Minnesota United record fourth straight shutout in 1-0 victory over Whitecaps
Dayne St. Clair recorded his fourth consecutive clean sheet and Hassani Dotson converted a penalty kick in the 24th minute, lifting visiting Minnesota United to a 1-0 victory over the Vancouver Whitecaps on Saturday night.
St. Clair made two saves to preserve his seventh shutout of the season. He has stopped all 11 shots he has faced over his last four matches after yielding seven goals in his previous four.
Thanks to St. Clair and Dotson, Minnesota (14-12-7, 49 points) improved to 3-0-1 in its last four matches and avenged a 3-1 setback to Vancouver on July 3.
Yohei Takaoka turned aside four shots for the reeling Whitecaps (13-11-8, 47 points), who saw their winless stretch extend to five matches (0-3-2).
Vancouver's Fafa Picault was suspended for the match on Saturday due to yellow card accumulation.
Minnesota made the Whitecaps pay after Mathias Laborda committed a foul in the penalty area. Dotson opened the scoring after converting the ensuing penalty kick for his fifth goal of the season and second in his last three matches.
Vancouver nearly forged a 1-1 tie in the 35th minute after Miguel Tapias, who returned to the starting lineup in place of the suspended captain Michael Boxall (yellow card accumulation), deflected a shot into his own net. But VAR determined Whitecaps captain Ryan Gauld fouled Jeong Sang-Bin before the tally.
Vancouver's best chance to notch the equalizer came in the 64th minute, but Gauld's left-footed shot from outside the box sailed wide of the net. Gauld returned to action after missing the last two matches due to a knee injury.
Loic Masanvi entered the match in the 72nd minute and was denied on a breakaway two minutes later by Takaoka.
