Marcel Hartel on Fire as St. Louis CITY SC aim for eight unbeaten.

St. Louis CITY SC powered into eighth place Wednesday night as Yoann Damet’s men pushed their club record unbeaten streak to seven matches. Marcel Hartel contributed on all three St. Louis goals with two assists and a goal of his own, moving his tally to eight goals and three assists across all competitions in 2026. 

Of course, the Galaxy were missing key pieces with Klauss and Erik Thommy on the injury list, and have yet to replace Gabriel Pec after he left for Brazil last week, but CITY SC took care of business, and that hasn’t always been the case over the past few seasons. It’s a new mentality streaking throughout the group, and it’s promising in the long term that Damet and his players were disappointed in their performance despite the 3-1 win and largely keeping the Galaxy at arm’s length in the attack. Still, Damet was correct in his assessment. 

“I think if we want to keep building something, we have to look at those games and expect better from ourselves in terms of the team performance,” Damet said. “Very happy with the result. Again, we are showing a lot of progress, like playing away and being able to earn that on the road. But at the same time, we all know, and we all are aware as a staff and as a group with the players, that there is a ton of things we could have done better tonight.”

Damet went even further as the press conference rolled towards midnight.

"I think Mykhi in preseason has understood that this was going to be a position where we were going to look at him like in the second part of the season. I think it was a good time for him to get that challenge and to help the team get a result."

How CITY SC won:

The match was a back and forth stalemate with St. Louis creating the biggest scoring chance through 30 minutes but had to weather a storm after the half hour mark. The Galaxy used Harbor Miller to target Mykhi Joyner 1v1 down the left but CITY SC’s defense held solid, and the Galaxy didn’t register a shot on target despite the pressure. Simon Becher’s incredible turn and shot in the 41st minute created a corner for Marcel Hartel to deliver on a platter at the near post for Lucas MacNaughton. 

Up 1-0, they wouldn’t have to wait long for the second goal. Timo Baumgartl beat Marco Reus in the air  — to some controversy, Baumgartl landed on Reus’s heel, and the Galaxy felt there should have been a stoppage — to kick start a transition into the attacking third. Then, Marcel Hartel froze JT Marcinkowski to the ground with a curling effort from outside the box. 

Emiro Garcés confronted the St. Louis celebration afterwards, taking issue with the lack of stoppage as Reus crumpled behind the play. He’d pick up a yellow for unsportsmanlike behavior, only made worse after picking up a 2nd yellow for delaying the restart after a foul on Simon Becher early in the 2nd half.

From there, Simon Becher would make it 3-0 in transition as CITY SC once again pounced on a turnover in the defensive third to quickly transition into the attack. 

Both Damet and Becher spoke of the issues CITY SC had keeping their foot on the gas after gaining the man advantage. Becher called out his own play, needing to be cleaner on the ball as the pressure relief valve, while Damet lamented the lack of intensity in the press as the Galaxy backed off the tempo themselves. 

LA would grab one back late in the match, moments after a Justin Haak headed goal was called back for a slight push. The cleansheet wasn’t meant to be, but St. Louis still came out the better team in just about every metric despite knowing the execution could have been much better.

Standout players.

It’s easy to call out Marcel Hartel’s play, not just in connecting the attack as a key cog in all three scoring sequences but as a thorn in the Galaxy’s buildup as he man-marked Haak and created turnovers in the press.

Even then, the best player on the day may have been Simon Becher. 

Becher was brilliant in knowing when to take on his man and when to lay off in possession, while his line-breaking runs and furious pressing created havoc. Of course, the striker could have walked away with more on 1.4 expected goals, but it was a crucially important performance. It’d fix CITY SC’s biggest need if Becher could do that consistently.

"I think Cello [Hartel] and I have made a really good connection lately." Becher said afterwards. "We've been finding each other a lot in good areas. We have been playing with each other for a while, so I think that it's starting to blossom a bit. We won the ball, played it forward, and Cello with a really good line-breaking pass, really nice to finish and get the third one. And I think from there we can even push more."

A Rotated squad

Circumstances dictated that Yoann Damet needed to rotate with Conrad Wallem in concussion protocol and a home match vs Colorado on Saturday.

Those realities explain why Edu Löwen was up top beside Simon Becher in the press before dropping back into the midfield during buildup. It also explains why Damet rolled out the Tomas Totland x Mykhi Joyner wingback pair for the first time in MLS play. 

