Despite securing two of their players in trades over the past week, St Louis City SC still struggled to put Minnesota United away, as the Loons notched two goals from the penalty spot in Saturday’s 2-1 loss at Energizer Park.

City’s lone goal also game from the spot, when Tomáš Ostrák drew a foul in the penalty area, setting up Eduard Löwen’s third goal of the year in the 36th minute. However, City would get into their own bit of trouble, as Chris Durkin was shown a straight red card in the 73rd minute, resulting in Kevin Yeboah’s successful penalty pick two minutes later. Yeboah would again go to the spot in the 90th minute, sending his right-footed shot past Roman Bürki a second time. City struggled to capitalize on their changes, securing all ten corner shots of the game and outshooting Minnesota 15-8, with five shots on target to Minnesota’s four.

Meanwhile, Sporting Kansas City were overwhelmed north of the border Saturday night, falling to the Vancouver Whitecaps 3-0 at BC Place. Emmanuel Sabbi and JC Ngando had first-half goals for Vancouver, while Mathias Laborda added insurance in the 87th minute. Sporting were limited to just 11 shots (three on target), while John Pulskamp recorded a pair of saves.

Sporting KC remain ahead of St Louis City in the Western Conference standings, with SKC on 24 points and City on 18 points, two better than the last-place LA Galaxy. Colorado remains in the final playoff spot with 30 points. SKC will have a break until Aug. 9, when they will host San Diego. St Louis City will have a friendly Wednesday night at Energizer Park against the English Premier League’s Aston Villa.