St. Louis CITY SC and Colorado played to a draw on Saturday night following an action-packed encounter at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park. After a first half that saw goalkeeper Roman Bürki made eight saves, CITY SC took the lead in the 57th minute through Rasmus Alm. Colorado’s Michael Barrios leveled the game in stoppage time.
A Tale of Two Halves
Colorado largely threatened CITY SC throughout the first half forcing goalkeeper Roman Bürki to make saves after saves in the first half to keep the score level going into halftime. CITY SC came out of halftime buzzing and found the opener through Alm who finished a brilliant cross from Jared Stroud. With the game dwindling Colorado found the equalizer in stoppage time.
Roman Bürki the Wall
Roman Bürki had an impressive performance between the posts against Colorado. Bürki made 12 saves throughout the game, three shy of the MLS regular season record. Bürki was denied his third clean sheet of the season in stoppage time.
Additional Notes
- St. Louis CITY SC remains atop the Western Conference, edging Seattle Sounders by goal difference (both teams are tied on 20 points)
- With Alm’s goal, CITY SC’s midfielders have now scored eight (8) goals, good for second in MLS behind Columbus Crew.
- Rasmus Alm has four goal contributions (2 goals, 2 assists) in seven matches
- With the tie, CITY SC’s 10 points in their first five away matches is the most by an expansion team in MLS history (LAFC previously held the record with 9 points)
- With his assist in tonight’s match, Jared Stroud has had a goal contribution in three of CITY SC’s five road matches: Austin (goal), Portland (goal) and Colorado (assist).
- With his start against Colorado Rapids, defender Jake Nerwinski has made a total of 150 MLS regular season appearances.
- Roman Burki has had his two highest-save games in the altitude, stopping eight (8) shots against Real Salt Lake and saving twelve (12) against Colorado Rapids
- Akil Watts made his first MLS start against Colorado Rapids
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Goal-Scoring Plays
STL – Rasmus Alm (Jared Stroud), 57th minute: Rasmus Alm right footed shot from the center of the box to the bottom right corner.
COL – Michael Barrios (Diego Rubio), 90’+2 minute: Michael Barrios right footed shot from the right side of the box to the top right corner.
Next Game
St. Louis CITY SC returns to CITYPARK to face Union Omaha on Tuesday, April 25 before resuming MLS action at home against Portland Timbers on Saturday, April 29.
Colorado Rapids (1-3-5, 8 pts) vs. St. Louis CITY SC (6-2-1, 19 pts)
April 22, 2023 – Dick’s Sporting Goods Park (Commerce City, CO)
Goals by Half 1
Colorado Rapids 0 1 1
St. Louis CITY SC 0 1 1
Scoring Summary
STL: Rasmus Alm (Jared Stroud), 57
COL: Michael Barrios (Diego Rubio), 90’+2
Misconduct Summary
STL: Jared Stroud (caution), 47
STL: Célio Pompeu (caution), 79
COL: Lalas Abubakar (caution), 89
STL: Tim Parker (caution), 90’+5
COL: Ralph Priso-Mbongue (caution), 90’+6
Lineups
COL: GK William Yarbrough ©; D Keegan Rosenberry, D Danny Wilson (Anthony Markanich 70′), D Andreas Maxso, D Lalas Abubakar D Steven Beitashour (Darren Yapi 70′); M Max (Jonathan Lewis 70′), M Connor Ronan, M Bryan Acosta (Ralph Priso 77′); F Diego Rubio, F Kevin Cabral (Michael Barrios 70′)
Substitutes Not Used: GK Marko Ilic, D Alex Gersbach, D Sebastian Anderson, D Michael Edwards
TOTAL SHOTS: 21; SHOTS ON GOAL: 13; FOULS: 8; OFFSIDES: 3; CORNER KICKS: 4; SAVES: 3
STL: GK Roman Bürki ©; D Jake Nerwinski, D Tim Parker, D Kyle Hiebert, D John Nelson (Selmir Pidro 78′); M Jared Stroud (Célio Pompeu 61′), M Eduard Löwen, M Akil Watts (Indiana Vassilev 46′), M Rasmus Alm (Miguel Perez 78′); F João Klauss (Tomáš Ostrák 61′), F Nicholas Gioacchini
Substitutes Not Used: D Josh Yaro, D Jon Bell, GK Ben Lundt, M Isak Jensen
TOTAL SHOTS: 9; SHOTS ON GOAL: 4; FOULS: 14; OFFSIDES: 0; CORNER KICKS: 5; SAVES: 12
Referee: Marcos de Oliveira
Assistant Referees: Jeremy Kieso, Ian McKay
Fourth Official: Timothy Ford
VAR: Daniel Radford
AVAR: Eric Weisbrod
Venue: Dick’s Sporting Goods Park
Weather: Cloudy, 39 degrees
