INDIO, CALIFORNIA – Vancouver Whitecaps FC drew 0-0 with expansion side St. Louis CITY SC in their fourth preseason friendly of the 2023 Coachella Valley Invitational at Empire Polo Club in Indio, California.
In the seventh minute, Thomas Hasal calmly gathered a shot off a St. Louis free kick from midfielder Eduard Löwen.
Both teams were evenly-matched through the first half, but the ‘Caps had two chances before the break to open the scoring.
The first came off a free kick from Julian Gressel, who whipped a cross into the box for Ranko Veselinović to head towards goal but his effort was saved by St. Louis goalkeeper Roman Bürki.
In stoppage time at the end of the half, Gressel once again caused problems with his dead ball deliveries, as he found Javain Brown in the box off a corner but the Jamaican narrowly missed the far post with his headed attempt.
At the start of the second half, Hasal was forced into a save in the box, as he denied Jared Stroud from close range.
The ‘Caps would follow up with a couple of opportunities.
In the 53rd minute, Gressel once again found Veselinović in the box from a free kick, with the Serbian international having his right-footed strike blocked at the near post and out for a corner.
The ball made its way to Gauld off the ensuing corner and chipped the ball to the back post, causing chaos in the St. Louis box but not finding the back of the net.
Shortly after, LuÃs Martins unleashed a left-footed strike from outside the box, forcing a save from Bürki in the St. Louis goal.
Fast forward to the latter stages of the match, the 'Caps won a free kick at the top of the St. Louis box. Sebastian Berhalter stepped up to take it and sent a right-footed shot towards the top corner, but was denied by Bürki with a stunning save.
MATCH DETAILS
Scoring Summary
None
Cautions
29’ – STL – Tim Parker
32' – VAN – Simon Becher
90+1’ – STL – Nicholas Gioacchini
Vancouver Whitecaps FC
1.Thomas Hasal; 23.Javain Brown, 4.Ranko Veselinović, 6.Tristan Blackmon, 14.LuÃs Martins; 19.Julian Gressel (52.Vasco Fry+ 83’), 16.Sebastian Berhalter, 31.Russell Teibert ©; 24.Brian White, 25.Ryan Gauld; 29.Simon Becher (28.Levonte Johnson* 63’)
*Unsigned 2023 MLS SuperDraft Selection, +WFC2
