CITY SC will face Atlanta United in the final home match of June

ST. LOUIS, Mo. (First Alert 4) – St. Louis CITY SC will face Atlanta United FC in their final home game of June, looking to earn their first win since early May.

After its 3-0 shutout against Colorado, CITY SC has now gone three consecutive matches without scoring. Wednesday’s loss also marked the seventh game since CITY’s last victory, a 3-1 win over Chicago on May 11.

Last release

Saint-Louis played its fourth of six games in June last Wednesday. In those four games, St. Louis has scored three goals, all of which came earlier this month in a 3-3 tie against Miami.

After what appeared to be a back-and-forth between the two teams, Colorado quickly took control of the game. Djordje Mihailovic opened the scoring with a header off a long throw-in from Sebastian Anderson in the ninth minute. After several close chances for Saint-Louis, including a missed penalty by Eduard Löwen, the half ended with a 1-0 lead for the visitors.

Midfielder Eduard Löwen takes a penalty for Saint-Louis in the first half.(Lucas Sellem)

In the second half, Colorado continued to dominate. Mihailovic scored in the 60th minute after intercepting a pass from Roman Bürki and firing it into the bottom left corner of the goal. Colorado’s number 10 finally sealed the hat trick with a penalty in second-half injury time.

“There are moments for us, and it just takes that moment to burst the bubble,” coach Bradley Carnell said after the game. “This is the most difficult stage at the moment for our club. We work at it every day, but it starts with determination, conviction and a hunger to get out of this hole.

In total, CITY SC had 16 shots, including four on target. A total of 15 fouls were called against Saint-Louis, including yellow cards for João Klauss, Josh Yaro, Hosei Kijima and Akil Watts.

READ: CITY SC sign 4 players on short-term loan from CITY2

Following serious injuries and roster changes, St. Louis entered this game with a very different lineup than previous games. Four CITY2 players were granted short-term loans before the match, including Brendan McSorley who made his MLS debut with an 82nd-minute substitution. Jake Nerwinski and Josh Yaro replaced the injured Joakim Nilsson and suspended Tim Parker on the backline. It was Nerwinski’s 150th MLS start.

“We have to erase this one and go again on Saturday against a good Atlanta team,” Carnell said.

And after

After the loss to Colorado, St. Louis fell to 12th in the Western Conference. In their last 10 matches, CITY have only won once. The club has only added two points since the start of June.

Next time, they will host Atlanta United at home. Atlanta barely holds a playoff spot at the moment with 20 points, two more than St. Louis. The Five Stripes are 5-5-8 and have won two of their last five.

MLS Western Conference standings as of June 20.(ESPN)

Against Eastern Conference teams this season, CITY SC is 2-1-2 overall and 2-0-1 at home. The contest will mark the first ever meeting between CITY SC and Atlanta United. An obvious threat to this team comes in the form of senior midfielder Thiago Almada. Almada, a world champion with Argentina, scored the decisive goal in Atlanta’s last victory against DC United. In 16 matches this season, he has five goals and two assists.

In addition to their No. 10, Atlanta has three other players with at least three goals. Saint-Louis, on the other hand, only has two, even though it has more scorers overall. They enter the competition 5-8-5 this season with a 2-3-3 away record and are undefeated in their last three away matches.

Midfielder Chris Durkin against Colorado Rapids.(Lucas Sellem)

“I think it’s a great opportunity for us, against a good opponent, to start with three extra points,” midfielder Chris Durkin said. “And that’s the main goal.”

Conclusion : Saint-Louis has gone through its most difficult period since its creation. With 16 regular season matches remaining, they are just over halfway through the 2024 campaign. The late June and July portion of the schedule includes several opponents well within CITY SC’s competitive range. After struggling for most of the summer, the opportunity for a comeback is still there. But for that to happen, Saint-Louis will have to accept the anomalies present in its workforce. New training will certainly be rolled out in the coming weeks, meaning new faces will be needed to take on major roles. It won’t be easy, but that’s how expansion teams find their identity. It’s time to stop focusing on last year’s success and move further into the future.

“Right now, things aren’t going the way we want them to, and there’s no one to help us get through this except ourselves,” Carnell said.

Kick-off is set for 7:30 p.m. at CITYPARK.

To learn more about St. Louis CITY SC, click here.