which deflected off RSL defender Justen Glad’s thigh, forcing Putna to make a save.
