St. Louis CITY SC has buy in after back to back road draws.

Another big draw for St. Louis CITY SC this weekend as they make it back to back road points against sure-fire playoff clubs.

It’s becoming a trend — worrying or otherwise — in CITY SC’s results. Outside of the opening day draw with Charlotte, St. Louis has conceded first in every matchup. Fortunately, they’ve come from behind to earn 5 points in their last 3 matches. 

The trend is probably not sustainable, but it at least speaks to a belief inside the squad that was not there through most of the last two seasons. St. Louis only came from behind twice in 2025 and have mostly dropped points from winning positions since the inaugural campaign’s success. 

All of that to say, the efforts vs NYCFC and Dallas were a step forward for a club that is redefining its culture under new leadership. 

“We stuck to the plan and adjusted quickly.” Yoann Damet reflected afterwards. “The guys have shown a lot of strength in sticking to the plan, sticking to the principles we're trying to apply, and we did it again today. There was no panic after that goal. It was just about momentum, regaining momentum, and making the most out of the opportunities we created. And the guys did a great job at that. I’m happy with the response.”

Damet’s principles have, at the very least, been consistent. The starting lineup in Dallas was the same as the lineup in Queens the week prior, and the sub pattern was also consistent, waiting until after the 75th minute to make the necessary changes. 

Don Deedson Louicius’s opening goal on the other side of halftime was also, unfortunately, consistent. 

CITY SC has been focused on building down the left side of the pitch through Hartel, Santos, and Becher, with the right flank mostly squeezed centrally to shrink the pitch.

Unfortunately, that meant a prime opportunity for Dallas as CITY SC attempted to recycle back into possession, and Petar Musa swiped the ball off the foot of Daniel Edelman. With everyone pressed into the left – and Conrad Wallem pushed into the wing on the weak side – the goal was easy once Musa moved the ball into a charging Deedson Louicius. 

Fortunately, the response was immediate, and CITY SC snatched back the momentum. 

The game-tying goal was created after Marcel Hartel won the ball in the defensive half, CITY SC methodically built back into possession, and Wallem’s run down the weak side was rewarded with a Córdova chance, blocked for a corner opportunity. The corner was initially knocked away, but Edelman ranged onto the ball, recycling possession, and sent a ball to the back post with both Timo Baumgartl and Simon Becher charging to meet the ball. 

Barmgartl’s goal sealed the club’s first result in Dallas, with the club’s first goal in Dallas, another ball lofted to the back post with multiple runners open for the opportunity.

“It’s about damn time, right?” Baumgartl beamed. “I'm happy to score a goal, but when you look back at the game, I think we would have deserved a win here. We played a great first half. Should have scored in the second half. We can see the goal on our mistake, but still, we have a big chance in the last minute.”

The German CB was rewarded with a spot on the MLS Team of the Matchday for his efforts: 68/73 passing, 5/6 long passes, 2 tackles, 9 clearances, 2 interceptions, 6 recoveries, and a 100% duel rate.

St. Louis are building belief and expectation that they should be on equal footing with the playoff level clubs in MLS.

On the road, against a club that has typically been one of the strongest home sides in MLS, Damet’s side were on the front foot heading into stoppage time, with Cedric Teuchert’s late chance coming inches away from delivering the club’s first road win of the season. 

“There's a ton of things that we could have done a little bit better from a collective standpoint,” Damet finished, “but individually, with a mindset like that, I think we can go a long way."

Now, with a midweek return to Energizer on the cards, CITY SC will have to keep building. They’ll have to flex their depth against FC Tulsa in their return to the US Open Cup, and will have to find a way to become more clinical in Seattle next weekend. 

St. Louis were disappointed to fly home without all 3 points in the bag. The draw was just on paper. The expected goals were even, with Dallas better in open play and CITY SC grabbing the advantage on dead-ball opportunities. However, the quality of shots meant that the squad should be disappointed not to win 1-2, with xGOT favoring the Ravioli Boys 0.66 to 1.89. 

“I'm a little bit disappointed about the result,” Baumgartl finished. “We will keep going. It's now three games in a row unbeaten. We're building something special here, but we need to be more clinical at the end to win this game.”

Resetting expectations:

St. Louis still sits 14th in the West without much help from the rest of the league, but given the strength of their opponents through 7 matches, the results aren’t as disheartening as their place in the table might convey. Furthermore, despite the 3rd toughest schedule in the league, CITY SC are 12th in expected goal differential, and 7th in the West on expected points.

Expected stats don't win matches on their own, but the underlying numbers do forecast a club that should be better off at the World Cup break than previously expected. The roster still needs work, Corey Wray has to score with the club's open DP spot this summer, but despite the desperate need to add attacking talent either up top or at wingback, the squad is punching above its weight, and expecting even more than that.

