St. Louis CITY SC tied 1-1 with Atlanta United FC on Saturday night at CITYPARK. In the first half, Indiana Vassilev scored his third goal of the season with assists from João Klauss and Jay Reid. Atlanta equalized in the second half with a penalty kick scored by Daniel Rios. Reid started his first career MLS match and Michael Wentzel made his MLS debut. St. Louis returns to action next Saturday in Vancouver to take on the Whitecaps.
Postgame Notes
- Indiana Vassilev scored his third goal of the season
- Klauss picked up his third assist of the season
- In total, Klauss has eight goals, three assists in 19 games at CITYPARK
- Michael Wentzel made his MLS debut
- The appearance was Wentzel’s second of the season, after he appeared in the Concacaf Champions Cup vs Houston Dynamo
- Jay Reid started his first career MLS match and earned his first career MLS assist
- Reid is the 20th different player in CITY SC history to record an assist in MLS regular season play
- Caden Glover made his first appearance for CITY SC this season; it was also Glover’s first time playing at CITYPARK for St. Louis CITY SC
- For the first time in CITY SC history, two players on loan from St Louis CITY2 started an MLS match
- CITY SC moved to 2-1-3 on the season against Eastern Conference opponents, remaining unbeaten at home (2-0-2) in such matches
Goal-Scoring Plays
STL: Indiana Vassilev (João Klauss, Jay Reid), 50th minute – Indiana Vassilev scored a left footed shot from the right side of the box
ATL: Daniel Rios (penalty), 71st minute – Daniel Rios scored a penalty kick with a right footed shot.
June 22, 2024 – CITYPARK (St. Louis, MO)
Goals by Half 1 2 F
St. Louis CITY SC 0 1 1
Atlanta United FC 0 1 1
Scoring Summary
STL: Indiana Vassilev (João Klauss, Jay Reid), 50’
ATL: Daniel Rios (penalty), 71’
Misconduct Summary
ATL: Stian Gregersen (caution), 46’
STL: Jay Reid (caution), 58’
STL: Indiana Vassilev (caution), 85’
Lineups
STL: GK Roman Bürki ©; D Tomas Totland (Akil Watts, 72’), D Michael Wentzel (Jake Nerwinski, 90+8’), D Tim Parker, D Jay Reid; M Chris Durkin, M Eduard Löwen; M Indiana Vassilev, M Nökkvi Thórisson (Njabulo Blom, 83’); F Hosei Kijima (John Klein, 72’), F João Klauss (Caden Glover, 72’)
Substitutes not used: GK Ben Lundt, D Josh Yaro, D Anthony Markanich, F Brendan McSorley
TOTAL SHOTS: 15; SHOTS ON GOAL: 4; FOULS: 11; OFFSIDES: 2; CORNER KICKS: 7; SAVES: 7
ATL: GK Brad Guzan ©; D Derrick Williams, D Brooks Lennon, D Efrain Morales (Stian Gregersen, 46’), D Noah Cobb, D Caleb Wiley; M Tristan Muyumba, M Jay Fortune; F Xande Silva (Luke Brennan, 88’), F Daniel Rios (Nicolas Firmino, 90+9’), F Jamal Thiare (Dax McCarty, 61’)
Substitutes not used: GK Josh Cohen, D Ronald Hernandez, M Tyler Wolff, M Matthew Edwards, M Matias Gallardo
TOTAL SHOTS: 15; SHOTS ON GOAL: 8; FOULS: 12; OFFSIDES: 1; CORNER KICKS: 5; SAVES: 3
Referee: Filip Dujic
Assistant Referees: Adam Garner, Noah Kenyawani, Ricardo Fierro
VAR: Younes Marrakchi
AVAR: Rene Parra
Venue: CITYPARK
Weather: Sunny, 91 degrees
ST. LOUIS CITY SC POSTGAME QUOTES
Audio: Recording
Video: Footage (password: 7$95&!XP)
Head Coach Bradley Carnell
Opening statement:
First, I’d like to congratulate Jayden Reid on his first MLS start as well as his first assist in MLS as well as Michael Wentzel; he’s appeared for us in the [CONCACAF] Champions Cup, but the MLS debut is a big thing for him. And Roman saves his first penalty. He’s getting closer. We are getting closer.
