ST. LOUIS - Before the long-awaited unveiling of Lionel Messi joining Inter Miami CF Sunday at DRV PNK stadium in Fort Lauderdale, St. Louis City had the pleasure of hosting them at CITY PARK on Saturday evening.
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A match that started after a brief delay due to a passing storm, St. Louis City were powered by their set pieces en route to a 3-0 victory over the Messi-less Inter Miami heading into the Leagues Cup Break.
It was Gerardo “ata” Martino’s first game in charge of Inter Miami, and he noted postgame that the team did well given only a few sessions with him in charge. “Given how they played with so few training sessions, the team is doing well.”
“We lose the game on three goals from set pieces,” said Martino. “Two corners and a free-kick, but that’s valid, and that’s how games are won and lost.”
The first set piece goal came just right around the half-hour mark, where Sam Adeniran notched his third goal of the MLS season after being recalled from his loan to San Antonio FC of the USL Championship.
Indiana Vassilev swung in a corner kick that the 6’4” Adeniran rose highest to meet, and powered his header beyond the diving Drake Callender in the Miami goal.
Approximately a dozen minutes later, City added a second by way of another corner kick. This time, Aziel Jackson’s corner found well-rested City co-captain Tim Parker, who steered a header off the post to Callender’s right and into the back of the net.
It’s Parker’s third goal this season after just two in seven MLS seasons before joining City. City head coach Bradley Carnell believes Parker found a new lease on life, and Parker backed those comments up.
“There's moments of changes in your life. You find a new purpose and you find a why,” said Carnell of Parker’s new groove. “Every day you step over those white lines, you play for that purpose. Maybe he's found a new purpose in what he's doing. Sometimes you're a little bit freer, a little bit more agile,a little bit more fresh in the brain and you see things quicker than the opponent. You almost will yourself to success.”
Parker, asked about his resurgence in City Red, echoed Carnell. “People around me know I’m just enjoying the game again.
“I’m grateful to be here, and it’s been an enjoyable ride,” said Parker. “This season has been amazing, to say anything else would be lying.”
Carnell also went out of his way to credit Alexander Langer and John Hackworth, the team’s set piece specialist coaches, and their methods have been paying dividends. St. Louis leads the league in set piece goals with 18 following Saturday’s action.
“They have the ideas, there's creativity and there's bravery (by the team) to implement them, and you need to have players who are willing and brave enough to execute.” Carnell explained. “It's a culmination of everything, and sometimes things just click, if you do the right thing enough times, you'll get (lucky). So, the harder you work, the luckier you get.”
On the other coaches’ bench was Tata Martino taking over coaching duties at Inter Miami to bring in a Messi-driven system, Miami played a game that was akin to Martino’s teams of the past: plenty of possession, a much different style than Phil Neville implemented during their downturn in the first half of the season.
That high-possession style plays into St. Louis City and Bradley Carnell’s high-pressing, high-energy style. Multiple times in the first half, City forced bad passes from Miami defenders looking for outlet passes.
Inter Miami would bring on US National team veteran Deandre Yedlin in the second half to help in defense and provide some width in attack. Miami did dictate the flow of the game for a good 10-15 minutes coming out of halftime, even forcing Roman Bürki into a few saves, but saves the MLS All-Star would expect to make.
“He's earned himself this All-Star call-up,” said Carnell of his captain and goalkeeper. “He's earned this himself through his great performances, it’s a resurrection of his career as well. He's still young enough to add many years to his career. He could have played anywhere in the world as a starter. We were fortunate enough to grab him.”
In the 60th minute, Bradley Carnell brought on Eduard Löwen, who many thought would start the match following a cameo in Wednesday’s defeat in LA. Lowen came off the bench, and immediately made an impact for City.
His presence in the City midfield helped stifle the Miami attack, and the pressure that the visitors had been piling on in the second half subsided drastically once Löwen was on the field.
With 10 minutes left in the match, City’s third and final set piece goal was naturally scored by Löwen in his return to CITY PARK after a month out injured.
Célio Pompeu won a free kick with a blistering run that could only be stopped by Miami’s Kamal Miller throwing his body in front of Pompeu.
Up stepped Eduard Löwen who curled a right-footed effort away from Drake Callender who was caught leaning the other way. Up 3-0, City had three points in the bag, and CITY PARK was jubilant.
“I'm always pretty happy when I get in positions like this. So, credit to Célio for drawing the foul.” said Löwen postgame. “I had already made my decision to go for the top right corner. I saw the goalkeeper take a step to the side so I decided it would be better to go for the left side. Thankfully, I hit it pretty well.”
Carnell and crew made a concerted effort to rotate the City team for their match against LAFC midweek, knowing that a fresh City team could likely beat the Eastern Conference bottom-feeding Inter Miami.
The 3-0 scoreline at the final whistle validated those choices, and City took three points from the match and a four point lead in the MLS Western Conference into the Leagues Cup break.
City sent another sellout crowd home happy, and the team will get a little break before resuming team training next week before the Leagues Cup kicks off. They haven’t had a break since February, so a few days off to recuperate over halfway through the MLS season will be welcomed around the City training ground.
As mentioned, City’s captain and co-captain, Roman Bürki and Tim Parker will be heading to the MLS All-Star game, taking place this upcoming Wednesday at 7:30 on Apple TV. A team of MLS All-Stars will be facing Premier League giants Arsenal, in what is a preseason match for the Stan Kroenke-owned English team.
City resumes play in Leagues Cup action next Sunday, July 23, when they travel to Columbus to take on the Crew in their first group stage game of the tournament. Their second will be Thursday, July 27 at home, hosting Mexican powerhouse Club América.
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