u/STLSoccerNews

https://reddit.com/link/1tiu7f0/video/ktv2n1bn1c2h1/player

Normally I only do video breakdowns of goals, but I had a TON of requests for this play, so here goes.

Houston's Felipe Andrade makes a nice chipped pass over CITY's Dante Polvara - who was pushed a bit too far forward, as the back line wasn't aligned, with Timo trailing and clearly keeping Dynamo #9 Ondrej Lingr onside.

When the ball clears Polvara and he turns to try to recover, he's roughly 18 feet behind a fully sprinting Lingr and about 118 feet from where he would eventually catch him, making an incredible sliding tackle to just get the bottom of his foot on the ball as Lingr releases his shot past a beaten Lundt.

The effort here (from a standing start no less) to turn, recover, catch Lingr, not foul (which would have been a clear DOGSO), AND make the tackle in the 105th minute to save the match is one of, if not THE greatest, defensive plays in the history of the club, especially given the circumstances.

Polvara was a bit out of position, and Timo kept Lingr onside, but the sheer will and determination from the CITY defender to make that play is something CITY fans will remember for a long, long time.

https://reddit.com/link/1tit2we/video/42b1wfbbxb2h1/player

Houston's 2nd goal, off a corner, was somewhat reminiscent of the goal in the DC United match from the weekend - a strike from outside the box that found a way in past Ben Lundt.

Unlike the DC match, CITY did have defenders making an effort to close down on the shooter, in this case Artur, as Hartel reacted to his reception of a pass by moving over to defend - unfortunately arriving just a bit late, as the Dynamo defender struck from about 100 feet out.

As he was preparing to shoot, Ezequiel Ponce (#10) and Felipe Andrade (#36) were moving across the face of goal. From my in-person angle last night, it appeared almost like Lundt expected a header or deflection from the shot and was caught off guard when none occurred.

The shot dipped over Andrade, past Lundt and gave Houston a 2-1 lead at the time. Not a great one to give up, but Lundt rebounded pretty well from this, as we came to find out.

https://reddit.com/link/1tis448/video/0ejdigevdb2h1/player

Que the Benny Hill music, because this one is ugly. As the Paramount+ broadcast was replaying the Hartel goal, this play happened - they missed it live, because simply kicking the ball out of your own end usually doesn't result whatever this was.

Timo had 3 relatively low risk options with the ball here - play it to his right to Lukas MacNaughton, to his left to Dante Polvara, or to the sideline to Wallem. Instead, he chose to play it right into the teeth of the Houston defense - Durkin and Edelman, both central, were surrounded by 5 Houston defenders - baiting a pass into that area, which Timo unfortunately made.

A split second before the pass, Houston's Agustín Bouzat made an outstanding read to close down on Durkin. You can see him start to sprint just as Timo starts to make his pass. It was really a perfect defensive reaction from the Dynamo midfielder.

Durkin probably only had two realistic options at this point - a ball back to MacNaughton or across the box to Polvara, but a bit of a heavy first touch let Bouzat close the gap to him and disrupt the pass, which squirted between Bürki and Polvara. In hindsight, Bürki should have left it for Polvara, but in the moment you can't fault him for trying to play the ball and avoid giving a corner.

Bürki loses his footing, the ball slips right to Houston's Mateusz Bogusz, and he taps it in to tie the score. This was just an unfortunate sequence started by a bad decision by Timo, a bad touch by Durkin, and a fantastic read by Houston's Agustín Bouzat.

https://reddit.com/link/1tiowic/video/k47czskt6b2h1/player

Let's take a look at the opening goal from last night's roller coaster USOC Quarterfinal against Houston.

On this sequence, Totland had pushed high up the left side into plenty of space, but Chris Durkin’s cross towards him was both under‑hit and off‑target - normally the kind of ball that leads to nothing. Instead, Houston’s Felipe Andrade's poor first touch redirected the ball straight into the path of both Totland and Dynamo goalkeeper Jonathan Bond.

Totland (positioned between the two Houston players) made an attempt to play the ball, but as he tangled with Andrade and Bond, a deflection off the Houston GK popped straight out to the chest of a completely unmarked Marcel Hartel. Hartel was free only because of some truly poor tracking from Dynamo center back Antonio Carlos (#3) - he ball‑watched Durkin’s initial cross, then jogged instead of sprinting to close the gap, leaving Hartel all alone in the box.

Only after Hartel chested the ball down did Carlos make an effort to defend, but he was too far out of position to get to Hartel in time. Marcel ripped home the shot to give CITY an early (but short-lived) 1-0 lead.

Andrade was far too casual in his playing of the cross, Bond was caught in no man's land, and Antonio Carlos didn't position himself correctly to mark St. Louis' most dangerous player. Not great from a Dynamo side that's been quite good defensively this season.

