Three Goals, Three Points: St. Louis City SC Takes Down LA Galaxy
Credit: St. Louis City SC
NATIONAL SOCCER NEWS: www.nationalsoccernetwork.com
Wednesday, July 22nd, the boys from St. Louis traveled to the City of Angels to battle it out against the LA Galaxy. Saint Louis City SC was coming off a nice home win against I-70 rival Sporting KC, while LA had lost their El Tráfico battle to LAFC.
Saint Louis started in a 3-4-2-1 formation under manager Yoann Damet. Captain Roman Bürki started back in goal for the first time since his injury against Houston in the US Open Cup. The three defenders were Lukas MacNaughton, Timo Baumgartl, and Dante Polvara. In the midfield, MyKhi Joyner, Chris Durkin, Daniel Edelman, and Tomas Totland started. Marcel Hartel started in the attacking midfield. Eduard Löwen and Simon Becher started as the striker duo.
The Los Angeles Galaxy started in a 4-3-3 formation under manager Greg Vanney. JT Marcinkowski started in goal. The four defenders were Miki Yamane, Jakob Glesnes, Carlos Emiro Garcés, and John Nelson. In the midfield, Lucas Sanabria, Justin Haak, and Elijah Wynder started. Joseph Paintsil, captain Marco Reus, and Harbor Miller started as the attacking trio.
The Galaxy kicked off the ball in front of more than 30,000 fans at Dignity Health Sports Park. The first half was very back and forth, with a few moments that looked like both squads could light up the scoreboard. The scoreboard finally lit up when Saint Louis got a corner kick in the 42nd minute. From the corner, Hartel kicked an out-swinging ball into the box, where defender MacNaughton came flying in to head the ball to the left side of the net to give the Golden Boys the lead.
In the 43rd minute, Marco Reus had a chance to tie it up, but his powerful shot went straight to captain Bürki in goal. When Bürki fumbled the ball a bit, he was quick to dive on it while Reus was back on the attack.
In added time, Saint Louis went back on the attack to the dismay of the home team, who had a player lying on the ground. Totland sent a powerful pass to Hartel on the left wing; he cut inside and took a touch to set himself up for a rocket right-footed shot into the inside pole of the goal that left the Galaxy goalkeeper stranded.
Saint Louis headed into the half with a 2-0 lead. Los Angeles held 58% possession, taking five shots with only one on target. St. Louis took a total of six shots, and five of them were on target. Just three minutes into the second half, things went from bad to worse for the Galaxy.
After a minor foul, Saint Louis tried to hurry up play, but Emiro Garcés broke up the play by pushing over a Saint Louis player. Emiro Garcés earned a second yellow and was sent off for the rest of the game.
In the 67th minute, when LA looked to be on the attack, the ball was stripped from them. St. Louis quickly passed the ball up to Hartel, who sent Simon Becher loose, and Becher finished the counterstrike perfectly past the attacking goalkeeper, tripling St. Louis City’s lead.
Saint Louis let Los Angeles take the attack for the rest of the game. It wasn't until the 86th minute that the Galaxy drove down the left side and all the way into the box, when City finally got the ball off the attacker’s feet, but right to the left foot of Elgersma, who placed the shot perfectly into the net to give Los Angeles a nice consolation goal.
The game finished 3-1 in favor of Saint Louis City. St. Louis finished the game with 53% possession. City took 15 shots, with nine on goal, while the Galaxy took 11 shots, with only three on target.
As reported by Matt Baker of Fly Over Footy, this STL City SC team was writing history with their most points picked up over a 6-game stretch in club history. They have had a +8 GD in that time, a 7-match unbeaten streak in all competitions (the longest in club history), and it was the first time since 2023 that they had scored 3 goals in 3 straight matches.
St. Louis City SC will come back home to face the Colorado Rapids on Saturday, July 25th. The Los Angeles Galaxy will travel down to Stanford, California, to face the San Jose Earthquakes.
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