ST. LOUIS - St. Louis City SC knew it’d be a tough night on Wednesday. With one of their biggest contributors in the first half of the MLS season, Eduard Löwen, out for at least a month with a quad injury, City entered an almost unknown world without their midfield talisman.
Get The Latest News!
Don't miss our top stories and need-to-know news everyday in your inbox.
They faced a Real Salt Lake team that St. Louis head coach Bradley Carnell described as “stingy” Wednesday night in Downtown West. That stingy team from Utah put three goals past City, winning 3-1.
An early Real Salt Lake goal for Diego Luna, one that came on the end of an RSL breakout where Luna beat City defender Tim Parker for pace, somewhat quieted the rambunctious midweek crowd at CITY PARK.
City found themselves trailing with less than 15 minutes of soccer played. Bradley Carnell has spoken several times about the importance of finding the first goal in games. Now City had to find a goal to get them back on terms.
“We went down a goal against the run of play, and fought our way back in,” said Carnell. “We clawed our way back into the game.”
Enter Niko Gioacchini, who has become a crucial figure in the St. Louis squad that’s been without its starting striker Joao Klauss since April. Gioacchini rose highest to meet a James Nerwinski cross in the 21st minute and powered a header that Real Salt Lake keeper Gavin Beavers couldn’t handle.
City’s goal restored the energy among the 22,400 and change that packed CITY PARK for another MLS sellout. City also seemed to have grown in confidence after the goal.
A leading light for City in a first half that took some recovering was Célio Pompeu, starting on Wednesday with the shuffle in midfield with Eduard Löwen out. Pompeu looked sharp in attack, on defense, and pretty much all over the pitch.
“Célio (Pompeu) brings dynamic movement when we have a tactical game plan,” said Carnell of Pompeu. “He offers different abilities than some of our other players.”
“Célio has outperformed where he is in his career. We try to assist and help him with that process.”
The scoreline remained 1-1 heading into halftime. It wouldn’t stay 1-1 for long after.
Just over two minutes into the second half, Real Salt Lake captain Damir Kreilach finished a nice bit of interplay at the edge of the City 18-yard box with a left-footed shot that curled past Roman Bürki in goal.
The visitors caught City sleeping coming out of halftime and continued to put their foot on the gas. As St. Louis pushed forward for yet another goal, more space opened in their defense.
Célio Pompeu, who was having a great game all over the park for City, was substituted for Rasmus Alm in the 64th minute. City was trying to change shape, by bringing on a more attack-minded player in Alm.
“We wanted to bring on Rasmus Alm who brings a live wire, a spark,” Carnell said of the substitution. “You can see when he warms up and comes to the sideline, it energizes the crowd, you can see how he energizes people, we embrace that as well.”
The shuffle didn’t really pay off, or rather, before it could really take effect, Real Salt Lake added a third goal.
Damir Kreilach was the man with the finish again, this time arriving late at the top of the box totally unmarked, and given the freedom of CITY PARK to line up his effort and beat Roman Bürki.
“They capitalized on our mistakes,” said City midfielder Njabulo Blom. “It was being a bit sluggish, not facing (attacking players) at the right time, not being in the right place. I think communication was a big factor today.”
The game shifted into desperation mode for the final 20 minutes, with City throwing attacking numbers forward. City made a handful of substitutes to bring on fresh legs, but all were mostly for naught, with Real Salt Lake now sitting back and absorbing any City pressure.
The full-time whistle blew, and those who stuck out the full 90 minutes applauded the City team as they thanked the fans who came out, as has become a tradition for Bradley Carnell’s team following home games, no matter the result.
City clearly has work to do before Saturday’s road test against the San Jose Earthquakes, who are unbeaten in San Jose this season.
“Your next game is your motivation,” said Bradley Carnell. “Your next game is your next point, points to be won, and points to be proven.”
More like this:
