St. Louis City will try to tie an MLS record by extending their unbeaten run to 19 matches on Wednesday night when they host a Vancouver Whitecaps side trying to preserve its Western Conference lead.
St. Louis (14-6-8, 50 points) extended its overall run to 20 matches with a 6-2 victory over the Los Angeles Galaxy on Sunday night, which tied the 2016 New York Red Bulls for the record streak across all competitions.
Carlo Holse scored a hat trick inside the first 21 minutes, and Rafael Navarro added his sixth and seventh goals since his arrival from Colorado in a $12 million cash trade in early September.
Yoann Damet’s side has appeared to play even better as the streak continues, winning its last five in all competitions while outscoring opponents 19-5.
That run has taken St. Louis within a point of Vancouver at the top of the West standings. And the Whitecaps are coming to a venue where St. Louis excelled even before this long unbeaten run, going 9-2-3 in league play this season.
“That’s something we said we were going to take a lot of pride in building,” Damet said. “I’m happy we’ve been able to create that feeling for ourselves. … Now we are looking ahead, and we’ve got another big game at home on Wednesday against a tough opponent, and we have to make sure the place is what it’s been so far.”
A 19th league match without defeat would match a feat accomplished by Columbus in 2004-05 and Dallas in 2010. St. Louis can clinch a playoff berth with a win or draw.
Vancouver (15-7-6, 51 points) previously lost at home to St. Louis on Sept. 5 and is winless in its last three matches. But the Whitecaps are coming off one of their gutsiest performances, a 1-1 draw at Los Angeles FC on Saturday night despite being reduced to 10 men when Tristan Blackmon was sent off in the seventh minute.
Oliver Larraz put Vancouver ahead shortly before halftime, and the Whitecaps matched LAFC most of the way despite Denis Bouanga’s leveler shortly after the break.
“Even though I think we had a lot of things going against us this game, I think that we played a very, very good game and the team really deserved the point,” Whitecaps manager Jesper Sorensen said. “And had we played 11 against 11, it would’ve been a great game for us.”
–Field Level Media