It's US Open Cup Quarterfinals night, and we've got a look at the visiting Houston Dynamo, including HOU content creators Bayou City Soccer, Dynamo Faithful, Noodle Time, Soccer Matters, & The Bayoucitian.

https://stlsoccernews.com/were-st-louis-city-who-are-you-5-19-26/

https://reddit.com/link/1tfx14d/video/kxxyikk6nq1h1/player

On the late goal from DCU to turn what should have been 3 points into 1, DC's João Peglow hits a volley from 75 feet out through 5 CITY defenders past a screened Roman Bürki. Horrendous positioning (again) off the DC corner kick resulted in a pee-wee soccer style mass of humanity in the box, with all 10 CITY outfield players clustered together for some reason. Warmth? Friendship? Who knows.

Anyways, this newly invented "Blob Defense" worked about as well as expected, creating both time and space for Peglow to settle his first touch and hit a well placed ball past 3 onrushing CITY defenders and between 2 others, finding the back of the net and making Bürki and CITY fans very upset.

Set piece defending has been a significant issue for CITY all year now, whether it's a lack of back post coverage or positioning (as in this case). They simply must do better.

https://reddit.com/link/1tfwcjs/video/7wvkse3liq1h1/player

Let's look at CITY's goal last night in the frustrating 1-1 draw in DC. Sang-bin, who has been playing very well lately, uses his excellent speed to beat old friend Lucas Bartlett to Becher's flick, outpacing him to the ball despite having to cover almost 20 extra feet.

As Sang-bin carries along the right side, Becher does a nice job of making a run towards the 6 yard box that pulls 2 DCU players with him. This created space in behind for Cedric Teuchert to float into, as well as caused Rafael Santos to probably have some abandonment issues as the Brazilian LWB was completely alone closing down the back post (something CITY has been doing a much much better job of the last few matches).

Sang-bin's cross was nicely dummied by Teuchert, enabling the trailing Chris Durkin to run onto the ball for his shot. He didn't get a ton on it, which, given his track record of usually putting balls like that into the 20th row, was probably a good thing as it beat an outstretched Sean Johnson to give CITY a 1-0 lead.

This goal was the result of excellent work by Sang-bin to use his speed and vision, good dirty work by Becher to create space in behind with his run, a nice decision to leave the ball by Teuchert, and a well-placed shot by Durkin.

https://preview.redd.it/j3s34zgrjb1h1.png?width=900&format=png&auto=webp&s=17c07b94a9ce467d94cabbb2b09319d737005907

CITY heads to DC to face off against old friends Stroud, Kijima & Bartlett - get the scoop on United with our match preview, featuring DCU content creators DC United Kingdom, RFK Refugees, Screaming Eagles, The District Press , and The Bad Hombres FC.

https://stlsoccernews.com/were-st-louis-city-who-are-you-5-16-26/

https://reddit.com/link/1td4j1d/video/yw68x8sox41h1/player

They say speed kills, and for LAFC's only goal of the match last night that expression certainly rang true, as Nkosi Tafari's perfectly timed, perfectly placed long ball beat a streaking David Martinez who flew past a flat-footed Fallou Fall and made a lovely one-touch flick over a hung out to dry Roman Bürki.

Not much to add to this one - LAFC likes to play these types of home run balls to targets like Bouanga, but this one to the second half sub Martinez (who continued to be a threat the rest of the match) got LAFC back into the match.

https://reddit.com/link/1td3pjl/video/wbvwoe57s41h1/player

CITY absorbed a ton of LAFC pressure but was finally able to counter and grab a second goal against the run of play last night. Let's break it down.

Tomas Totland's nice ball through traffic finds Marcel Hartel, who played a touch into space away from the defensive pressure. Credit to Sergio Cordova, who began his well timed run up the right side and gave Hartel a target for his through ball.

As Cordova hits the ball from Hartel first time, LAFC has 5 defenders in or near the box, with CITY only having Becher in the attacking area. What LAFC didn't see, and what they struggled with on the earlier Totland goal, was the wingback closing down on the back post (sound familiar, CITY fans?).

Rafael Santos was in acres of space all alone on the left side, as LAFC's Ryan Raposo was once again caught ball watching (as he was in the Totland goal earlier) and seemingly oblivious to Santos moving into an attacking position. Cordova's cross clipped Raposo, whose momentum carried him away from the ball and Santos cleaned it up past an out-of-position Lloris for a 2-0 lead.

Not exactly the prettiest goal ever, but ultimately it was enough to get 3 points off LAFC for the first time ever.

https://reddit.com/link/1td144k/video/9rsd6wosc41h1/player

Let's look at Tomas Totland's goal from last night, which opened the scoring against LAFC. A nice long ball from Timo (not something he's typically excelled at in his time here) finds Sang-bin, who made a pretty nice first touch to cut the ball back inside. For a player not known for having a good first touch, this was nicely done by the South Korean winger.

