For those in the know, Vancouver Whitecaps goalkeeper David Oustedās save of New York midfielder Sacha Kljestanās penalty kick attempt in Wednesdayās 1-1 draw between the Whitecaps and Red Bulls at Red Bull Arena wasnāt all that surprising.
Not only had Ousted saved his previous two penalties at Red Bull Arena, stuffing Bradley Wright-Phillips twice from the spot in a 2015 regular season contest (see photo above), but the āCaps netminder is one of the best in MLS at denying penalties.
Since he entered the league in 2013, opponents have only scored 14 of their 20 penalties on Ousted, per Opta. The six attempts against Ousted that were either saved or missed are the third most of any ākeeper in that span, trailing only Real Salt Lakeās Nick Rimando (11) and New Yorkās Luis Robles (seven).
As successful as Ousted has been denying penalties, the Red Bulls have been even worse taking them. New York are just 8-for-14 on regular season penalty kick attempts since the start of the 2015 season, with that 57 percent conversion rate the lowest in MLS in that span.
Oustedās save of Kljestan may be New Yorkās biggest miss yet. The denial allowed Vancouver to come away with a draw and an away goal from the first leg of the sidesā CONCACAF Champions League quarterfinal aggregate goals series, giving the āCaps a definite advantage heading into next weekās return leg at BC Place.