St. Louis CITY SC extended their winning streak to three games after besting Toronto FC 1-0 at BMO Field. After a scoreless first half, midfielder AZ Jackson spun in the game-winning goal off a pass from midfielder Akil Watts in the 50th minute. In addition to the win being the team’s fifth road victory on the season, CITY SC now has 38 points through 21 regular season matches, the most by an expansion team in that span in MLS history. CITY SC wraps up their road trip with a duel against LAFC next Wednesday.
Well-Timed First
AZ Jackson and Akil Watts have helped CITY SC to three-straight wins, having started the last three matches. Jackson scored his first career MLS goal with the help of Watts’ first career MLS assist en route to a 1-0 win above the border at Toronto.
Expansion Team Climbing the Ranks
CITY SC continued its strong start to its inaugural season, picking up its 12th MLS regular-season win. The 12 wins are tied for the fifth most for an expansion team, tying with Seattle, Orlando City and Montreal.
Postgame Notes
- CITY SC are undefeated when scoring first (10-0-2 record)
- St. Louis is the only team in MLS with at least five home wins and five road wins.
- Head Coach Bradley repeated a starting lineup for this second time this season
- With the win, St. Louis CITY SC (38 points) have accrued the most points by an expansion team after 21 regular season matches in MLS history, eclipsing Chicago Fire (1998) who had 37 points.
- Aziel Jackson recorded the first MLS goal of his career
- Akil Watts recorded the first assist of his MLS career
- CITY SC has now seen 13 different players score in MLS action and 15 different players score across all competitions
- Roman Bürki recorded his sixth clean sheet of the season
- Bürki recorded his 150th professional clean sheet
Goal-Scoring Plays
STL – Aziel Jackson (Akil Watts), 50th minute: Aziel Jackson left footed shot from the center of the box to the bottom right corner.
Next Game
St. Louis CITY SC continues their two-game road trip with a meeting against LAFC on July 12.
July 8, 2023 – BMO Field (Toronto, Ontario)
Goals by Half 1 2 F
Toronto FC 0 0 0
St. Louis CITY SC 0 1 1
Scoring Summary
STL: Aziel Jackson (Akil Watts), 50’
Misconduct Summary
STL: Njabulo Blom (caution), 38
STL: Tim Parker (caution), 47
TOR: Themi Antonoglou (caution), 90+4
Lineups
TOR: GK Tomas Romero; D Aime Mabika (Adam Pearlman 84’), D Kobe Franklin, D Shane O’Neill, D Raoul Petretta (Themi Antonoglou 84’), M Mark-Anthony Kaye, M Brandon Servania (Alonso Coello 57’), M Deandre Kerr (Jordan Perruzza 83’), F Jahkeele Marshall-Rutty, F CJ Sapong ©, F Ayo Akinola (Jesus Batiz 72’)
Substitutes Not Used: GK Greg Ranjitsingh, M Kosi Thompson, M Markus Cimermancic, F Hugo Mbongue
TOTAL SHOTS: 13; SHOTS ON GOAL: 3; FOULS: 10; OFFSIDES: 2; CORNER KICKS: 5; SAVES: 5
STL: GK Roman Bürki ©; D Josh Yaro, D Akil Watts (Jake Nerwinski 67’), D Kyle Hiebert; D Tim Parker, M Jared Stroud (Isak Jensen 90’), M Aziel Jackson (Celio Pompeu 82’), M Njabulo Blom, M Indiana Vassilev (Miguel Perez 67’); F Nicholas Gioacchini (Rasmus Alm 67’), F Sam Adeniran
Substitutes Not Used: GK Ben Lundt, D John Nelson, D Lucas Barlett, M Tomáš Ostrák
TOTAL SHOTS: 17; SHOTS ON GOAL: 6; FOULS: 14; OFFSIDES: 2; CORNER KICKS: 7; SAVES: 3
Referee: Filip Dujic
Assistant Referees: Ian McKay, Gerard-Kader Lebuis
Fourth Official: Michael Venne
VAR: Michael Radchuk
AVAR: Gjovalin Bori
Venue: BMO Field
Weather: Cloudy 70 degrees
ST. LOUIS CITY SC POSTGAME QUOTES
Video:
Audio: Recording
Bradley Carnell
Opening Statement
We knew we had to have a good start. I don’t feel we had the greatest though. We had to grind out in that first half and failed to reward ourselves a little bit. On the transition moments, we picked off three, four or five balls really well and just failed to get the transition moments that we would like to, but credit to the boys they stuck with it. We spoke about this before the game that good teams need to grind out results and I thought that first half was a way to grind out the zero at halftime and then coming out the second half, we just had corrected one or two minor things and for second half was complete domination against the tricky opponent. They have some good wide ones we want to play as you know, they made our lives difficult from time to time. But again, I felt there was a resiliency and a ruthlessness in this group that it’s just a joy to watch week in and week out and to go another clean sheet now really happy with that and especially on the road now where we starting a tough way stretch so very proud of these boys because these are the games that we need to compete and we want to make playoffs and we want to strive for best results and get somewhere in that in our first season. We need to compete for games like this, and we did at the end, so credit to the boys.
