LAFC downs Whitecaps 1-0 to advance in MLS playoffs [Video]

Vanni Sartini knows he may have upset some powerful forces in recent weeks.

The Vancouver Whitecaps’ head coach may have been repaid Friday with what he called an “unlucky” goal — one that spelled the end of his team’s season.

“Maybe God was angry at me because I said I’m an atheist a lot of times and that’s the reason we lost,” Sartini said after Los Angeles FC blanked the ‘Caps 1-0. “But he can’t be angry because he doesn’t exist.”

Vancouver was never favoured to win its best-of-three matchup against LAFC in the first round of the Major League Soccer playoffs.

The Whitecaps limped into the post-season, sliding down the Western Conference standings to eighth place after losing their last four games of the regular season.

The club then trounced their regional rivals, the Portland Timbers, 5-0 in a wild-card game and earned the right to face top-seeded Los …