Thomas Müller and the Vancouver Whitecaps missed out on first place after the main round in the Western Conference.
The German former world champion’s team lost 1:2 (1:1) to FC Dallas at the end of the preliminary round in Major League Soccer and fell back to second place behind San Diego. Müller converted a penalty to make it 1-1 and scored for the seventh time in the seventh MLS game. The former Munich player was unable to avoid his first defeat since moving to Vancouver in mid-August.
Müller and Co. have a quick chance for revenge in the upcoming playoffs. Dallas is the opponent in the first round in the fight for the conference semifinals. The game is played in best-of-three mode. Vancouver starts the knockout round with a home game.
Early setbacks for Vancouver
In the preliminary round final, Vancouver suffered its first setback in the game after just eleven minutes: Mathías Laborda was shown the red card after an emergency stop. Dallas defender Osaze Urhoghide took advantage of the advantage to give the visitors the lead (18th minute). The Whitecaps hit back: Müller confidently converted a penalty kick to make it 1-1 (28th).
Shortly after the start of the second half, Dallas was ahead again through Kaick Ferreira (47′). Vancouver put up a lot of pressure despite being outnumbered, but was unable to take advantage of its best opportunities and lost 2-1 in San Jose for the first time since August 10th.
Triple pack from top scorer Messi
Superstar Lionel Messi once again underlined his strong previous season and contributed three goals in Inter Miami’s 5-2 win at Nashville SC. With 29 goals, the Argentine was the most accurate attacker in the MLS and he also prepared 19 goals. Only the Mexican Carlos Vela was more successful for Los Angeles FC in 2019 with a total of 49 goals (34 goals and 15 assists). The world champion club goes into the playoffs in third place and meets Nashville again.