Heading to Seattle, it won’t be any easier, but after CITY SC felt hard done by the loss at Energizer, the performance in Seattle is an opportunity to show proof of their progress against a Sounders side that should be somewhat rotated after playing at Tigres in CCC play on Wednesday. 

At least for now, Damet is seeing progress in his side’s ability to play with the ball.

“The connectivity we’re building comes from common experiences and common understandings. So, that’s the process we’re going through, and now we need to continue creating those experiences for the players in training. Then we need to reflect those in the game, and then move on from that game, addressing a couple of things we need to do better and a couple of things we have done really well. And when everybody understands how we defend, how we attack, how we build up, then you start developing connections and relationships between the players. I can definitely see the growth.”

A USOC opportunity:

Like Seattle, CITY SC will have a short turnaround to Wednesday’s cup competition, but unlike Seattle, St. Louis can give some players much needed playing time at home vs Tulsa. Cup Competitions can be unpredictable, but this is an opportunity for players like Mykhi Joyner, Brendan McSorely, Fallou Fall, and Mbacke to convince Damet that they can undeniably influence matches within the defensive structure. On top of a better opportunity for Tomáš Ostrák, Tyson Pearce, and Edu Löwen to continue building their fitness within the first team structure. 

The opportunities are needed.

So far, Damet has been stringent with his starting rotation, focusing more on the structure of the collective group over potential individual bright spots. So far, that’s led to a team that is performing above expectations, but it’s a potential concern with 5 of the club’s 7 positive g+ players coming off the bench in recent weeks. Against Tulsa and Seattle, those players will have to be given more time, and maybe a player like Mykhi Joyner will convince the boss that he can stay consistent within the framework while offering an attacking dynamism that the squad has been lacking from the right sided 10 – until Edu Löwen is ready to take on that mantle.

Löwen’s return should also pump up the squad’s attacking output, as he has traditionally been the club’s most important ball progressor. CITY SC's record without Löwen in the lineup has been night and day compared to when he has been available. Coming back into a lineup that has started to play well without him could be an important spark, but even outside of Löwen – who, if he does appear on Wednesday, will most likely only feature in a cameo – the depth can be optimized elsewhere.

Can Ostrák provide a depth option for when Marcel Hartel eventually needs a break? Can Tyson Pearce step into an important depth role out wide? 

Yoann Damet thinks he would already be in that position if not for his pelvic injury coming out of preseason.

“I'm gonna be honest, I was quite surprised and impressed with him in preseason,” Damet said on Monday. “That was a big blow for me personally to have a guy that was available, ready to go, and was gonna be potentially one to create a bit more competition in that wingback position. I've got big hopes in terms of like the profile and its potential.”

The homegrown only played 28 minutes during the first team’s injury crisis last summer, but the 18 year old clearly impressed Damet this preseason and can provide that possession spark at wingback that Damet has been looking for, and why Mykhi Joyner has been positioned as a 10 vs outwide bar the late-game appearance when Damet is attempting to throw everything forward. 

Ultimately, a run in the USOC would be good for everyone – hot take, I know – and could highlight the step up in depth the club took over the offseason. Unfortunately, that depth is hard to understand when the starters are going 75 minutes every match.

Damet spoke on that Monday, saying:

"I'm not a big fan of making subs just for the sake of it. So I want to make sure that when we make a serve, it's intentional, it's purposeful, and there is an idea behind it. The game is dynamic; it's about momentum and the profile of players. So when you have Cedi coming in, he’s a different profile than putting Brendon in, so it’s, 'What do we want to do tactically? Is there an adjustment we need to make, or are we sticking to the initial plan?’"

Can the players stepping into the lineup on Wednesday show that they can keep Damet's structure while providing the same attacking spark they have from the bench? That's the million dollar question.

There’s still a long way to go for this club to meet expectations, but good performances this week would go a long way. 

Knockout soccer will bring out the team’s true colors. 

FC Tulsa

When Tulsa comes to town on Wednesday, they'll be hoping to pull off something special, and back up a frustrating home loss to Orange County over the weekend.

Tulsa's approach may look familiar.

A 3-4-3 focused on playing out of the back, winning the ball up the pitch, and creating via crosses from the wide spaces.

Tulsa will want to keep the match tight, and while there does seem to be a talent mismatch, if they can lure St. Louis into setting up shop in the attacking 3rd, there could be a chance to take advantage of a slightly rotated group that might not have the same understanding within the setup as the usual starting XI.

"It's a team that has had some success the past year and again maybe right now, it's early in the season, and the standings don't reflect where they are as a team, but I think it's a club that works well." Damet previewed on Monday. "It's a good organization that we we've got to give credit for the work that they are doing, and again, we respect every opponent, so we're going to respect them the same way we do in our preparation for each game in the league, in MLS and prepare to perform and to get a result on Wednesday because it's the cup and at the end of the day, that's what matters."

St. Louis are right not to be overconfident heading into the matchup, but they'll still be expecting to win with their best foot forward.

Simply, it's a match they must win.