As Sang-bin was gathering the ball, Cordova's run carried the LAFC defensive line away from him, which gave Sang-bin and Marcel Hartel space to operate. Sang-bin hit a nicely weighted ball to Hartel, who had a clear sightline of Eduard Löwen moving along the wing. Löwen had slowed but continued his run towards the touchline, hitting a first-time ball back across the box to an open Totland who had closed on the back post and called for the ball. Totland made a simple volley to give CITY the early lead.

Overall, this sequence was one of the nicest combination play goals of the year so far and an excellent example of the short passing style that Damet wants.

https://preview.redd.it/ra48pzyx3x0h1.jpg?width=900&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=16084107848785f18cef8ca1902a8f36da838e2a

The original gold and black team in this league comes to town tonight - get the scoop on LAFC with our Match Preview, featuring LAFC Content Creators Defend the Banc, Happy Foot Sad Foot, Heart of LAFC, LAFSinFlitro, & CounterPress.

https://stlsoccernews.com/were-st-louis-city-who-are-you-05-13-26/

https://reddit.com/link/1t9czns/video/p7xds8lhgc0h1/player

Let's look at the one and only goal of the match last night, from Jeong Sang-bin. After 25 minutes of watching every long ball he hit get hung up in last night's crazy winds, Bürki instead hit this ball low and hard, finding Simon Becher just beyond midfield.

Becher's flicked header found Sang-bin, who had started his run just before the ball got to Becher - notice his pace increase as he makes an excellent read to blow past Colorado's Lucas Herrington (22) and Miguel Navarro (29). From there, Sang-bin stays unusually calm for a CITY player on a breakaway and makes a nice move on Rapids' GK Nico Hansen, sliding the ball to the left and banging home the only goal CITY would need.

Herrington made 2 mistakes here - losing sight of the speedy Sang-bin by ball watching and then not taking the tactical foul he could have taken. Would it have been DOGSO? Almost certainly, especially considering what was called DOGSO later - but it may have been worth the red to prevent what turned into the winning goal for CITY.

https://reddit.com/link/1t3oukr/video/ixcx73rti5zg1/player

Ok, buckle up for this one. Myrto Uzuni's goal to seal yesterday's match is... ugly. The play starts with a throw from Austin's GK Brad Stuver after a corner kick. For some inexplicable reason, Mbacke Fall decided to... faceguard Stuver instead of running back to, you know, play his position?

Anyways, while he was doing whatever the hell that was, Stuver made a nice throw to Rosales, who laid it off to Facundo Torres. Torres found Jon Gallagher making a run between Timo and Wallem, both of whom, along with Polvara, were ball watching (sound familiar?) and played a lovely ball up the side - which Gallagher ran on to. He played a ball back across the box, where Fallou Fall and Polvara were 2v2 against Biro and Uzuni.

Neither reacted well, as Polvara's momentum carried him too far into Fall and Christian Ramirez moved into the open space, beating a slow-to-react Timo to the ball, one-touching a pass to Uzuni, who fired a shot past a now out of position Polvara and a late to close Fall and into the far corner.

This was a mess of a play by the entire defense, and it sealed the win for Austin.

https://reddit.com/link/1t3j2qr/video/nn1fxunbq4zg1/player

Let's take a look at yesterday's first goal from Austin by Christian Ramirez because if I have to, you have to. After the initial ATX corner was deflected away by Totland, Oleksandr Svatok flicks the ball to Myrto Uzuni, who feeds it to Dani Pereira. At this point, CITY's backline had reformed their shape - except for Timo, who was drifting several feet behind the line while ball watching and was keeping Ramirez onside.

This allowed Ramirez to position himself behind Totland, who was unable to recover and catch the Austin forward before he could head the well-placed ball from Pereira past a diving Bürki. Timo, whose lack of alignment with the rest of the defenders enabled the play, was also not in a spot where he could contest Pereira's cross. A mental mistake that put CITY down 1-0.

https://reddit.com/link/1swfpyj/video/lh0vyzhcxkxg1/player

Let's look at Marcel Hartel's go-ahead goal last night next. The initial ball from Daniel Munie to Jack Jasinski played right into the CITY press, which was well upfield and in perfect defensive position to limit options with the ball.

As Munie made his pass, both Edelman and Totland push forward, making the flick from Jasinski to Niko Tsakiris a contested play as Tsakiris was unable to control the ball an Edelman's challenge popped the ball forward to Becher.

Becher, head up, sees Hartel breaking towards the top of the box and hits him in stride with a nice pass to keep Hartel between the ball and San Jose's #14 Ronaldo Vieira. Vieira got caught flat footed AND was behind Hartel and didn't see the Edelman deflection to Becher.

Unable to catch Hartel, CITY now had a 2v1 on Floriani with Córdova applying a bit of a screen and leaving the SJ defender in a helpless position. Floriani attempts to step to the ball, but Hartel curled it past Daniel for a 2-1 lead.

Very nice pressing positioning directly led to this chance, which Hartel made the most of.