Dayne St. Clair made three saves as visiting Minnesota United moved into a tie for second place in the Western Conference with a 0-0 draw against the first-place Vancouver Whitecaps on Wednesday night.
Yohei Takaoka finished with one save for his seventh clean sheet for Vancouver (9-1-5, 32 points), which extended its point streak to 15 matches in all competitions. The draw also extended the Whitecaps’ MLS unbeaten streak to 10 games, tying the team record set from July to September 2021.
The Whitecaps now head to Mexico City to face Cruz Azul in the CONCACAF Champions Cup final Sunday night.
It was an MLS-leading eighth clean sheet for St. Clair. The Loons (7-3-6, 27 points), who extended their unbeaten streak to four games (2-0-2) and also moved into a tie with San Diego FC, a 1-0 loser to the Seattle Sounders earlier Wednesday night, for second place.
Vancouver controlled the action during a scoreless first half, finishing with a 59-41 percent edge in possession and attempting 10 shots to just two for the Loons. Whitecaps midfielder Jean-Claude Ngando had the best scoring chance in the 32nd minute, a right-footed shot outside the box that a diving St. Clair easily saved by the bottom left corner of the net.
The Whitecaps, who finished with a 21-4 edge in shot attempts, had the two best scoring chances after halftime. Defender Ranko Veselinovic had a header from the edge of the six-yard box off a Ngando cross in the 77th minute that sailed over the top of the goal. Three minutes later, Jayden Nelson, who finished with five shot attempts, took a Brian White pass in the middle of the box and slammed a right-footed shot that a sprawling St. Clair turned away.
Vancouver finished with a 56.4-43.6 advantage of possession and an 8-0 edge in corner kicks. –Field Level Media
Originally published on fieldlevelmedia.com, part of the BLOX Digital Content Exchange.