It was a big ask for Joyner, who is still learning how to play wingback opposite his natural side. The 19 year old is truly an attacking winger, but there isn’t room for that profile in Damet’s attacking setup unless he can learn the defensive side of the ball in the wide spaces or become more comfortable in possession while cutting inside. As much as Damet sees Joyner’s best position as the latter, wingback offers more opportunity in the present. 

Joyner’s play Wednesday night was more of a mixed bag, disappointing to fans who had been eagerly anticipating his return to the lineup but needed if the teenager is to become a reliable wingback.

Defensively, he was exposed 1v1 once the Galaxy exposed his flank through Harbor Miller, but Damet was still happy with his intensity, acknowledging that he’ll need these opportunities to grow into a regular MLS contributor. 

“He’s growing,” Damet said. “It's a lot of work, and he needs to learn to be a pro, and he needs to learn to manage his own performances within the collective. I think the task we give him is not an easy one, but at the same time, he's someone that loves a good challenge. I thought he did quite well with what we asked him to do. Of course, with more experience, with more of those games, he will grow even more. And I think it's undeniable. He's got a lot of qualities that we will see more and more, I'm hoping.”

Carlo Holze impact.

News broke earlier this week that St. Louis was on the verge of signing 27-year-old attacker Carlo Holze from Samsunspor of the Türkish Süper Lig for a fee of around $6 million. Holze has been an important piece for a side that finished 3rd in 2024-25 and 7th in 2025-27 while juggling a Europa Conference League campaign where they lost to eventual runners-up Rayo Vallecano in the Round of 16. 

Holze was impactful throughout the competition, assisting 5 goals while scoring 2 of his own as he played left, right, and center. Holze most likely won’t fill in as a striker in Yoann Damet’s system outside of the front two role reserved for one of the dual 10s, but he does bring a strong defensive presence in the attacking 3rd and had a combined 18 goal contributions through Conference League and Süper League campaigns. 

Next to Hartel, he’ll open up plenty of space as defensive structures will have to prioritize one over the other, a dangerous thought as Hartel has already created 11 goal contributions through 17 games this season – 4 goals and 2 assists in the last 4 matches. 

Back to Holze, it’s impressive that some of his best performances last season came against the likes of Beşiktaş, Fenerbahçe, and Rayo Vallecano while averaging 3 tackles + interceptions per 90 minutes. 

It might take a moment for Holze to fully integrate, but given the upcoming fixture congestion and a possible playoff appearance, Holze’s impact will be felt sooner rather than later. 

Looking ahead to Colorado.

Against the Rapids, CITY SC will aim to make it 4 straight wins and 8 straight unbeaten across all competitions, a feat they should feel confident in achieving at home against a side they’ve already beaten once this season. The Rapids are also struggling with injuries, with Zack Steffen, Ted Ku-DiPietro, Jason Travis, and Billo Diop all out. Meanwhile, St. Louis is back to full strength (outside of Célio) with Conrad Wallem graduating from concussion protocol and Alex Mǎțan participating in training.

“In terms of personality, he’s going to fit in really well,” Damet said of CITY SC’s newest signing. “He’s performed at a high level in the past, and he wants to be better. [...] We need to assess where he is; the testing was quite positive but today was his first session.”

The diminutive Romanian midfielder isn’t likely to play a big role against the Rapids, but he is available going forward. 

The big switch will likely be the return of Sangbin to the Starting XI, opening up a more direct option that served to burn Colorado the last time out despite the incredibly windy conditions forcing Roman Bürki to dial in his ability to play Sangbin in behind the defenders. 

Jaziel Orozco could also be an option to return to the starting lineup depending on how close he is to 90 minutes fit, while Wallem and Totland should be the wingback pair unless Damet has a matchup in mind for Santos or even Orozco. 

St. Louis will have to mind the left side of Colorado’s attack with Navarro and Aaronson opening up space for Minoungo and Atencio while Reggie Cannon was great down the right side as he finally returns to full strength. Ultimately, it’ll come down to who can actually control the match, and who can win the physical possession battle. 

“I know they're going to come with the hope of getting a better result than the first time and probably with that feeling of revenge.” Damet finished. “So, we just have to be ready. We're playing at home. We want that place to be a tough place to play at, and it's our job tomorrow to make that happen.”

45 points has been the average playoff line since CITY SC entered the league, and a win or draw would keep St. Louis above the pace as they reach the halfway point of the season. Maybe it's too soon to believe that Yoann Damet will deliver playoff soccer in year one, but with improvements on the way and increasing familiarity with the project, as Adam Duritz once said, there's reason to believe.