VANCOUVER - The Vancouver Whitecaps were shut out for a fourth straight game Saturday in settling for a 0-0 draw against D.C. United.
Vancouver (7-6-13) earned a point against the best team in Major League Soccer's Eastern Conference, but has now gone 411 minutes since it last scored a goal, which came late in the first half of a 2-0 victory over Sporting Kansas City on Aug. 10.
The Whitecaps, who are just 1-3-6 in their last ten, have been done in by that lack of finish in recent weeks and it was no different on this night.
Saturday was also the fifth 0-0 draw of the season for a Vancouver side that has been shut out in five of its last six games and has tumbled down the Western Conference standings after a bright start to the season.
The scoreless tie does temporarily move the Whitecaps level on points with Portland for the fifth and final playoff spot in the West, but the Timbers host the San Jose Earthquakes on Sunday.
Meanwhile, United (14-8-5) padded its lead in the East and improved to 3-1-1 over its last five.
Following a spirited first half where both teams had chances, Vancouver midfielder Pedro Morales fired a shot from outside the penalty area moments after the break that D.C. goalkeeper Bill Hamid handled.
Whitecaps defender Jordan Harvey then sent a diving header just wide in the 50th minute from in close that almost brought the crowd of 18,116 at B.C. Place Stadium to its feet.
The game lost much of its energy from there, with both sides running out of ideas, although Vancouver did show a bit more initiative moving forward.
Looking for an answer to his team's scoring woes, Whitecaps head coach Carl Robinson elected to go with Darren Mattocks and Sebastian Fernandez up front to start the game, and a four-man diamond midfield featuring Pedro Morales at the top.
That left strikers Erik Hurtado and Kekuta Manneh — who both started in last weekend's 3-0 home loss to the Portland Timbers but are mired in long scoring slumps — on the bench to start the game. Manneh was subbed on for Fernandez in the second half but failed to make an impact.
After a timid opening, Vancouver started to create chances off the break and had the game's first opportunity in the 12th minute when Mattocks skied a shot over Hamid's goal from in close after some good build up from Morales and Fernandez.
United didn't trouble David Ousted until defender Taylor Kemp fizzed a shot from well out in the 27th minute that briefly handcuffed the Whitecaps goalkeeper.
Vancouver defender Kendall Waston, making just his second start since being acquired last month, then completely missed a free header in front of the United goal in the 31st off a Morales' free kick.
D.C. striker Fabian Espindola fired a shot from outside the penalty area that Ousted pushed over the bar with his finger tips in the 37th minute. Espindola was at it again moments later, but his chip went over the Vancouver goal after Ousted came out to challenge the unmarked United man.
Mattocks headed another effort at Hamid in the 42nd, before breaking in down the right in added time and ripping a shot that Hamid did well to keep out.
