St. Louis CITY SC Clinch Historic Playoff Birth

“It was a cagey affair”, Bradley Carnell would utter as he reflected on his club’s scoreless chess match against the defending MLS Champions, LAFC.

It was a season defining performance for the Western Conference leading St. Louis CITY SC, a chance to stand punch for punch with - as Carnell would put it - the “Rolls-Royce” of Major League Soccer.

“We take confidence in hearing LA players talk about this matchup as being like a final and we feel honored, as the new kids on the block, that we bring that challenge”

Carnell continued, wearing the pride of his club’s defensive efforts across his face, “I’m pretty happy about the clean sheet, it’s been a while since we have had one of those. They’re a good team, and we hung in there, played our game, committed to our principles and I thought we were the better team in the second half.”

The result speaks volumes, both to the club’s intentions, and Roman Bürki’s mounting Landon Donovan MVP challenge.

Bürki’s two saves came at crucial times for the club, but his play as the sweeper in the back of CITY’s formation was more of a factor in the club’s success than just his ability to keep the ball out of the back of the net.

Bürki’s distribution was immense, creating a scoring chance in the second half. Sending a collected ball deep into LAFC territory and hitting Nico Gioacchini in stride, eventually leading to one of the squad’s more impactful scoring chances.

Ultimately, CITY stood tall as Denis Bouanga made life difficult, another banner night for the Edu Löwen, Anthony Markanich partnership down the left side of the pitch.

Markanich and Akil Watts have become unexpected mainstays at LB and RB respectively, and played an important role in progressing the ball, as Tim Parker and Joakim Nilsson showed why they should be considered one of the stronger CB pairings in Major League Soccer.

Their combined statline?

111 completed passes, 4 passes into the final third, 75% tackling, 11 recoveries, 7 interceptions, and winning 10 of 12 1v1 duels on the night.

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A stat line that MLS goalkeeper of the matchday, Roman Bürki, would appreciate after the match, "Finally, finally again, it was hard work. Thank Parker and Joakim for it too, but that should be our standard and we know we can do it."

A defensive output that makes the lack of goalscoring at the other end a little easier to swallow.

There's never a satisfying way to finish a 0-0 draw, but St. Louis stood punch for punch with the defending MLS Champions... and it's a nice appetizer for a potential third matchup down the line.