City Keeps MLS-Best Vancouver Off The Board In Goalless Draw

ST. LOUIS - Looking to get out of a winless funk, St. Louis City SC hosted the MLS-leading Vancouver Whitecaps on a drizzly and chilly Saturday evening at Energizer Park.

Maybe it was that weather forecast, or perhaps the Blues playoff game at the same time, or losing four straight, or some combination of the three, but just 17,097 paid to see City and Vancouver Saturday. Perfectly fine as far as MLS attendance figures go, but a drop of over 5,000 from their typical sellout crowds.

Those who were in attendance saw a game where City played quite well against very good opposition, especially on defense. The visitors never threatened to score, but City were also kept off the scoresheet in a goalless draw.

Not for the first time this MLS season, City were forced into a different lineup because of an injury during training on the Friday before the match. Henry Kessler, who has been the heart of the St. Louis City defense since his arrival from New England last year, fell victim to the Friday training session and was not on the team sheet Saturday night.

“It’s a hamstring strain,” City head coach Olof Mellberg said, addressing the media postgame. “Grade two, so probably looking at a month or so [before returning to play].”

That forced a shift in the City defense. Conrad Wallem started as a left wingback, Kyle Hiebert manned a familiar role as the left center back, and Timo Baumgartl took up Kessler’s role at the heart of the backline.

Josh Yaro, who was taken out of last Sunday’s 2-1 loss to Columbus after taking a cross to the head, started as a right center back and dispelled any notions of a concussion or concussion symptoms that would keep him out of the squad. Akil Watts returned to the right wingback spot that he has featured in at times this season.

Again it was Marcel Hartel wearing the captain’s armband, paired in the engine room with Alfredo Morales. The two are starting to find more chemistry together during the absence of Eduard Löwen and Chris Durkin, who would usually man those positions.

City went with a three-headed monster in attack of Celio Pompeu, Joao Klauss, and Cedric Teuchert. Pompeu and Teuchert would spread the field, getting wider and taking on defenders, while Joao Klauss started as a center forward.

Both teams had decent spells of possession in the early going, and St. Louis asked the harder questions of the Whitecaps defense in the opening stages. In the 25th minute, City had the ball in the back of the net.

Celio Pompeu ran at the Vancouver defense, with Conrad Wallem to his left on the wing. Pompeu tried to play a through ball to Wallem, who was in an offside position, but Whitecaps defender Tristan Blackmon deflected the pass. Wallem gathered the loose ball and found Marcel Hartel on an island all his own at the edge of the visitors’ six-yard box.

Hartel took the cross down, settled himself, and fired a shot to the right of Yohei Takaoka in the Vancouver goal. Energizer Park erupted.

Unfortunately for the hosts and the thousands in attendance who had already celebrated a game-opening goal, VAR would intervene, deeming the goal offside.

Following the game, the PRO (Professional Referee Organization) responded to the inquiry on the decision with the following:

“The defender in question made an instinctive stretch or reach for the ball which resulted in limited control of the ball. While this was a deliberate action by the defender, by Law, this is considered a deflection and not a deliberate play. The VAR was correct to recommend a review for offside in the attacking phase of play. The referee was correct to accept the recommendation and disallow the goal.”

Olof Mellberg, whose team has now faced two controversial VAR decisions that erased would-be goals off the scoreboard, voiced his frustration with the inconsistencies in Major League Soccer’s video review system.

“Yeah, for me, I don't understand it,” Mellberg expressed. “I think the goal should stand, especially as they decide to give it. Where is the consistency? You know, last week, they gave the offside, decided to review, and it was obviously onside. So [this play] it's definitely not obviously offside. I think anyone can see that, and I can see how long it took for the referee to review that. With that said, why change [the call] when we probably should have changed [the call] last week. Unfortunately for us, it costs us points.”

That was the best chance either side had in the first half. Joao Klauss came close from a flicked header off a free kick in the 44th minute, but his header bounced off Takaoka, bounced around as bodies flailed in the six-yard box, and was eventually cleared.

If City had the better chances but no goals in the first half, Vancouver had that honor in the second. The Western Conference leaders prodded the City defense more in the second frame than the first, but didn’t truly threaten Ben Lundt in the St. Louis goal, posting just a single shot on target all evening.

In the 72nd minute, Simon Becher and homegrown Mykhi Joyner came on for Cedric Teuchert and Celio Pompeu, respectively, in hopes of finding some offense in the late stages. Unfortunately for City, the changes didn’t necessarily provide the spark the team needed to break the goalless deadlock.

Conrad Wallem had City’s lone second half shot on target in the 87th minute. City tried to pour on pressure late, but lacked cohesion in attack to create anything that truly threatened the Vancouver goal.

The referee blew for full time promptly after three minutes of stoppage time, much to the chagrin of the Vancouver Whitecaps, who had just won a throw in City’s half of the field.

Nobody wants a goalless draw, but to get a point, break the losing skid, and to do so against one of the best teams in Major League Soccer has to be a positive for St. Louis City. Getting a draw and a point out of a game where goal-scoring opportunities were at a premium can be seen as a success, even if it is bittersweet.

“I thought we did well,” said Olof Mellberg. “We've been scouting a lot during the week, how [Vancouver] plays, not only [striker Brian White] but the rest of the team as well. It is a solid team. They have good players, but we were ready for how they play. We expected them to play the way they did. I’m happy with the game plan, and the guys did really well. They looked confident out there.

“I think there are a lot of positives to take from today's game. We were well-organized. We worked hard. We lost the ball too easily sometimes, but we worked extremely hard in transition to defend. We prevented them from creating big chances from that. Happy with that today.”

It was the first time all season that the Whitecaps were held to a single shot on target, and that shot was one comfortably saved by Ben Lundt. Lundt earned his second clean sheet of the season and his MLS career.

“Feels good,” said a relaxed Ben Lundt postgame. “A clean sheet is always nice. I feel good out there. I feel comfortable. It's nice that we kept a clean sheet today… I think we all felt comfortable in the back. We played well from the back. We created momentum, a lot of energy, and I think you can feel it.

“We wanted to give the fans something, and we’re really close. You can see it in all these games that we're playing, every game can go one way or the other. It really comes down to a couple moments that decide the game and I think we're really close to breaking through.”

City will hope that a breakthrough comes sooner rather than later, preferably next weekend. City hits the road to the west coast again to take on LAFC Sunday evening in their quest to get back into the MLS Western Conference playoff picture.

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