ST. LOUIS, Mo. (AP) — João Klauss scored on a penalty kick in the 70th minute to help St. Louis City earn a 2-2 draw with D.C. United on Saturday night.
Klauss scored after a handball penalty on DC United's Conner Antley that was upheld by a review. It was the first matchup between St. Louis City (1-0-4), which won the Western Conference regular-season title in its first season in the league last year, and DC United (1-1-3).
St. Louis City took a 1-0 lead in the 19th minute when Joshua Yaro headed in a shot from close range with an assist from Indiana Vassilev off a corner kick. The lead lasted until the 21st minute.
DC United quickly pulled even on an unassisted goal by Ted Ku-Dipietro — his first of the season. Christian Benteke gave United a 2-1 lead at halftime when he took a pass from Jared Stroud in the 38th minute and scored for the fourth time. Stroud had five goals and five assists in 25 starts and 31 appearances for St. Louis City last season.
Roman Bürki finished with two saves for St. Louis City. Alex Bono stopped six shots on target for DC United.
DC United returns home to play CF Montreal on Saturday. St. Louis City hits the road to take on Real Salt Lake on Saturday.
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