Whitecaps ride Ryan Gauld, Yohei Takaoka, and two own goals to series-tying 3-0 victory over LAFC

VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) — Vancouver got an early goal from a red-hot Ryan Gauld and two own goals from Western Conference top seed LAFC, Yohei Takaoka posted his third clean sheet in five postseason starts, and the Whitecaps breezed to a 3-0 victory on Sunday night to even their best-of-three first-round series for the MLS Cup.

Vancouver, the eighth seed in the West, jumped out to a 2-0 lead 13 minutes into the match and carried it into halftime on a goal by Gauld and an own goal by LAFC defender Ryan Hollingshead.

Gauld gave the Whitecaps the lead with an unassisted goal off a deflection in the 10th minute. Gauld has five goals this postseason after not scoring in his first three playoff appearances. He had a hat trick in a 5-0 victory at home over the Portland Timbers in the wildcard round and scored the only goal for Vancouver in a 2-1 loss to LAFC in the series opener.

The only scoring in the second half came courtesy of an own goal from LAFC defender Eddie Segura in the 68th minute, four minutes after he subbed in for Maxime Chanot.

Takaoka finished with three saves for the Whitecaps.

Hugo Lloris saved one shot in his second postseason start for LAFC in his first season in the league.

LAFC beat the Whitecaps in Vancouver to finish off a sweep in the same round last season on its way to the conference championship.

LAFC entered having won seven in a row across all competitions, outscoring its opponents 16-5.

The Whitecaps were only 6-7-4 at home during the regular season and winless in their last four — including a 2-1 loss to LAFC — but outscored their two playoff opponents 8-0 in the victories.

Vancouver held LAFC's Denis Bouanga in check after he scored four goals in his first three playoff matches against the Whitecaps.

LAFC will host the rubber match of the series on Friday.

AP MLS: https://apnews.com/hub/major-league-soccer

Fromleft to right, Vancouver Whitecaps' Ranko Veselinovic, Ali Ahmed, Tristan Blackmon, Sebastian Berhalter, back right, and Ryan Gauld celebrate after Gauld's goal against Los Angeles FC during the first half of Game 2 in the first round of the MLS Cup soccer playoffs in Vancouver, British Columbia, Sunday, Nov. 3, 2024. (Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press via AP)

Vancouver Whitecaps' Fafa Picault, front left, and Los Angeles FC's Timothy Tillman, back, vie for the ball during the first half of Game 2 in the first round of the MLS Cup soccer playoffs in Vancouver, British Columbia, Sunday, Nov. 3, 2024. (Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press via AP)

From top left to right, Los Angeles FC's Aaron Long, Maxime Chanot, Ryan Hollingshead, Olivier Giroud, Timothy Tillman, Denis Bouanga and Lewis O'Brien, bottom left, defend against a free kick by Vancouver Whitecaps' Ryan Gauld (not shown) as Whitecaps' Tristan Blackmon, second from front right, and Ranko Veselinovic, front right, watch during the first half of Game 2 in the first round of the MLS Cup soccer playoffs in Vancouver, British Columbia, Sunday, Nov. 3, 2024. (Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press via AP)

Vancouver Whitecaps players are silhouetted as smoke from pyrotechnics hangs in the air before Game 2 against Los Angeles FC in the first round of the MLS Cup soccer playoffs in Vancouver, British Columbia, Sunday, Nov. 3, 2024. (Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press via AP)

Vancouver Whitecaps goalkeeper Yohei Takaoka, right, dives to grab the ball that got past him during the first half of Game 2 against Los Angeles FC in the first round of the MLS Cup soccer playoffs in Vancouver, British Columbia, Sunday, Nov. 3, 2024. (Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press via AP)

Los Angeles FC's Denis Bouanga, center, vies for the ball against Vancouver Whitecaps' Ryan Gauld, left, and Sebastian Berhalter, right, during the first half of Game 2 in the first round of the MLS Cup soccer playoffs in Vancouver, British Columbia, Sunday, Nov. 3, 2024. (Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press via AP)

Vancouver Whitecaps' Ryan Gauld, front right, takes a free kick as, from top left to right, Los Angeles FC's Aaron Long, Maxime Chanot, Ryan Hollingshead, Olivier Giroud, Timothy Tillman, Denis Bouanga and Lewis O'Brien, bottom left, defend during the first half of Game 2 in the first round of the MLS Cup soccer playoffs in Vancouver, British Columbia, Sunday, Nov. 3, 2024. (Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press via AP)

