St. Louis CITY SC — Matchday 1
St. Louis CITY SC at Austin FC | 25 February 2023
Thoughts No One Asked For
TL;DR — Decades in the making, the first match in franchise history featured a bit of everything and then some. Some great story lines throughout: early injuries for both sides; Kipp Keller thrust into action against his hometown club; late goal drama. It was a roller coaster of emotion for me being 4000 miles away. In the end, CITY came away with a 3–2, come-from-behind victory over the team that finished 2nd in the Western Conference last year and an MVP finalist. Heck of a way to earn their first 3 points on the season.
FULL THOUGHTS
FORMATION: 4–2–3–1
LINEUP: Bürki (GK), Nelson (LB), Hiebert (CB), Parker (CB), Nerwinski (RB), Löwen (CM), Vassilev (CM), Stroud (LW) Ostrák (CAM), Alm (RW), Klauss (FW)
SUBS: Blom for Vassilev; Niko for Alm; Miggy for Ostrák; Célio for Stroud; Yaro for Klauss
GOALS: Parker, Stroud, Klauss
Firstly — Kipp Keller: poor kid, thrust into the spotlight against his hometown club, playing a vital position with only 6 MLS games under his belt. Absolutely had a match to forget, not only gifting Stroud the tying goal, but getting beat by Klauss for the game-winner. I think Keller will be good player; he’s only 22. But he’s best forgetting this match ever happened.
Goalkeeping — 8/10. Honestly, pretty darn solid. I wish he played Driussi’s chip a little better, but then again, getting beat by an MVP candidate from last year on a magnificent touch isn’t anything to be embarrassed about. Nothing he could do on either of Austin’s goals, but mishandling the ball to give Austin a corner made me nervous. Also grateful for the crossbar at the end there.
Defense — 8/10. Excellent. Parker’s goal to open the scoring was a thing of beauty, but the way he and Hiebert (an undrafted talent, I believe) worked together was most impressive. Great partnership there. I think Nelson and Nerwinski were also solid against a pretty potent Austin attack — they scored LOTS last season en route to finishing 2nd in the conference. Some shaky moments, but I’m chalking that up more to the caliber of opponent than deficiency on our end.
Midfield — 7/10. Mostly good. Generally communicated well, though perhaps a bit disorganised on Austin’s 2nd goal coverage. Always nervous when someone (Vassilev) has to go off early due to injury and the person coming on hasn’t had as much time as you’d like with the team, but Blom for me was an absolute stud in midfield. Not only disruptive, but 90% of the time he also picked out the right pass after winning the ball. Keep an eye on him. Stroud had a great match, too, obviously being gifted the goal, but hungry and cheeky, which is what I want in an attacking player. Ostrák was okay — I think he’ll grow into the season, but I’d have liked to see a bit more knowing how talented he is. Everyone else, especially Löwen, good jorb!
Forwards — 10/10. Despite looking like a 38yo Sunday indoor league player (which honestly will be me in a couple years, ah!), Santa Klauss moved well, had good touches, and his finish was a thing of beauty. He is the real deal, and I think he can have a good, good career in MLS if he stays healthy.
In summary, a pretty awesome start for us. We did not look out of place against the team that finished 2nd in the conference/a win away from the MLS Cup Final last season. Austin is a Very Good side and we went into their house and came away with 3 points. I think playing the pressing style always asks a lot of your players, so it didn’t surprise me to see some tired legs out there around the 60th minute. I would’ve liked to see us have a bit more possession; there was a stretch of 10–15min in the 2nd half where Austin was pretty dominant in that statistic, but this is just me being nitpicky.
OH! And also great to see Yaro get a run out toward the end.
