Vancouver complete win with Caicedo’s bizarre penalty

Vancouver strengthened its hold on first place in Major League Soccer’s Western Conference after Bruno Caicedo scored a highly unusual late penalty against the Los Angeles Galaxy. The Ecuadorian defender’s goal added a remarkable ending to a match Vancouver had already controlled and gave the club another important league victory.

Vancouver led 2-0 when it was awarded a penalty at the end of regulation time. Caicedo, who had come on in the 72nd minute, took the kick despite being a defender. The 21-year-old struck the ball straight down the middle while the Galaxy goalkeeper moved to his left. The goalkeeper’s arm made contact, but the ball continued across the line before an unexpected spin sent it back out of the goal.

The ball did not hit either post or the netting, making the goal difficult to identify immediately from its movement. It was nevertheless awarded, allowing Caicedo to complete Vancouver’s scoring and confirm a 3-0 result over the Galaxy, whose squad includes former Germany international Marco Reus.

The result leaves Vancouver three points ahead of Houston at the top of the Western Conference, with the Canadian club also having played one match fewer. The victory underlined Vancouver’s strong position in the standings, while the late penalty provided an unusual final detail to an otherwise controlled performance. Thomas Müller was withdrawn in the 27th minute after taking a knock to his right leg, although he had helped create Vancouver’s opening goal with a quickly taken throw-in eight minutes into the match.