Sorensen urges Vancouver to seek control after returning to winning ways

Syndicated reporting provided by Stats Perform and reviewed by the SoccerNews editorial team.

The Vancouver Whitecaps ended their three-game winless streak against the Seattle Sounders last time out, but Jesper Sorensen warned they cannot give up control against the Houston Dynamo.

The Whitecaps beat their Cascadia Cup rivals 2-0 thanks to goals from Rayan Elloumi and Thomas Muller at the weekend, with those three points taking them above the Dynamo to the top of the Western Conference.

Vancouver had seen their form slip following the World Cup break, drawing two in a row after returning to MLS action with a 4-3 loss to FC Cincinnati.

That form was then compounded by a dismal Leagues Cup campaign in which they failed to win any of their three games.

But Sorensen was impressed with how Vancouver responded to those setbacks, even if he believes there is still room for improvement.

“Defensively, we didn’t give much away even though we were standing high,” he said of that result.

“They wanted to see if they could go, play under us a couple of times, but our full-backs had good control. We were pushing forward and yet having control of the backspace.

“I think that was very good. So hopefully, that’s something we can bring on Wednesday. We know we’re going against a team that normally sits a little bit lower on the pitch, so it’s very important that we can have control over the defence and the attacking balance.

“We still need to better flow in our offence, but that will come. We produce enough, but balance is the key.”

The Dynamo could regain top spot in the West with a win on Wednesday, though, as they sit just two points behind Vancouver.

Ben Olsen’s side are unbeaten in their last seven matches (W5 D2), and have won each of their last four games, including a 1-0 win over 10-man LA Galaxy last time out.

One year since Thomas Müller nearly scored in his MLS debut pic.twitter.com/q8WUCEd1vf

— Vancouver Whitecaps FC (@WhitecapsFC) August 18, 2026

Vancouver Whitecaps – Thomas Muller

Muller scored his 14th MLS goal on Sunday (regular season and playoffs) but just his sixth that was not a penalty.

All six of Muller’s non-penalty goals in MLS have been assisted, with the eight total assists on those goals coming from eight different team-mates.

Guilherme has scored in six of his last seven regular-season appearances, including the last four in a row.

The only Dynamo player to score in five consecutive regular-season appearances was Mauro Manotas across the 2018 and 2019 seasons.

MATCH PREDICTION: VANCOUVER WHITECAPS WIN

Houston snapped a three-match winless run against Vancouver (D2 L1) with a 1-0 road victory on May 16.

However, the Dynamo have never defeated Vancouver twice in a single season and have won two straight over the Whitecaps only once, in September 2023 and July 2024.

Houston have won four straight matches, keeping a clean sheet in all four wins, the first time the Dynamo have won four straight regular-season matches since 2019 and the first time in club history they have posted four straight shutout wins.

Vancouver, though, ended a seven-match winless streak across all competitions (D4 L3) with a 2-0 road victory at Seattle on Sunday. It was the Whitecaps’ seventh shutout win across all competitions in 2026, but the previous six had all come at home.

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