Damet's gamble paid off in St. Louis CITY SC's Colorado victory.
St. Louis CITY SC finally won 0-1 in Colorado thanks to Yoann Damet's gamble with Sangbin Jeong. Momentum.
Yoann Damet’s Sangbin gamble paid off.
The wheels had been sputtering following St. Louis CITY SC’s 2-0 loss in Austin last Sunday. The lack of momentum threatened to bear down on Yoann Damet’s shoulders as his CITY SC traveled to Colorado in search of a first away win of the MLS season.
The performance was far from pretty, thanks to a gusty wind, a haphazard display of officiating, and – as has become all too routine – a lack of clinical finishing. However, St. Louis accomplished the mission with Sangbin Jeong’s goal in the 26th minute.
It was a strange position to find themselves in, entering halftime with both the better scoring chance and the lead.
Even stranger when CITY SC weathered the storm and finished the night with their 2nd win of the season, their 1st in Colorado, and their 1st clean sheet in MLS play.
The result was just deserts for Yoann Damet’s gamble to include Sangbin in the lineup for the first time since his relief appearance in Seattle following his start vs FC Tulsa. To his credit, Sangbin has kept his head down following back to back starts to kick off the season, but ineffectiveness and a slight injury ahead of hosting San Jose had kept him on the outside looking in of that right 10 spot that has become CITY SC's toughest positional battle.
Sangbin’s inclusion was a clear tip off in the way CITY SC were going to play vs Colorado. Instead of Córdova as a target striker on the wing (more on his exclusion below), instead of Teuchert receiving the ball underneath and finding pockets in transition, instead of Löwen’s complete 10 play, it was the South Korean attacker’s speed and timing that Damet wanted to exploit against the Rapids’s aggressive line.
“We knew we were going to play against the high line when you were going to play against an aggressive team,” Damet said afterwards. “We wanted to have someone able to stretch and get behind and bring some more going forward. So, we thought that was the right decision to make tonight. And I'm happy for him. That's the reward as well for how he's been for the past few weeks. I think he's put his head down, and he puts a ton of work in, and I'm happy for him that he gets a reward today with the goal.”
Damet wanted to test the Rapids’s backline. He wanted to stretch the lines. He wanted to hit balls in behind Colorado’s aggressive line, and it worked for the match’s two definitive moments:
- Playing direct through Becher and into space for Sangbin off of Roman Bürki’s laser-guided goal kick.
St Louis CITY SC
Similar to the goal Sangbin scored against FC Tulsa, the plan was most likely to play into space directly over the top, but thanks to the 25 mph winds spitting into Burki’s face, the DP keeper had to drill a line drive into Becher, who handled the pass well and sent Sangbin in on goal.
- The Rob Holding Red Card.
St. Louis created the 2nd big moment of this match out of similar circumstances. A long ball into space had enough loft – thanks to that pesky win – for Simon Becher to hold up his run and wait under it to challenge Rob Holding 1v1. Unfortunately, there’s controversy as Holding and Becher were tied up. Becher made a meal out of it, and as referee Tim Ford sauntered over with a card in his hand, you’d be forgiven for assuming Becher would be penalized for trying to sell Ford on more contact. Ford read it all wrong, though, and sent Holding off for a DOGSO tackle. Ford bought what Becher was selling all night long, and while that helped St. Louis pull out the result, the match had no control by the time Chris Durkin was sent off in the 87th minute.
Durkin was frustrated all night long, and the second yellow was the culmination of a player who grew increasingly annoyed with his side’s lack of control with the man advantage.
“Sometimes you are happy about the way you perform, but you're not happy about the results.” Damet finished. “Tonight, it's about like enjoying our first win on the road of the season and our first clean sheet of the season as well. So we take both, take a deep breath, and we'll focus on the things we need to do better tomorrow."
Damet structured his side well enough, given Córdova’s sickness, and even as Georgi Minoungou threatened to run wild down the left side, the defense did well enough to avoid the trap as the Rapids attempted to coax them out of their structure.
“They’re a team that wants to attract you. They want to create a lot of space between the lines, which we dealt with quite well.” Damet continued. “What they did quite well against us was to go around and to isolate and to create those 1v1 situations.”
A late scratch affected the lineup:
Players have missed training over the last 2 weeks with a sickness that’s been slowly making its way through the squad. Tomás Ostrak was the most recent player to miss training – more on him in a moment – because of the illness, and now Sergio Córdova missed Saturday’s match because of the sickness.
Damet, who was sick himself last week, admitted that he had to adjust the lineup once it was clear that Córdova wasn’t clear to go in Colorado.
Most likely, that would have meant that the Venezuelan was starting over Simon Becher, similar to the lineup vs Tulsa when CITY SC wanted to attack the USL club’s high line. Unfortunately, Becher wasn’t able to take the bull by the horns in another starting opportunity, while Brendan McSorely also missed a great chance in the 6 yard box with the GK taken out of the play.
