Strong first half display earns CITY2 their sixth away win of the season
St Louis CITY2 defeated Whitecaps FC 2, 4-1 on Sunday afternoon at Swangard Stadium in Burnaby, BC, Canada. With the win, CITY2 improve their record to 13-4-2 and move within a point of first place Tacoma Defiance in the Western Conference standings.
Whitecaps FC 2 took an early lead through Giovanni Aguilar who tucked away a deflected shot to give the home team the advantage in the 6th minute. Wan Kuzain equalized eight minutes later for CITY2 after dribbling past the goalkeeper and calmly finishing following a brilliant pass from Vitor Dias.
Célio Pompeu who caused havoc the entire first half on the left flank put CITY2 ahead in the 30th minute, curling a low shot in the bottom corner. Ten minutes later, CITY2 extended their lead to 3-1. Pompeu found himself in space on the right flank before seeing his cross deflected by Cristian Campagna, who ricocheted the ball into his own goal.
First team players João Klauss and Tomáš Ostrák were substituted onto the field in the second half and didn’t waste any time making an impact on the match. After winning the ball back from a high pressing moment, Klauss laid off a pass to Ostrák who powered his shot in the bottom corner to score his first goal of the season.
Roman Bürki was in net to capture his second MLS NEXT Pro win. Dias provided an assist for the second straight match, raising his total to three this season. With the goal, Kuzain is tied with Dias for second in goals with both players notching five so far this campaign. Both players have eight goal contributions, with the pair scoring five goals and providing three assists so far this season.
CITY2 plays away to Earthquakes II on Sunday, August 21. Kickoff is set for 9 p.m. CST with coverage on mlsnextpro.com.
To stay up to date with St. Louis CITY SC, visit stlcitysc.com and follow the club on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