On what he has seen to give AZ Jackson these starts and minutes
He is consistently a good 1v1 defender, right. It was a great matchup on that side with the Marshall-Rutty, good one v one, so I thought it was a great matchup in that first half. We corrected one or two things and then he got even better. We score a goal because he goes forward defends on the principles for defending intercepts level and now we started to transition higher up the field so credit to him to stay in. Credit to him to empty the tank in training all the time, as does the whole group. The whole group, they are great teammates and just wait until their numbers are called and Akil’s one of those guys, he waits patiently. I wish he would say more. I wish he would speak to me more and challenged me a little bit more but, I’m glad he is getting rewarded now with some good reps.
Akil Watts
On what has allowed him to work his way into the starting lineup in recent matches…
Just hard work, you know. Putting my head down and working hard. I waited for this moment and just been working hard, and even when I was sitting on the bench, you know, coming on as a sub, I just wanted to do my best. I’m glad it’s all working out.
On how he adjusted in the second half to contain Marshall-Rutty…
Personally, I was giving him too much space in the first half. You know, I was backing off, giving him space to beat me one-on-one. And coming into halftime, Bradley told me to get tighter, don’t let him touch the ball and force him back. I changed that in the second half.
On how he feels playing right back…
I mean, I’ve been with John Hackworth a long time, as you guys know. I was with the U-17s with him. I was a right back then, you know. He converted me to a right back, and I feel comfortable in that position. You know, last year I played the six, and if this year I’m needed at right back, I’ll gladly play it.
AZ Jackson
On whether he saw his game developing at the beginning of the season even though he wasn’t logging many MLS minutes…
Yeah, it just came with consistency and just believing in myself and being patient, you know? It’s very hard to be a player and want to get more minutes, but also just staying focused and just waiting for an opportunity to come in and taking advantage of it is important for any player from any level. And I just had to stay confident in myself and be grateful.
On how he thinks God has affected his journey to get to the moment of scoring his first MLS goal…
Oh, man, huge moment because there’s been times where I didn’t want to get up for training. Just coming back from Europe while I was in Toulouse, and then coming back to COVID, and then I wasn’t on a team for a while and then getting an opportunity in Minnesota, signing there, thankfully. And then figuring that out and just now coming to St. Louis, I’m so grateful. It was just a surreal moment for me and my family, you know. They’ve always stuck with me ever since I was little, taking me to practices far, far away. My brother — just everybody who’s been close to me who knows my story, it’s just a surreal moment and, like, I’m so grateful. God put me here for a reason, and I’m really thankful. For the team, too — I’m really grateful for the guys. You know, if it wasn’t for them, I wouldn’t be here.
On what he’s learned playing in NEXT Pro and how the system’s fluidity has helped him adapt to MLS action…
I think NEXT Pro was definitely a big year for me, you know, just being on the Best XI and having a bunch of goals and assists. But just getting those minutes — because it’s hard for young players nowadays, you know. You think you need to be somewhere when actually you just need to just stay where you are and just continue to strive because a lot of players get complacent where they are. I was one of those players, but just learning through the MLS NEXT Pro system, it’s just about game in, game out, being professional and showing up. Showing up like you were on the first team. Do the same thing you would do on the first team, on the second team. And I feel like I stayed true to that for the whole season. I was able to come to St. Louis, and I’m really grateful for that.