Vancouver Whitecaps players are silhouetted as smoke from pyrotechnics hangs in the air before Game 2 against Los Angeles FC in the first round of the MLS Cup soccer playoffs in Vancouver, British Columbia, Sunday, Nov. 3, 2024. (Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press via AP)

Vancouver Whitecaps' Ryan Gauld, right, jumps to get his head on the ball during the first half of Game 2 against Los Angeles FC in the first round of the MLS Cup soccer playoffs in Vancouver, British Columbia, Sunday, Nov. 3, 2024. (Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press via AP)

Vancouver Whitecaps' Brian White (24) celebrates after his goal against Los Angeles FC goalkeeper Hugo Lloris, front right, during the second half of Game 2 in the first round of the MLS Cup soccer playoffs in Vancouver, British Columbia, Sunday, Nov. 3, 2024. (Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press via AP)

Vancouver Whitecaps' Ryan Gauld (25), Ranko Veselinovic (4), Brian White (24), Stuart Armstrong, back left, and Alessandro Schopf (8) celebrate after White's goal against Los Angeles FC during the second half of Game 2 in the first round of the MLS Cup soccer playoffs in Vancouver, British Columbia, Sunday, Nov. 3, 2024. (Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press via AP)

Vancouver Whitecaps' Brian White, left, scores against Los Angeles FC goalkeeper Hugo Lloris, front center, as Los Angeles FC's Eddie Segura, bottom right, looks on during the second half of Game 2 in the first round of the MLS Cup soccer playoffs in Vancouver, British Columbia, Sunday, Nov. 3, 2024. (Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press via AP)

Vancouver Whitecaps' Ryan Gauld, left, reacts after being tackled by Los Angeles FC's Eddie Segura during the second half of a first-round MLS Cup playoffs soccer match, in Vancouver, British Columbia. Sunday, Nov. 3, 2024. (Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press via AP)

Los Angeles FC's Mateusz Bogusz, front left, knocks Vancouver Whitecaps' Sam Adekugbe off the ball during the first half of Game 2 in the first round of the MLS Cup soccer playoffs in Vancouver, British Columbia, Sunday, Nov. 3, 2024. (Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press via AP)

Vancouver Whitecaps' Tristan Blackmon, front, and Los Angeles FC's Denis Bouanga, top, vie for the ball during the first half of Game 2 in the first round of the MLS Cup soccer playoffs in Vancouver, British Columbia, Sunday, Nov. 3, 2024. (Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press via AP)

Vancouver Whitecaps' Ryan Gauld, left, celebrates after his goal against Los Angeles FC during the first half of Game 2 in the first round of the MLS Cup soccer playoffs in Vancouver, British Columbia, Sunday, Nov. 3, 2024. (Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press via AP)

Vancouver Whitecaps' Ryan Gauld, left, celebrates after his goal against Los Angeles FC during the first half of Game 2 in the first round of the MLS Cup soccer playoffs in Vancouver, British Columbia, Sunday, Nov. 3, 2024. (Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press via AP)

Los Angeles FC's Maxime Chanot, left, and Vancouver Whitecaps' Brian White, right, vie for the ball during the first half of Game 2 in the first round of the MLS Cup soccer playoffs in Vancouver, British Columbia, Sunday, Nov. 3, 2024. (Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press via AP)

Los Angeles FC's Maxime Chanot, left, and Vancouver Whitecaps' Brian White, right, vie for the ball during the first half of Game 2 in the first round of the MLS Cup soccer playoffs in Vancouver, British Columbia, Sunday, Nov. 3, 2024. (Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press via AP)

WASHINGTON (AP) — A day after the audacious U.S. military operation in Venezuela, President Donald Trump on Sunday renewed his calls for an American takeover of the Danish territory of Greenland for the sake of U.S. security interests, while his top diplomat declared the communist government in Cuba is “in a lot of trouble.”

The comments from Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio after the ouster of Venezuela's Nicolás Maduro underscore that the U.S. administration is serious about taking a more expansive role in the Western Hemisphere.

With thinly veiled threats, Trump is rattling hemispheric friends and foes alike, spurring a pointed question around the globe: Who's next?

“It’s so strategic right now. Greenland is covered with Russian and Chinese ships all over the place," Trump told reporters as he flew back to Washington from his home in Florida. "We need Greenland from the standpoint of national security, and Denmark is not going to be able to do it.”

Asked during an interview with The Atlantic earlier on Sunday what the U.S.-military action in Venezuela could portend for Greenland, Trump replied: “They are going to have to view it themselves. I really don’t know.”

Trump, in his administration's National Security Strategy published last month, laid out restoring “American preeminence in the Western Hemisphere” as a central guidepost for his second go-around in the White House.

