Pavel Bucha scores two goals, Cincinnati beats Whitecaps 4-3

CINCINNATI (AP) — Pavel Bucha scored two goals Wednesday night to help FC Cincinnati beat the Vancouver Whitecaps 4-3.

Evander Da Silva Ferreira — known simply as “Evander” — added a goal and an assist for Cincinnati and Kevin Denkey also scored a goal. Roman Celentano had three saves for Cincinnati (6-5-5).

Evander scored on the counterattack to give Cincinnati a 3-2 lead in the 36th minute. As the defence raced back to set up, Evander paused just outside the top of the penalty box and blasted a shot off the left post for his 10th goal this season.

The Whitecaps (10-3-2) played for the first time since before the World Cup break after their game at Chicago, which had originally been scheduled for Thursday, was postponed until Oct. 6 due to poor air quality in the area.

Bucha opened the scoring in the ninth minute and scored again in the 56th. Evander, from near the penalty spot, lofted a ball to the right post where a charging Bucha slammed home a first-touch finish to give Cincinnati a 4-2 lead in the 56th minute.

Denkey scored when his header ricocheted off defender Tate Johnson into the net in the 28th to make it 2-2.

Whitecaps midfielder Jeevan Badwal put away a first-touch shot — his first goal of the season (the second of his career) — off a cross played into the area by Bruno Caicedo in the 12th minute.

Captain Ryan Gauld added goals in the 25th and 58th minutes in his season debut. Yohei Takaoka had two saves for the Whitecaps.

Gauld missed the first 14 games of the regular season while recovering from knee surgery. Badwal of Surrey, B.C., recorded an assist for a second straight match after an assist at San Diego.

Up next:

Whitecaps: Visit Minnesota on Saturday.

Cincinnati: Visit Columbus on Saturday.

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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/soccer

The Associated Press