So, if Córdova is ready to go by Wednesday, it would make sense that he grabs the starting role with no one else able to find the back of the net, but it must be said that Becher’s work off the ball was much improved in this one, even as it’s come on the heels of another botched scoring chance and over 1.3 xG the past two matches with 0 goals to show for it.
Luckily, Sangbin was able to show great patience when he waited out Nicholas Hansen and easily lifted his goal past the outstretched keeper. Sangbin was subbed at halftime after feeling tightness in his calf, setting up Brendan McSorely’s longest appearance of the season. Afterwards, Damet said the sub was more precautionary than anything, but it’s something to keep an eye on with 2 midweek matches this month.
The lineup also saw Jaziel Orozco’s return to the starting XI after missing the past few matches with a concussion. Orozco was champing at the bit to claw his way back into the XI and continued his step up this season as the most impactful player not named Sangbin in the lineup. Cedric Teuchert’s exclusion from Saturday’s lineup entirely is something to keep an eye on with Löwen most likely to start on Wednesday.
It’s why the discussion around Mbacke’s place in the lineup is slightly misguided. It was certainly a surprise to see the 21 year old pop up as Damet’s favored RCB in preseason, but through 779 minutes, Damet’s read was spot on as he is one of 2 players with a positive g+ value next to his name through 11 matches. Saturday’s match saw him create a scoring chance, complete 36 of 40 passes, along with 6 tackles and 6 interceptions.
The Soccer Datavizer chart above also highlights another change that has the potential to be illuminating, with Chris Durkin unavailable for Wednesday’s match vs LAFC. Maybe this is what brings Löwen back into the double pivot with the potential of a Miggy Perez-Daniel Edelman seeming naive against LAFC’s high octane attack. Maybe this is Polvara slotting up with Fallou Fall, finally working his way into matches over recent weeks.
The last spots to discuss are the options at wingback over the next few weeks. Neither Tomas Totland nor Conrad Wallem set the world on fire in Colorado; both boasted negative g+ values, and while Totland won 5/7 duels to somewhat make up for it, Wallem won just 5/13.
I’m expecting – maybe naively – a Mykhi Joyner start in one of the two matches next week; there simply aren’t any other options.
All of that worry aside, Damet’s side will celebrate a win on a night when most expected the worst.
“It's something that the group is just happy about. Adding the clean sheet as well is something that gives us more confidence, and we're really happy about that, to get the first three points away.” Orozco exclaimed post-match. “It was a tough battle, a windy night. There were a lot of things that we knew were going to be a fight. It was going to be a dog fight. But at the end of the day, when you get the three points, you're happy. There are a lot of things that we have to improve on, but at the end of the day, getting the three points away, it was something that we were looking for.”
The last update from last week was on Tomáš Ostrák’s future availability. The midfielder returned to action vs Tulsa but had trouble recovering from that outing. Given his injury history, Damet admitted that they’ll take their time with him until after the break. He’ll continue in his recovery, but it’s been more tough breaks for a player who needed to be on the front foot this season.
Looking Ahead.
There are now just 4 matches left before the World Cup break in two weeks, and CITY SC sit at 9 points, 6 points back of Houston in the final play-in spot. The needs are obvious: Corey Wray has to bring in a goal scorer and at least one starting wingback, but until then, can St. Louis make the most of its remaining schedule?
When CITY SC return to Energizer on Wednesday, they’ll host an LAFC squad in the midst of a 6th straight midweek match and just 71 hours between Sunday night’s match vs Houston and Wednesday’s trip to St. Louis. LAFC has looked heavy in recent weeks and will be coming off a 4-0 worst-case scenario loss against Toluca.
Now, St. Louis isn’t Toluca, but there is a scenario where CITY SC – who have had the luxury of resting players like Edu Lowen – can follow up on their performance at BMO Stadium earlier this season. That match was a 2-0 loss after late turnovers from tired legs failed to see out a match that was heading towards a 0-0 result. Now, back in St. Louis, can they replicate a performance where they actually had the better of the xG, not including a set-piece goal called back for a phantom foul?
I understand why you’re skeptical. Still, if CITY SC can find a way to grab 6 points from the remaining 9 – away at DCU next weekend and home vs Austin – while advancing past Houston, then all of a sudden the outlook is much more rosy.
CITY SC have a much easier slate of matches on the other side of the break, but bridging into a playoff spot will require both a strong finish to this slate of matches AND identifying and integrating important signings over the break. They’ll come back from break to host a SKC side that lost 6-0 to Portland last night, and there will be opportunities.
Thank you all for reading, if you like my work and want to support independent journalism as I ramp up into more routine coverage this month, consider subscribing.
