Thomas Muller’s penalty kick in the 14th minute of second-half stoppage time Saturday night lifted the Vancouver Whitecaps to a 3-2 home win over St. Louis City SC.
It was the first goal in MLS for Muller, the German star playing just his second match with Vancouver (14-6-7, 49 points). He got his chance after a video review detected teammate Mathias Laborda being tripped in the box by Mykhi Joyner.
Muller stutter-stepped to the spot and wired a shot just under the crossbar, enabling the Whitecaps to get the full three points from a match they trailed deep into the second half until Daniel Rios equalized in the 79th minute.
Conrad Wallem’s foul on the Whitecaps’ Ali Ahmed set up the tying goal. Sebastian Berhalter took a free kick just inside the penalty box on the deep left side and Rios rose above a defender to flick the ball on a header into the right corner.
Vancouver carved out major advantages in shots and possession time. The Whitecaps outshot the guests 22-11, including an 8-4 edge in shots on frame, and had the ball for 59.2 percent of the match.
But St. Louis (5-16-6, 21 points) was able to make the most of its relatively few opportunities, taking a 2-1 edge in the 73rd minute. Sang Bin Jeong fed a beautiful ball to Joao Klauss down the pitch’s middle and he converted with a spinning lefty kick from the box, his eighth goal in the last 12 fixtures.
St. Louis also scored first in the 14th minute off a pretty sequence. Wallem delivered a well-struck cross into the middle of the box and Eduard Lowen converted on a header that bounced into the net’s right corner.
The lead stood until the fourth minute of first-half stoppage time, when Vancouver equalized after referee Fotis Bazakos nailed Chris Durkin for a foul in the box against Tristan Blackmon. Brian White stepped to the spot and converted into the right corner as goalie Roman Burki dove fruitlessly the other way.
It was White’s 14th goal of the year.
–Field Level Media
