The shift that fueled St. Louis CITY SC’s 3-1 win over Toronto FC.
St. Louis SC are now 18 unbeaten across all competitions following a 3-1 win over Toronto that highlighted the club's ability to adapt.
It’s been champagne soccer for Yoann Damet’s St. Louis CITY SC since the transfer window slammed shut last month. Saturday night’s 3-1 rout of Toronto FC was just the latest result in an unreal 18-match unbeaten streak. For starters, an attack that scored just one goal over the first four matches of the season has now scored three goals in four of the last five matches and in eight of the thirteen matches since the World Cup break.
All while the latest stretch of nine matches in a little over a month has resulted in 6 wins, 3 draws, and 20 players in the rotation.
CITY SC hosted a Toronto side that was desperate to climb back into the Eastern Conference playoff race. Toronto’s arrival meant a Josh Sargent homecoming just as he rounded into his best form since he returned to North American soccer — 4 goals, 1 assist over the past month, but his underlying stats have been outstanding.
That both Toronto and Josh Sargent have one of their worst performances over 90 minutes in St. Louis speaks to what Yoann Damet’s squad has built this summer.
Toronto were tough to play against through the opening half hour. CITY SC created a few chances out of their press, and through Rafael Navarro’s ability to drop back and lift balls forward into space. However, the Canadians were stuck in with their man marking scheme, and CITY SC found it difficult to build through the center of the park. TFC found some openings but weren’t able to break through before the hydration break.
“Toronto came here to defend more man to man and be quite tight with us. So we knew we needed to look more inside the field.” Damet said, “That’s why I do like a left footer on the right and a right footer on the left, it allows us to find just a little bit in that positioning and I thought we had a very good 2nd half and the guys expressed themselves very well.”
The break was needed as the humidity hung in the hot September air after the sun went down on Energizer Park.
Unfortunately for Robin Frazer and Toronto, the break also lent Yoann Damet an opportunity to make a change in the midfield rotation. At times, Conrad Wallem tucked inside to help in the buildup, but the decision to essentially swap either Wallem and Holse or Wallem and Sangbin to progress forward created a mismatch that made Toronto’s life hell.
Wallem became the right side of the midfield diamond opposite Alex Mǎțan as Navarro dropped in to connect and Durkin made up the base. The opening goal is created out of that setup in the attacking third. Carlo Holse has frequently dropped deep into the midfield on the right side – it’s where he sends the pass in Navarro vs Minnesota – but instead of receiving the pass deep, he made the central run when Mǎțan attacked on the dribble.
St Louis CITY SC
This was a total collapse of the Toronto defensive scheme.
The 2nd half was more of the same for CITY SC as Simon Becher proved to be even more of a problem when he replaced Sangbin at halftime.
CITY SC started to create more transition opportunities through their mismatches. Carlo Holse pushed play into the wing, Wallem progressed on the dribble centrally, while Totland and Mǎțan added numbers into the attack that Toronto couldn’t keep at bay.
The 2nd goal was created out of that flexibility.
Jaziel Orozco’s ball into Becher created the 2nd goal as Becher lifted the ball over his head into the charging Wallem, Wallem found Mǎțan, who decided against forcing a shot to instead find Totland alone at the top of the box.
St Louis CITY SC
Simply the aesthetic ideal of what Damet has built out of this summer’s transformation.
Orozco receives flak from the fanbase for his defensive moments, but this ball into Becher is why he continues to force his way back into Yoann Damet’s lineup. If who is the best 3rd CB option is your fanbase’s biggest debate, things are going well.
Finally, CITY SC grabbed the 3rd goal off the press, a nice moment where Becher forced Toronto to retreat, Holse rushed Gomis before Wallem picked the ball off Pereira and flicked his pass into Becher, who – of course he did, why wouldn’t he? – cleanly finished his chance.
St Louis CITY SC
The sub windows threw the final 10 minutes + stoppage time out of whack. Damion Downs looked good as the 2nd striker playing underneath Becher, and just about broke out of his goalless streak if Holse isn’t offside in the buildup.
Toronto made sure that CITY SC continued to fail to keep clean sheets against non-Colorado/Austin opponents thanks to Theodor Corbeanu’s header in the 97th minute, the final kick of the match.
The superlatives for St. Louis CITY SC are all there; only 4 teams in MLS have a better xGD and xPoints than Yoann Damet’s side over the last 5 matches. Vancouver and Colorado are sitting at 7.17 and 3.35 xGD, respectively; CITY SC beat both teams thoroughly on the road. All of this while CITY SC rotated through midweek away matches, including a monumental US Open Cup semifinal win.
The rotation has not only created big opportunities for players like Fallou Fall to earn their way back into the lineup – naturally, there aren’t many chances when the group hasn’t lost since May 3rd – and has allowed the group to keep the energy and focus needed to execute Yoann Damet’s vision.
“It’s been great to have Fallou get more opportunities.” Damet said, “I think tonight he showed not only how great he can be defensively but also how well he can bring the ball forward, find some interesting passes through the line and in behind. So, it’s been very good; we have a very good group that is working hard to get better every day, and that is no different for Fallou. Tonight I thought his performance was very good.”
