Thomas Muller’s penalty kick in the 14th minute of second-half stoppage time Saturday night lifted the Vancouver Whitecaps to a 3-2 home win over St. Louis City SC.

It was the first goal in MLS for Muller, the German star playing just his second match with Vancouver (14-6-7, 49 points). He got his chance after a video review detected teammate Mathias Laborda being tripped in the box by Mykhi Joyner.

Muller stutter-stepped to the spot and wired a shot just under the crossbar, enabling the Whitecaps to get the full three points from a match they trailed deep into the second half until Daniel Rios equalized in the 79th minute.

Conrad Wallem’s foul on the Whitecaps’ Ali Ahmed set up the tying goal. Sebastian Berhalter took a free kick just inside the penalty box on the deep left side and Rios rose above a defender to flick the ball on a header into the right corner.

Vancouver carved out major advantages in shots and possession time. The Whitecaps outshot the guests 22-11, including an 8-4 edge in shots on frame, and had the ball for 59.2 percent of the match.

But St. Louis (5-16-6, 21 points) was able to make the most of its relatively few opportunities, taking a 2-1 edge in the 73rd minute. Sang Bin Jeong fed a beautiful ball to Joao Klauss down the pitch’s middle and he converted with a spinning lefty kick from the box, his eighth goal in the last 12 fixtures.

St. Louis also scored first in the 14th minute off a pretty sequence. Wallem delivered a well-struck cross into the middle of the box and Eduard Lowen converted on a header that bounced into the net’s right corner.

The lead stood until the fourth minute of first-half stoppage time, when Vancouver equalized after referee Fotis Bazakos nailed Chris Durkin for a foul in the box against Tristan Blackmon. Brian White stepped to the spot and converted into the right corner as goalie Roman Burki dove fruitlessly the other way.

It was White’s 14th goal of the year.

–Field Level Media

Robin Lod scored the go-ahead goal and also had an assist to lead Minnesota United to a 3-1 victory over Real Salt Lake on Saturday night in Sandy, Utah.

Joaquin Pereyra also scored for Minnesota (14-6-8, 50 points), which also tallied an own-goal from RSL defender Brayan Vera. Dayne St. Clair made five saves for the Loons, who won their second straight match and closed to within three points of first-place San Diego FC in the Western Conference.

Victor Olatunji, acquired from Sparta Prague of the Czech League on Aug. 6, scored his first goal for Real Salt Lake (9-14-4, 31 points), which suffered its third straight defeat and lost for the fourth time in the last five matches. Rafael finished with one save for RSL, which played without suspended star midfielder Diego Luna.

Minnesota took a 1-0 lead in the sixth minute when Pereyra’s deflected corner caromed into the middle of net off the left hip of Vera.

Real Salt Lake tied it, 1-1, in the 15th minute on Olatunji’s first goal. Samuel Junqua set up the score with a cross from the left side of the box that Olatunji, driving toward the goal, chipped inside the far right post with his right foot.

RSL nearly took the lead in the 27th minute on a free kick above the box by Noel Caliskan that a leaping St. Clair deflected off the crossbar.

Minnesota took a 2-1 lead nine minutes later on Lod’s fourth goal of the season, a left-footed shot from the left side of the box off a spinning Nicolas Romero pass that scooted inside the far right post.

The Loons extended the lead to 3-1 in the 51st minute on Pereyra’s fourth goal, a left-footed shot from the middle of the box into the right side of the net off a Lod setup.

–Field Level Media

A stunning first MLS goal by Son Heung-min was matched by a Logan Farrington equalizer just shy of the quarter-hour mark as host FC Dallas and Los Angeles FC played to a 1-1 draw Saturday night in Frisco, Texas.

LAFC (11-6-8, 41 points) captured its third straight unbeaten result (1-0-2) and seventh in its last eight matches (4-1-3) and ended the evening in fourth place in the Western Conference.

Dallas (7-11-9, 30 points), who drew for the second straight match, pulled within five points of Austin FC for the ninth and final playoff spot in the West.

Son, starting for the second straight match, ensured his first MLS goal was a memorable one.

After Los Angeles was awarded a free kick not far from the outside of the box, the South Korean international laced a blistering shot past Dallas goalkeeper Michael Collodi for a 1-0 lead in the 6th minute.

The Los Angeles lead lasted about seven minutes, though, as Farrington tied it in the 13th minute. The Dallas forward collected a Patrickson Delgado pass, ventured into the scoring area and fired it past LAFC goalkeeper Hugo Lloris to tie things up. It was Farrington’s fifth goal of the season.

