Müller’s Whitecaps debut ends in draw

Vancouver Whitecaps 1-1 Houston Dynamo

VANCOUVER, BC–Thomas Müller nearly had a dream start to his Vancouver Whitecaps career almost scoring mere minutes into his debut. In fact, the ball was in the back of the net after Müller shot it from just outside the penalty area. Unfortunately, there was offside in the buildup and the goal was disallowed. More unfortunately as far as the match itself, Houston would net an equalizer in stoppage time to deny the Whitecaps victory and cause them to drop to third in the Western Conference table behind Minnesota who won on Saturday and now six points adrift of now Supporters’ Shield leading San Diego.

The Whitecaps took the lead in the sixth minute from the penalty spot after Jayden Nelson was upended in the box by Griffin Dorsey and then Brian White would covert. The Whitecaps had numerous chances to add to that lead, but agonizingly at times, failed to do so. Just before halftime, Edier Ocampo sent a low cross to Nelson, but with the goal gapping in front of him, the latter would strike the post.

Müller’s entrance came in the 61st minute and as mentioned, had a goal disallowed for offside. More missed chances followed for the Whitecaps in the second half and the law of missed chances would eventually come back to bite the Whitecaps. Artur would score from just beyond the arc in second half stoppage time off a feed from Amine Bassi to level the score.

There were positive reviews for Müller’s debut with the Whitecaps–easily the club’s biggest signing in its MLS era and maybe of all time. Most notable, the way he took charge of things once onto the pitch.