Learning from SKC.
Rotation has been the biggest criticism of Damet during this run. On one hand, it’s tough to take the rotational choices too negatively when the squad continues to grab results, but there has been a noticeable change over the past month. In part, it’s Damet trusting his depth options since the summer transactions, but there was a hard lesson baked into this run of matches.
CITY SC traveled to San Jose with a chip on its shoulder following the departure of Marcel Hartel. They then turned in what was probably the most complete road performance of the season up until that point. Damet wanted to reward that performance days later when CITY SC traveled to Kansas to take on Sporting Kansas City. The same XI that ran the Earthquakes off the pitch struggled to assert themselves against a SKC squad that will likely finish last in the Western Conference for a 2nd straight season.
Edu Löwen’s free-kick goal ahead of halftime was St. Louis’s brightest moment of the match, a match where they were somewhat lucky to hold on for the draw as SKC kept St. Louis without a shot on target in the 2nd half.
Yoann Damet pointed to that match as a learning moment in recent weeks. Different circumstances – not every road match will be a back to back against your rivals – but the last 4 matches have seen 4 to 5 changes in the starting XI game to game, showing the growth. Damet didn’t reward the XI that played Vancouver off the pitch; instead, he made 4 changes and even used all 6 subs. The XI that clinched a Final in Colorado didn’t feature DPs; Holse or Navarro, and Holse responded with his best performance since arriving in St. Louis against Toronto.
“Energy and intensity are big parts of our game, and if we know that hose two elements are not there, we can not perform, it’s as simple as that.” Damet said, “The players have understood that, they’re really conscience of how important that energy level, that intensity level in to be able to be ourselves. Four guys with fresh legs tonight as well, that energy is contagious.”
It’s important growth driven by options that Damet trusts in the tactical plan but a group that is also hungry to prove themselves when they do get their chance in the lineup.
As much as the draw at Sporting Park was a sore spot for supporters on the night, it might go down as the most important match of the season as far as Damet's process is concerned.
Following next weekend’s trip to New Jersey, St. Louis will have 7 matches in 21 days, including the US Open Cup Final. It’s the most congested stretch of the season before one final week of training ahead of Decision Day in Houston. That’s 8 regular season matches and a Cup Final as CITY SC sits in 3rd place in the Western Conference with matches against both sides ahead of them in the table. If St. Louis can continue the unbeaten run, they could host Vancouver with an opportunity to pull even with the top of the conference and tie the MLS unbeaten record set by Columbus in 2004.
Not even the most optimistic St. Louis soccer supporter would have predicted this opportunity back in April.
Damion Downs called up, CITY 2 insights.
The upcoming USMNT camp was already weird before Ricardo Pepi’s latest injury meant he would need to be replaced. Not many would have expected Damion Downs to be the one on the other end of that phone call.
Downs spent last season scoreless and hasn’t yet knocked the dust off in St. Louis, even as he came close this past weekend. That being said, it’s easy to see why Pochettino wants another look. Downs is a big body who can still be a productive 2nd attacker when he tracks back through the midfield. This isn’t a window where Pochettino is looking to call in a hot hand – there’s maybe another American in St. Louis who would better fit that bill – but it is a window where the manager wants to see how players look in the national team setup while maybe giving a player an opportunity to find a way forward.
Secondly, the USMNT will play Chile in St. Louis as well as matches against Mexico and Canada in Arizona and Minnesota. Downs is an easy call with that in mind, and his absence won’t be a huge blow for St. Louis when they take on Red Bull this weekend. 22, and the eye test tells you he has the physical tools and the tactical mind, but he still needs to prove that in his production. This is a good incentive for him.
Meanwhile, David Critchley’s CITY2 wrapped up its regular season yesterday with a 0-2 loss to Austin. CITY2 has made the MLSNP playoff every season so far but the 7th-place finish in the Western Conference is the worst finish for the group in its 5 years of existence. It’s been a tough set of circumstances; not only has it been a rotating cast of characters, with most of last year’s roster not returning for the 2026 season. It’s to be expected; there was a fresh crop of players ready for 2 team experience out of the academy and a new Sporting Director who wants to use the 2 team as a showcase for different types of players, all while David Critchley has had to adjust his play style to better suit the new tactical direction.
Yesterday’s roster was one that featured players who either have first-team experience or were brought in to be first-team contributors in the near future. It’s tough for Critchley to make all of that work after a season of different players in those roles, including a goalkeeper in Christian Olivares who has spent most of the season on loan in Jacksonville.
It’s hard to gain insight from results in that setup, but CITY2 does get the boost of a 3-week break before the MLSNP playoffs begin, time for David Critchley to build rapport with a group of players that will still look different than the lineup that rounded out the regular season last night.
Charles-Emile Brunet and Miggy Perez could still have opportunities to be depth pieces in the first-team midfield, along with players like Mykhi Joyner, Palmer Ault, Tahir Reid-Brown, and Zach Zengue, who have been mainstays in the first-team training setup this season. CITY2 have yet to learn who will be their opponent for the first round next month.