ST. LOUIS CITY SC POSTGAME QUOTES
VIDEO: Interviews
BRADLEY CARNELL
His opening statement following the match…
Thanks, John. Good evening. So, we knew coming into this game that it was going to be a real tough game. We knew we were going to have to learn to suffer in certain moments, especially based on you know, Robin’s last couple of results. They’ve had a real good run, and we knew we were going to have to have moments of fatigue and fight and learn to suffer as a group. And we saw that in the first half, you know, to keep the clean sheet in the first half, Roman comes up trumps, really strong. And I thought it was a great second half start to come out the block flying, set the tone. We felt the longer the game went on, the more we would take a handle on the game, and I think you could see that in certain moments. And then once again, we just go into the small moments of fatigue and, you know, we have to get caught chasing substitutions and making sure that we try and survive at the end day. But all in all, very proud of the boys. One point — Colorado again, it’s always tough. They’re never the prettiest. And yeah, we move on from there.
On the adjustments he made at the beginning of the second half…
Yeah, I mean, we just, we just thought we were losing a little bit of the shape and the structure a little bit. We know we have a game coming up on Tuesday, so we had to strategically manipulate and move a few pieces. So, when Indy comes on, he just gives us a little bit more flexibility with and without the ball. I thought he was excellent in both phases of the game and showed a lot of energy. And that’s exactly what we needed to come out in that second half. And then as the game moves on, you know, we have to make a couple of adjustments. And, yeah, later on in the game we could see –- they bring on for substitutions all at once, and then we get caught in a formational battle and a formational war of which, you know, we try to counter that with Selmir Pedro and Celio Pompeo operating as the wingbacks in the back five. So, I think both teams could have won it, both teams could have lost it. I think we go away here with a tie and we get ready for Tuesday.
On whether it hurts to not win given Roman Bürki’s performance…
Yeah, so I mean, Roman had an excellent game. I think they were like three or four offside calls where Roman makes a big save, but we just have to exhaust so much energy to recover. I just feel if it’s so clear and obvious for the offside call — I know what the rule says. So yes, Roman comes up big on a couple of saves. And on the night, he was world class. You know, he held on to the balls he needed to hold on to. His footwork was excellent, got into great spots, which made some saves look easy, but they were proper high-class, high-level saves. So from that point of view, yeah, we just again, you know, get caught a little bit short, trying to get our next clean sheet. Everyone’s a little bit dejected, a little bit disappointed. You know, we look at the first half and think, ‘Ha, we could have lost that one, second half we could have won that one.’ So I think again, we walk out of here with our heads held up high and it’s one point extra on the tally board.
On Klauss’ injury status…
And then the Klauss updates. He felt his quad a little bit, so precautionary to pull him out. But it’s too soon to tell the severity. It’s too soon to have a look and see, but he says it doesn’t feel that bad — so whatever that may mean. And we’ll just have to assess over the next 24 to 48 hours.
On Rasmus Alm’s performance against Colorado…
Well, I mean, Rasmus is growing every single day. He’s feeling more confident in his body, feeling more confident in the principles and the tactics. And we know what type of games where we might need his speed and his pace and his directness, and he obviously has final-third quality as well. So having a look at that, Ben, he’s just coming on in leaps and bounds. We have a lot of tough competition for those, you know, front, three front, four spots. And he’s making an argument every single day. And he’s had two massive weeks for us.
