AFP, Los Angeles :
Reigning Major League Soccer Cup champions Toronto FC were eliminated from playoff contention Saturday with a 2-1 loss to the Vancouver Whitecaps, who kept their own post-season hopes alive.
Russell Teibert and Kei Kamara scored for Vancouver, Teibert putting the Whitecaps up in the fourth minute and Kamara grabbing the game-winner in the 78th.
Toronto had been reduced to 10 men when Gregory van der Wiel was sent off for his second yellow card before Jozy Altidore gave them a ray of hope, converting a penalty in the 73rd after a sliding Doneil Henry handled a cross from Jay Chapman.
But Kamara answered, seizing a cross from Jordon Mutch and slotting in his 14th goal of the season.
Toronto’s failure to make the playoffs follows a spectacular 2017 campaign, when their 69 points were a league record as they claimed the Supporters Shield as the team topping the MLS regular-season standings and the MLS Cup playoff crown.
In other matches, the Philadelphia Union clinched a playoff berth with a 5-1 home victory over Minnesota.
