Vancouver Whitecaps and Los Angeles played out a 1-1 draw in their Major League Soccer clash at BC Place on Friday night. The result leaves the hosts still top of the table with 46 points from 23 games, while Los Angeles remain in third place on 40 points after 25 matches. And here's the thing — neither side had much to celebrate from what was a fairly one-sided contest in terms of territory.
Son Heung-min gave Los Angeles the lead in the 37th minute, finishing off what looked like a rare attacking move. Vancouver dominated possession at 63 per cent but could only muster five shots on target to their opponents' single effort. The visitors created no big chances all evening, despite Son's clinical finish.
The second half saw yellow cards for both sides — Ryan Hollingshead for Los Angeles in the 48th minute, followed by Ryan Gauld for Vancouver 8 minutes later. To be fair, the game opened up a bit more after that, and Vancouver finally got back into it when Thomas Müller converted a penalty in the 76th minute.
Three substitutions came in the closing stages, with Shaffelburg and Cubas both off at 72 minutes, and Badwal bringing on fresh legs for Vancouver in the 82nd minute. The hosts had already thrown everything forward by then, but Los Angeles held firm to secure a point on the road.
The statistics tell a familiar story — Vancouver racked up 13 shots against just 4 for Los Angeles, with expected goals figures of 2.51 to 0.30. They won 11 corners to one, and passed the ball 657 times compared to 401. By then it was clear that possession alone wouldn't be enough.
The result keeps Vancouver two points clear at the summit, though Los Angeles have played two more games. The visitors extended their unbeaten run to five matches, while Vancouver's recent form has been inconsistent with that heavy 4-1 defeat to Cavalry earlier in the season.