Whitecaps lose to improved St. Louis

Vancouver Whitecaps 1-3 St. Louis City SC

VANCOUVER, BC–St. Louis City SC made some upgrades during the transfer window to an already improving side from last year. The Whitecaps got a close-up look as they lose, 3-1, to St. Louis at BC Place while St. Louis, who started the season just 1-9-3, have now gone 9-0-4 since then and are now fifth in the West.

All of the scoring came in the first half. The hosts took the lead in the second minute after a bad giveaway from Daniel Edelman allowed Emmanuel Sabbi to open the scoring. Sabbie nearly added a second a few minutes later, but shot wide.

St. Louis would equalize in the 23rd minute as Alexandru Matan sent a thru ball to Simon Becher who put it past Yohei Takaoka. The visitors would soon take the lead in the 41st minute as Edeleman sent a ball into the center of the box that was met by Tomas Totland to make it 2-1. Just before halftime, Totland turned provider as he came down the flank and sent a ball to the center of the box that would be met by Conrad Wallem to make it 3-1 to St. Louis.

The Whitecaps thought they had a lifeline as they were awarded a penalty in the 76th minute, but VAR overturned the call as the ball actually hit Wallem’s back instead of his arm.

The loss does not harm Vancouver’s position at the top as they are still three points clear in the West with both Houston and LAFC only managing to draw on Saturday night. The Whitecaps host LA Galaxy on Wednesday night (7:30pm PT, Apple TV), while St. Louis will stay on the Pacific Coast and travel to Portland on Wednesday (9:30pm CT, Apple TV).

Photos by Gerrit te Hennepe