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For a fourth staight match, St. Louis CITY SC miss out on any points in a 1-2 loss against Columbus Crew. This match, however, was unlike the previous matches, as CITY left the pitch with a different frustration--rather than feeling outplayed, they felt as though they deserved more. CITY generated 1.69 xG, and that is not including the João Klauss goal that was recalled due to offsides in extremely controverisal fashion.
🧵João Klauss spoke post #STLvCLB.
— Will Bratton (stlcityscviews) (@willbrattonstl) April 14, 2025
"From the camera that we watched, I was onside."
"I think it was the game that we created the most... it's a tough game, I think we did a good job in our plan and deserved more."
Klauss said frustration is different this week #AllForCITY
Injuries:
St. Louis were without Roman Bürki (hand), Eduard Löwen (personal), Rasmus Alm (hip), Chris Durkin (MCL), Jannes Horn (thigh), Jay Reid (foot), and Tomas Totland (hamstring). They also lost Joshua Yaro early in the match, who exited due to concussion protocol after a rather bizarre sequence of events.
Scoring Recap:
STL 1 - 0 CLB | João Klauss scored the first goal of the match in the 7th minute, finishing his own rebound off the crossbar with a header after a feed from Célio Pompeu. This broke a massive scoreless drought for him.
STL 1 - 1 CLB | Steven Moreira scored the first for Columbus in stoppage time of the first half, laying a gorgeous strike on a back door ball.
STL 1 - 2 CLB | Diego Rossi scored the game winner for Columbus in the 55th minute, burying a low strike to the far post from range after a quality possession sequence through the midfield.
If you'll humor me: STL 2 - 2 CLB | João Klauss scored the game tying goal for St. Louis, but it was recalled due to offsides. It was not sent to a Video Assisted Review. You be the judge:
Key Takeaways:
We are witnessing the revenge tour of João Klauss in real time, folks. Klauss was an absolute monster in Energizer Park's first Sunday Night Soccer. He scored one that counted, one that didn't and had a total of 4 shots on target (not including the offsides goal). He also used his body very well as the hold up man, creating opportunities for CITY to relieve the pressure from Columbus and get the ball up the pitch. Similarly, Pompeu is getting hot and more significant minutes, so the Brazilian duo is one to watch.
Olof Mellberg is starting to figure it out. The attack is beginning to click much better, and even despite missing a variety of key contributors on the back line, Kessler & Co. still held it down pretty well. Mellberg also brought up two youngsters--Mykhi Joyner, who made his 2025 debut, and Brendan McSorley--to add reinforcements to the squad, something he had previously been criticized for not doing.
Timo Baumgartl deserves significant minutes... and now we might know why he didn't get them sooner. Baumgartl played an excellent match, and was key in the build out for St. Louis. Post-match, he said that rhythm is largely important, and implied that he had told the coaching staff not to give him extended minutes until he could get back in comfortable form. Remember that this is a player who had a cancer scare and had managerial issues prior to coming, and has not played significant consistent minutes in over two years.
Baumgartl said both teams got tired at the end, but CITY had the chances. "For me, it was nice to play... I need rhythm with a long time without play, I told [the team/coaching] this prior."
— Will Bratton (stlcityscviews) (@willbrattonstl) April 14, 2025
Jokingly cites his electric moment as a striker. #AllForCITY
Also says "it is hot."
The panic button still has glass encasing it--and it doesn't need to be shattered yet. Of course, hosting the two conference-leading clubs back to back is not ideal, but if St. Louis can manage a result against Vancouver Whitecaps on Easter weekend, the hope meter will be full and CITY Red. This is the roughest 5-match stretch in the schedule, (CLB, VAN, @ SEA, @ LAFC, SDFC), but getting at least 4 points out of that gauntlet would be huge. Preferably 6 or 7.
Betting Recap:
Eric Sontag landed his third straight St. Louis CITY SC bet of a same game parlay (Columbus double chance, under 3.5). Both bets were more than threatened, but Sontag escaped squeaky clean yet again.
Looking Forward:
Energizer Park will play host to the white-hot Vancouver Whitecaps on Easter weekend--the very club who just put 5 goals on Austin FC's head and lead MLS in points (19), goals (17), and goal differential (+11). St. Louis CITY SC sit in a 5-club tie for fewest goals against (6), and with the attack potentially warming up and a few injured players possibly returning, it could be a fun rebound for the Lou.