On if Bürki played at a different level today…
And yeah, when we signed Roman, very early on, you know, one and a half years ago, we knew exactly what we were getting. We knew Roman was going to get better with match practice. We’re going to know Rome is getting much, much better in terms of rhythm and routine because it’s not easy playing in Europe and not playing all the time. And then you, you know, you come here and it’s a CITY2 game where you aren’t challenged that much and then all of a sudden you need to ramp up. So, you know, credit to Alexander Langer, Director of Goalkeeping — he has done an amazing job getting Roman up to the point that he is. Roman has high levels, high expectations and demands the best out of his teammates. So, you know, it’s a complete performance from him.
On being able to count on Stroud in the offense…
I think it’s just continuity, right, with two similar attacking lineups over the last couple of games and then you see a little bit more understanding, a little bit more routine, a little bit more repetition. Jared is a workaholic, Rasmus is a workaholic. So, we enjoy these types of profiles. And Jared is feisty, he wins his battles. He wins his duels and, you know, operates both sides of the ball. Now to start showing quality in the final third, whether it’s goal scoring or assists, we know he can do it all over in levels that he’s played at. To do it consistently at the MLS is something that he’s taking his game to another level. You know, listen, it’s early in the season. If we look after 30 match days, and he’s still contributing in the level that he is, and then we’ll say he’s proven it at USL, he’s proven it in the MLS, but he’s on the right curve and on the right pathway.
On the decision to start Akil Watts rather than Indiana Vassilev…
Yeah, it was. It was very strategic. You know, I spoke about the Cup game coming up on Tuesday. We have to sort of manage and manipulate pieces. You know, I thought two ball-playing sixes in one game, Edu and Indy, for the whole game, kind of, you know, just shoots us a little bit in the foot for the next game on Tuesday. So we just wanted to split the loads and the sort of against-the-ball, with-the-ball principles. So, I thought Akil could do a little bit of both. Edu does what he does, you know, both sides of the ball, and then bringing Indy — that they, if we both need them to go on Tuesday, in terms of Indy and Akil, they can both do it, which is pretty strategic and purposeful on our part.
On if he felt like the players got tired towards the end…
No, you know, obviously it’s never easy playing here, and it’s always choppy and it’s always chippy to play here, which is fine. We like this. You know, losing Klauss we lose a little bit of structure. Gioacchini goes up to the lone striker. You know, how do we operate now? Who’s the 10? Tomas Ostrak, we had to change the formation a little bit. So, you know, we manipulated — it was in 12, 15 minutes. We went in like three different formations just based on what they were trying to do. You know, and key was to operate as a compact unit and a compact block. But credit to them, they challenged us, they posted problems for us, and yeah, we just struggled to get certain pressure on the ball when they came into our half. So yeah, one thing is going to backfire. We were being passive as opposed to being in a back five and being ultra-aggressive. We still wanted to be ultra-aggressive, but credit to them. They made good substitutions. Bringing on Jonathan Lewis and Barrios — those are big weapons down the channels.
On what the team can take away from the tactical challenges the match threw at them…
Just learn to suffer, right. In the first half, we had to learn to suffer as a group. I thought we were giving them too much time and space. I don’t think we were compact enough. I don’t think we identified the triggers well enough in the first half, even though we turned over one of the two three dangerous balls and could have got profit out of those and benefit out of those. But again, this is a game where you learn to stick together, right? You get challenged a lot, you have to learn to suffer and stick together and, you know, empty the tank. Part of our principle is a two versus one principle, where we want to defend in the side channels two versus one, pin them in. And they were able to get out a few times and, we knew that’s going to be, you know, a big part of that tactical game plan. If they break free, it’s going to be big switches and now we have to, you know, cover dirty ground and dirty running and empty meters in the tank where we could have done the job a little bit earlier. But this is okay, we grow as a group here, we learn and it was by no means a terrible performance. You know, I thought we really adapted well during the game and had really good moments. We could have gone two-zero up with Jared Stroud on the far post as well where he hits the side netting. The game could have been done by that point. But again, we were posed many challenges. We solved many of them. Roman helped us out in a couple of them. And yeah, we move on.
