Front offices throughout MLS are trying to explain just what expansion team St. Louis City SC did before entering the league that was so right.
MLS front offices question what St. Louis City SC did right to become the first team in the league to score three-of-more goals in their first-ever two games. The answer certainly isn’t that they did everything.
The team needs some tighter defense and more aggressive goalkeeping. That was evident when the first goal scored in their home stadium was by Charlotte FC. It was on a shot from distance by Charlotte forward Enzo Copetti, assisted by Karol Swiederski and Kamil Jozwiak.
After that 39th-minute score, St. Louis quickly adjusted and showed their supporters all they had done right to prepare for MLS competition. They unleashed their recruited cloud of attackers.
Just two minutes after the opening goal, defender Jake Nerwinski sent a cross to striker Joao Klauss. It went over the forward by a foot. Charlotte defender Bill Tuiloma meant to head the ball clear but lobbed it into his own net by mistake.
The 41st-minute Own Goal equalized the match. Then St. Louis began adjusting on the pitch. They transitioned from their starting 4-4-2 Double 6 formation with two strikers to the 4-2-3-1 that got them their season-opening win.
The adjustments paid off quickly. An Eduard Lowen penalty in first-period stoppage time won the game. But that didn’t stop Klauss from posting a 71st-minute goal for a third score that spoke volumes.
That Klauss goal makes St. Louis City SC only the fourth expansion team in MLS history to win their first two matches. The last teams are Chicago Fire in 1998, Seattle Sounders in 2009, and Los Angeles FC in 2018.
City SC also becomes the first team in MLS history to score at least three goals in each of its first three games as a franchise.
Charlotte bested St. Louis City in several key team areas. The visitors nearly doubled the home team in the categories of possession, aerials won and total passes.
But the systematic St. Louis midfield disruption advanced to the attacking side of the pitch and mostly stayed there throughout the match. That’s where the Own Goal and Penalty Kick came from.
The home team posted 23 tackles, with midfielder Lowen accounting for six.
St. Louis City SC heads to Portland Timbers next. That team got edged out 3-2 by LAFC last match. While they have a win, that hard-fought loss has them questioning their place this season.
St. Louis is practicing and studying the scouting reports to keep Portland’s place low. St. Louis enters this week second place in MLS Western Conference. They’ll stay up in the standings.