VANCOUVER — It wasn't the first time this Major League Soccer season that Vancouver Whitecaps coach Carl Robinson was left scratching his head over a referee's decision.

Robinson believes a foul should have been called during a play early in the second half which resulted in the New England Revolution scoring the go-ahead goal in a 2-1 victory Saturday.

The way Robinson saw it, New England midfielder Daigo Kobayashi kicked the foot out from under Vancouver's Russell Teibert. That created an opening in the defence that allowed the Revolution's Kelyn Rowe to score the winning goal in the 55th minute.

"I learned something today," Robinson said after the match. "I asked the linesman after the second goal was it a foul on my player because I thought Teibert got took down.

"He (the linesman) said the new rules have come in. If a player kicks the bottom of another player's foot, that's not a foul."

Robinson was angry that a few minutes later one of his players was given a foul for doing the same thing to one of the Revolution players.

"We shouldn't have conceded that second goal but it was a foul," he said. "From that moment on, when the referee did not give the foul, we needed to be better."

Teibert also was left confused by the play.

"It felt like a foul," he said. "If (the referee) is not going to call that one, two minutes later he calls a foul on us for the exact same foul.

"You have to have consistency."

On the winning goal, Kobayashi fed the ball through to forward Teal Bunbury. He took the ball into the corner, then sent a pass to the top of the box where Rowe was waiting unmarked. He banged a low, hard shot past Vancouver goalkeeper David Ousted for his third goal of the season.

"All I did was put it in the back of the net," said Rowe, a native of Federal Way, Wash., who had friends and family among the sellout crowd of 22,120 at B.C. Place Stadium.

"It was one of those if you peel to the top of the box, defenders will drop off. I tried to find the open pace and Teal found me with a good ball."

Forward London Woodberry also scored off a header in the first half for New England (4-4-7), which won on the road for the first time this season.

Midfielder Nicolas Mezquida scored for Vancouver (6-7-3) in the 41st minute.

The loss was just the second of season at home for Vancouver. After putting together a three-game win streak the Whitecaps are 0-2-1 in their last three MLS games.

Teibert said his team is creating chances but not finishing with goals.

"It's been similar to the same story we have had all year long," said the midfielder from Niagara Falls, Ont. "If we want to be a top team, be top in the league, we need to start being more clinical in the final third.

"We are creating chances and that's a positive we can take form this. We need to start scoring goals and finishing off the play."

Robinson said it was a game Vancouver should have won.

"The performance was excellent," he said. "I've got a disappointed bunch of players in there.

"I think we didn't get what we deserved today. I think we deserved to win the game but it's what you do in both boxes."

After a slow start to the year New England has won three of its last four games and are now 1-3-3 on the road.

"Early in the year I don't think we were playing poorly," said Revolution coach Jay Heaps. "We weren't getting results, we were a little naive in situations.

"Now we want to continue to put together 90-minute performances."

NOTES: There was a minute of silence prior to the match for the Orlando shooting victims. … Ousted was playing in his 100th MLS match, including playoffs. … Whitecaps forward Octavio Rivero, midfielder Pedro Morales and defender Kendall Waston all sat out the game due to suspensions. … It was just the second time New England has played in Vancouver and the first since a 4-3 loss in 2013.