Son Heung-Min and Thomas Müller Trade Goals as Whitecaps and LAFC Draw 1-1 at BC Place

Thomas Müller stood over the ball in the 76th minute with 40,086 people inside BC Place holding their breath and Hugo Lloris, as mlssoccer.com pointed out, a fellow World Cup winner, waiting on the line. The Whitecaps said Müller's stutter and a well-timed glance pulled Lloris a step toward the far post. Then he placed a right-footed penalty into the bottom right corner.

That spot kick earned the Vancouver Whitecaps a 1-1 draw with LAFC on Saturday, canceling out a 37th-minute Son Heung-Min strike in a top-of-the-table Western Conference clash. The Whitecaps said the crowd was the club's second-largest for an MLS regular-season home match. Vancouver had the ball, the shots and the corners. LAFC had Son, a deep defensive block and Lloris. For 76 minutes, that was enough.

Vancouver Pushed, LAFC Waited

From the opening whistle, this looked like a home team playing against a wall. Andrés Cubas tested Lloris in the second minute, Vancouver had two shots blocked and a header from Mathías Laborda fly over in the sixth, and Brian White forced another save in the 16th. Ryan Gauld dragged a shot just wide in the 27th. The Whitecaps were knocking. Nobody was answering.

Then LAFC found the one door that was open. In the 37th minute, LAFC said, Jacob Shaffelburg's pressure forced a turnover from Tristan Blackmon, and Denis Bouanga carried the ball toward the left side of the box before laying it off. Son opened his body, turned away from a challenge and drove a right-footed shot from the middle of the box into the bottom right corner. It was LAFC's only shot of the first half, and it was perfect.

The Siege

The second half was one long Vancouver possession with occasional interruptions. Laborda had a shot blocked in the 49th, Müller had one blocked in the 60th, and Laborda headed wide off a corner a minute later. Gauld had two efforts blocked in the 66th, and Müller lifted another shot over from the middle of the box after a corner in the 69th. LAFC kept putting bodies in the way. The visitors finished with 39 clearances, and Vancouver completed only six of its 35 crosses, a fair summary of how crowded that penalty area was.

Both coaches went to their benches around the 72nd minute, and two minutes later the Whitecaps finally got their break. Yevhen Cheberko fouled Müller in the box, and Müller converted the penalty in the 76th.

The home side nearly took the lead almost immediately. White got a shot away from the left side of the six-yard box in the 77th, and Lloris got down to save it. Mathieu Choinière tried his luck from more than 35 yards a minute later and sent it high. Vancouver lost Jeevan Badwal to an injury in the 82nd, with Ralph Priso replacing him. Emmanuel Sabbi and Cheikh Sabaly both missed from the middle of the box in the 84th, and White was denied by Lloris again from almost the same spot in the first minute of stoppage time. Son had two late looks in the fifth minute of added time, one blocked and one high, and that was that.

Who Delivered

Son Heung-Min took three shots and scored with the only one on target. According to LAFC, he has scored in all four league games since the World Cup break, and mlssoccer.com noted he had not scored in LAFC's first 13 matches of the regular season.

Thomas Müller took four shots, drew the penalty and converted it. The Whitecaps said it was his sixth goal of the season across all competitions, and that he and captain Gauld made their first career start together.

Hugo Lloris made four saves, three of them on White and two of those from close range, and was the biggest reason LAFC left with a point.

Brian White put all three of his shots on target. On another night, he leaves with a brace.

Denis Bouanga set up the goal, his seventh MLS assist of the season per LAFC.

The Turning Point

Cheberko's foul on Müller in the 74th minute. LAFC had absorbed nearly 75 minutes of territory and pressure, and the Whitecaps had nothing to show for it until the one moment the defense slipped. Müller does not need a second invitation.

Stats That Matter

• Shots: Vancouver 21, LAFC 5.
• Shots on target: Vancouver 5, LAFC 1.
• Corners: Vancouver 11, LAFC 1.
• Possession: Vancouver 62.9 percent, LAFC 37.1 percent.
• Saves: Lloris 4, Yohei Takaoka 0.

What It Means

Vancouver moved to 10-4-3 and LAFC to 10-4-5, so both teams sit on 34 points. mlssoccer.com called them the Western Conference co-leaders, and the Whitecaps said they stay ahead on goal difference with two games in hand. The draw also snapped LAFC's four-game winning streak, which the club said dated to a 1-0 win over Seattle on May 24. Per LAFC, the team is now 10 wins, no losses and one draw in league play this season when scoring first, so this one stung a little.

Both clubs now pivot to Leagues Cup. Vancouver hosts Atlante FC on Tuesday, then FC Juárez on Friday, before visiting Tigres UANL. LAFC hosts Chivas Guadalajara on Wednesday, Toluca on Saturday and Querétaro the following Wednesday, all at BMO Stadium.

The league rematch comes Oct. 10 at BMO Stadium. As mlssoccer.com noted, these clubs met in each of the last three postseasons, with LAFC winning the first two and Vancouver winning last year's Western Conference semifinal.

Two Heavyweights, One Split Decision

This felt like a title fight scored by judges who could not agree. Vancouver won almost every round on the stat sheet, but LAFC landed the cleanest punch and survived the late flurry. Neither side got the knockout, and in October, at BMO Stadium, they get to do it all over again.

Stats from ESPN's match data. Match details as reported by LAFC (lafc.com), Vancouver Whitecaps FC (whitecapsfc.com) and mlssoccer.com.