Trump has also pointed to the 19th century Monroe Doctrine, which rejects European colonialism, as well as the Roosevelt Corollary — a justification invoked by the U.S. in supporting Panama’s secession from Colombia, which helped secure the Panama Canal Zone for the U.S. — as he's made his case for an assertive approach to American neighbors and beyond.

Trump has even quipped that some now refer to the fifth U.S. president's foundational document as the “Don-roe Doctrine.”

Saturday's dead-of-night operation by U.S. forces in Caracas and Trump’s comments on Sunday heightened concerns in Denmark, which has jurisdiction over the vast mineral-rich island of Greenland.

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen in a statement that Trump has "no right to annex" the territory. She also reminded Trump that Denmark already provides the United States, a fellow member of NATO, broad access to Greenland through existing security agreements.

“I would therefore strongly urge the U.S. to stop threatening a historically close ally and another country and people who have made it very clear that they are not for sale,” Frederiksen said.

Denmark on Sunday also signed onto a European Union statement underscoring that “the right of the Venezuelan people to determine their future must be respected” as Trump has vowed to “run” Venezuela and pressed the acting president, Delcy Rodriguez, to get in line.

Trump on Sunday mocked Denmark’s efforts at boosting Greenland’s national security posture, saying the Danes have added “one more dog sled” to the Arctic territory’s arsenal.

Greenlanders and Danes were further rankled by a social media post following the raid by a former Trump administration official turned podcaster, Katie Miller. The post shows an illustrated map of Greenland in the colors of the Stars and Stripes accompanied by the caption: “SOON."

“And yes, we expect full respect for the territorial integrity of the Kingdom of Denmark,” Amb. Jesper Møller Sørensen, Denmark's chief envoy to Washington, said in a post responding to Miller, who is married to Trump's influential deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller.

During his presidential transition and in the early months of his return to the White House, Trump repeatedly called for U.S. jurisdiction over Greenland, and has pointedly not ruled out military force to take control of the mineral-rich, strategically located Arctic island that belongs to an ally.

The issue had largely drifted out of the headlines in recent months. Then Trump put the spotlight back on Greenland less than two weeks ago when he said he would appoint Republican Gov. Jeff Landry as his special envoy to Greenland.

The Louisiana governor said in his volunteer position he would help Trump “make Greenland a part of the U.S.”

Meanwhile, concern simmered in Cuba, one of Venezuela’s most important allies and trading partners, as Rubio issued a new stern warning to the Cuban government. U.S.-Cuba relations have been hostile since the 1959 Cuban revolution.

Rubio, in an appearance on NBC's “Meet the Press,” said Cuban officials were with Maduro in Venezuela ahead of his capture.

“It was Cubans that guarded Maduro,” Rubio said. “He was not guarded by Venezuelan bodyguards. He had Cuban bodyguards.” The secretary of state added that Cuban bodyguards were also in charge of “internal intelligence” in Maduro’s government, including “who spies on who inside, to make sure there are no traitors.”

Trump said that “a lot” of Cuban guards tasked with protecting Maduro were killed in the operation. The Cuban government said in a statement read on state television on Sunday evening that 32 officers were killed in the U.S. military operation.

Trump also said that the Cuban economy, battered by years of a U.S. embargo, is in tatters and will slide further now with the ouster of Maduro, who provided the Caribbean island subsidized oil.

“It's going down,” Trump said of Cuba. “It's going down for the count.”

Cuban authorities called a rally in support of Venezuela’s government and railed against the U.S. military operation, writing in a statement: “All the nations of the region must remain alert, because the threat hangs over all of us.”

Rubio, a former Florida senator and son of Cuban immigrants, has long maintained Cuba is a dictatorship repressing its people.

“This is the Western Hemisphere. This is where we live — and we’re not going to allow the Western Hemisphere to be a base of operation for adversaries, competitors, and rivals of the United States," Rubio said.

Cubans like 55-year-old biochemical laboratory worker Bárbara Rodríguez were following developments in Venezuela. She said she worried about what she described as an “aggression against a sovereign state.”

“It can happen in any country, it can happen right here. We have always been in the crosshairs,” Rodríguez said.

AP writers Andrea Rodriguez in Havana, Cuba, and Darlene Superville traveling aboard Air Force One contributed reporting.

In this photo released by the White House, President Donald Trump monitors U.S. military operations in Venezuela, with Secretary of State Marco Rubio at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Fla., Saturday, Jan. 3, 2026. (Molly Riley/The White House via AP)