There’s no real way to sugarcoat this, St. Louis CITY SC’s loss to Chicago in the USOC’s Round of 32 is the first real failure for the club.
There have been losses, and there have been poor performances, but losing in the Round of 32 to St. Louis’ most hated rival will always hurt.
There are reasons for the loss, obviously, but the frustration is compounded when the team actually played some gorgeous soccer in their attempt to erase an 0-2 deficit.
St. Louis was behind from the hop after a long headed clearance would find its way to Haile-Selassie against the run of play, Haile-Selassie’s shot would take a slight deflection off of an outstretched Kyle Hiebert as it beat goalkeeper Ben Lundt… It would not be Lundt’s night.
St. Louis would work hard to try and find a first-half equalizer, but the Fire did a great job following the script on how to slow down this St. Louis attack. St. Louis has had a hard time breaking down a slow, methodical, tight defensive block for a while now, but it’s been especially evident since João Klauss’ injury in Colorado last month.
St. Louis managerCarnell would try to draw some positives out of his club at least finding those positions as they controlled the run of play, “I was happy with the chances we created, we need to be creating these chances, but unfortunately we couldn’t get the shots away. I don’t want to draw too many positives out of that, I’m not happy about the result. We’ll look long at hard [at the result] and try to get better.”
The first half wound down with some fireworks; both teams would come together following a run of hard fouls that included a Célio yellow card, but CITY would start the second half still chasing a goal.
The chase would become more complex as Chicago was able to counter-press after turning the ball over deep into St. Louis territory. The Fire clogged the lanes forward for the defenders and a back pass would force Lundt into a mistake as he tried to play the ball instead of booting it away.
It was a brutal mistake from the GK, a mistake that betrays his usual role as a complete shot-stopper. Lundt shouldn’t wear the totality of this loss, but it was a clear blunder that wound up being the match-winning goal.
There is at least a small silver lining as 18 year old Miggy Perez would grab his first goal as the clock ticked over into stoppage time, “It was very special for me to score my first goal with my family here as well. I’m blessed to score my first goal against Chicago, but unlucky for the result.”
Perez’s performance absolutely deserved the late goal, he was the best player on the pitch with his seventy-two touches, twenty-one recoveries, ten duels won, and twenty passes into the final third.
Carnell would say that his squad, “kept it too late”, but the momentum had absolutely been flowing in St. Louis’ direction throughout the second half. Especially after Njabulo Blom made his longest appearance since returning from his groin injury.
Blom’s twelve-minute appearance saw him win all three of his duels, along with one important tackle, one recovery, twelve touches, and one incredible run late into the match.
In a vacuum, this is a performance that could be thrown out of St. Louis’ collective memory, but collectively, it becomes worrying in light of their performances since April.
The margins have been much tighter since their opening run, and the lack of a real difference-maker in the attack has been noticeable. Chances are being created, and beautiful passes are finding their marks, but the final product has not been there in the absence of their DP striker.
Carnell’s men will be feeling hard done by this result, luckily they have a chance for revenge this weekend as they take on the Fire at Soldier Field.
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