Los Angeles, seeking back-to-back wins, had several chances to produce a match-winner late in the second half. In the 88th minute, Denis Bouanga’s shot deflected off a Dallas player and off the crossbar. Then, in the seventh minute of second-half stoppage time, Collodi made a spectacular diving save on David Martinez’s attempt on goal.

Collodi finished with five saves for Dallas. Lloris was credited with one save.

Petar Musa, Dallas’s leading scorer (13 goals), was a second-half substitute after leaving at halftime of his team’s 1-1 draw at Austin FC on Aug. 16.

Igor Jesus was forced to exit in the 24th minute for LAFC after an apparent leg injury. Los Angeles will also be without Ryan Hollingshead (yellow-card accumulation) for its match against San Diego FC on Aug. 31.

–Field Level Media

Cristian Arango and Preston Judd each scored goals and the visiting San Jose Earthquakes remained above the playoff line in the Western Conference with a 2-1 victory Saturday over the Houston Dynamo.

The Earthquakes (9-11-8, 35 points) continued their offensive assault, tying San Diego FC for the Western Conference lead in goals scored with 52. The victory ended San Jose’s eight-match losing streak at Houston.

Daniel made three saves for San Jose, which improved to 2-1-0 in August after going 0-3-2 in MLS play in July, while also getting eliminated from U.S. Open Cup play.

Antonio Carlos scored a goal for the Dynamo (7-12-8, 29 points), who could have pulled even with the Earthquakes in the West standings with a victory. Jonathan Bond made two saves for Houston, which is 0-1-2 since the end of Leagues Cup play.

The Dynamo were on a run of three consecutive draws in MLS play going back to July 19.

The Earthquakes took a 1-0 lead in the 28th minute, when Arango scored on a long cross by DeJuan Jones from the right corner that Preston Judd let pass through with a slight touch. Arango’s sliding goal was his 12th of the season to tie Josef Martinez for the team lead.

The Dynamo appeared to tie the score in first-half stoppage time but Ezequiel Ponce’s goal was denied when he was ruled offside.

San Jose made it 2-0 in the 64th minute when a deflected ball rolled toward the top of the Dynamo penalty area Ian Harkes sent a rocket through traffic that deflected off Judd’s leg and got past Bond.

The Dynamo received a gift in the 72nd minute when Carlos’ soft header off a corner kick slipped through the hands of Daniel to cut the deficit in half.

San Jose won without Martinez on the bench to start the match. He came on as a substitute in the 79th minute for Arango after Judd started in his place.

–Field Level Media

Sam Surridge and Hany Mukhtar scored two goals apiece in a four-goal first half for host Nashville SC in a dominating 5-1 rout over Orlando City SC on Saturday night.

Nashville (15-8-5, 50 points) improved to 10-1-3 at home, ended a three-game losing streak and moved within two points of second-place FC Cincinnati in the Eastern Conference.

Surridge moved past Inter Miami superstar Lionel Messi (19 goals) in the race for the Golden Boot by getting his 19th and 20th goals. He scored twice for the fifth time this season in MLS matches and the ninth time in his career.

Mukhtar notched his 13th and 14th goals, scored twice for the second time this season and finished with his 17th career multi-goal showing in MLS matches.

Surridge scored in the second minute and the 43rd minute while Mukhtar struck in the 17th and 40th. Jeisson Palacios scored in second-half stoppage time while Mukhtar, Josh Bauer and Jacob Shaffelburg collected two assists apiece.

Luis Muriel scored in the 76th minute for Orlando City before getting ejected for a red card a few minutes later. Orlando City (13-7-8, 47 points) saw a four-game winning streak stopped and they hold a one-point lead over Miami for fourth in the Eastern Conference.

Nashville goalkeeper Joe Willis made three saves. Orlando’s Pedro Gallese allowed five goals on nine shots.

Surridge opened the scoring when Orlando’s Dagur Thorhallsson had a pass from midfield headed away by a defender near the Nashville net. Nashville quickly moved up the field and Mukhtar finished off a shot from about 10 yards out after getting by Orlando’s Kyle Smith and Rodrigo Schlegel.

Nashville capitalized on another miscue for a 2-0 lead. After Schlegel fanned on a header following a Nashville throw-in, Mukhtar blasted a shot into the top right corner.

Mukhtar made it 3-0 by getting by Smith and Schlagel and reaching the bottom right corner after getting a pass from Shaffelburg.

Surridge capped the dominant half by finishing off a header with his back to the net after beating Schlegel to the ball.

–Field Level Media