On his message for the supporters who showed up on the road…
Which is incredible, right? But as we walked out, we were just saying, ‘There’s a bit of red there, and a CITY Red there, and a pullover there.’ It’s incredible just to see how the fans have come out and how the word has spread around the MLS, which is pretty awesome. You know, we’re grateful every single time we can play at home at CITYPARK. And when we see this type of support playing away from home — man, it just helps so much. And that’s one of the things I said to Tim Parker as the game started or just before the game started. I said, ‘J have a look around. Have a look around. You see CITY Red every 30 yards,’ which is a totally humbling feeling. I mean, it’s incredible to know that we’re so young, and we’re given an outreach, you know, all over America. So yeah, we’re just very fortunate to have the fans. We know the culture and the character of the fans we have, but to see it spreading, yeah, it’s pretty cool.
ROMAN BÜRKI
On how he feels after coming up with a draw after an incredible performance…
Yeah, me personally, I always want to win. I feel empty, a little bit disappointed, because I think this team is not as good as we made them, Colorado. I think we missed a lot today when it comes to with the ball and against the ball. And I mean, if you’re up one-zero, you just have to fight for the win, you know. You have to go all in. You have to fight. We have to defend, and today not everybody was defending or not together. That’s the result, and that’s why I’m a little bit disappointed.
On if they felt fortunate at halftime that it was still 0-0…
Yeah, so we didn’t defend good in the first half. We went into the halftime with the 0-0 a little bit lucky and then in the second half, we changed something but not really big things. So, I mean, it’s just like I tried to tell them like, ‘Come on, guys.’ We try our best. In the back four, you know, we tried our best, we tried to defend and everything. I think it was like a little bit some guys on the field were just like, ‘Oh, the backline is going to take care of it anyways, you know. So, a little bit like — just not enough. I know we are we have one point, but for me it feels like a loss. That’s why I’m a little bit emotional.
On if he sees the draw as a learning opportunity as regards playing at a high level each week…
Yeah, it could be. We have a lot of young guys. But, I think if you’re up one-zero and you see we were struggling in behind, you know. The backline and me — we tried to defend everything, and we had to defend everything because there was most of the guys, in my opinion, they were just looking for when we won the ball, to go up front and not come back and not go into the duels, not giving 100%. I mean that’s basically something that should be in our principles. But we will definitely learn about that, and I think we will talk about this as well.
JARED STROUD
On what made it tough for the team offensively…
I think just playing on the road in general is tough. It’s a tough place to play. And they’re a good team. I think they’re better than they are on paper. And yeah, I mean, it wasn’t ideal. I think in the beginning of the second half, we had some really good moments. Some positives to look on. But yeah, at the end of the day, I feel like they were winning all of the second balls. They were probably out-competing us. Yeah, they probably deserve to win, but you know the sign of a good team is getting points on the road. So yeah, offensively, we didn’t have many chances. I mean, had a freaking golden chance. But uh, yeah, it’s all good. We, you know, move forward, and we learn and get better next game.
On what he thinks has allowed him to have a lot of success recently…
Yeah, I mean, I don’t know. On the miss, I took a gamble and honestly, I’m happy I was there, right? I was just gambling and sprinting to the last second and, you know, some of them don’t go in but yeah, to maybe come away with a goal and an assist would have been really nice. But to walk away with an assist, yeah, I’m happy. You know, it contributes to getting the point tonight on the road. Maybe that point will be really important down the line. I think for now it keeps us in first in the West. But yeah, I mean, it’s been a good start to the year for me and, and yeah, as long as I can contribute and help the team in any way, I’m happy. So yeah, just creating chances and being nonstop — even when I miss chances, just continuing to go and get more.
On how much it hurts to not get a win with how well Bürki played tonight…
Yeah, I mean, especially to go so long, so late to stoppage time. You know, we feel bad for Roman. He’s good every game, right? It’s not just his saves and the wins. He’s, you know, doing everything he can. He deserves a shutout tonight. And yeah, the rest of the team — we let him down. We’re upset about that. And he deserved it. He played an incredible, incredible game. You know, if he’s not goalie of the week and team of the week, then I don’t know. There’s nothing else he could do. I mean, he was incredible. So yeah, it just gives you confidence as a teammate of his and just knowing that you know, a goalie bails you out and yeah, he’s probably the main reason we got a point tonight. 100 percent.