Goals are not with us as of late. We keep on pushing and keep on keeping, the spirit is high, and we are moving on. I thought the support was awesome tonight, and just acknowledgment of the fans after the game when we did the round, very supportive and very embracive of what we are trying to do here. So, I appreciate them for that.
And then it’s been a tough couple of weeks. So, get the batteries recharged now and we look forward to our Vancouver trip.
Indiana [Vassilev] did not start Wednesday. Is this the reaction you expected out of him? He was a monster…
Indy, not through performance-wise or just trying to manage the loads in each individual game and just trying to push guys in different ways. So, it’s not performance related. It’s just personnel-related, tactical relations, and trying to get him a breather here and there.
He puts in tons of work in training and on game days. Again, it brought the desired effect.
Were you happy with the offense tonight? You created some chances…
I thought we created a lot of moments through the lines. I thought we could have been cleaner in transition a little bit, some wayward passes, can we connect in the final third; can we connect on the weak side; can we play vertical in the red zones. I thought we missed a couple of crucial moments, but having said that we had a ton of looks and some really nice moments.
I thought Edu Löwen was excellent tonight and his willingness to defend in the 94th, 95th minute, a sprint at full pace to do what’s best for the team, and that shows what kind of teammate he is. I saw many positives tonight, and we’ll take these away for sure.
Stats show that [Roman] Bürki saved over two goals above expected. Can you speak on how he’s been performing lately?
Really good. He’s on a good pathway. He knows what happened last week, or this past Wednesday, and he was the first guy out on the training field on Thursday morning.
He’s professional enough to put those away in the trash can, but he’s honest enough to know and lift his hat where it’s needed and take steps forward as a leader. And today he was back to his usual self and very crucial at critical moments.
Could we have put the game to bed away earlier? I think yes. We hit the crossbar. We had a couple moments. We have some penalty calls. There are a few things that we are really pushing in the final third. Nökkvi [Thórisson] has his breakaway. Edu [Löwen] slips in through in a 1v1 and Brad [Guzan] comes out and makes a save. We had enough positive looks and that’s what I want to see from my group: The willingness to get behind; the willingness to create; and willingness to move the line back-to-back and keep it compact and connected.
I saw a lot of good things I saw good team spirit before the game. Even at halftime, there were good, constructive moments. So, I saw a very energized, gelled group together fighting for each other, and this is a very important sign for me.
And then Roman is the guy at the back on the last line who makes big saves for us to give us hope going forwards.
[Jayden] Reid gets called up and immediately takes the start. How far in advance did you decide he was going to be in the lineup today? How did you think he did?
We’ve had big weeks with a lot of our players. We have been short on defenders. We have Joakim [Nilsson]. We have Josh [Yaro] pushing minutes and getting overloads. We have Kyle Hiebert absent and Akil Watts pushing minutes. We see a lot of intensity in our games and we see a lot of moments where guys to roll back defenders. Just look at [Tomas] Totland; he ran out of gas today as well. We knew this on Thursday morning; that this would be a potential to put him in. We made all the necessary arrangements. We know we cannot call him up twice. We know he has some MLS experience as well. We know he plays on our principles. We know he’s going a great job at CITY2C.
So for us, it was a no brainer.
Was it as simple seeing a CITY2 performance and knowing he would step in and do that similar role?
We train very similarly. We play in the same intensity. He comes from a background that stylistically suits his game. He’s the quickest player in the club hands down.
He has moments to iron out if there’s anything to iron out on the back line, it’s totally normal and natural to be getting cramps in the 95th, 98th minute or whatever it was, totally normal, totally natural. But that he went and lasted so long didn’t surprise me, and we are on the right track with Jay [Reid].
The season five months old, or young, depends how you want to view it, but how do you assess the first five months and how the team can break from tieing games and now winning games?
It’s a step, right. It’s a step and it’s building blocks. And while we are trying to create more in the final third, and I think we have progressed in the final third a lot. When you tie games, it means you’re in the games. It means you can win the games.
Today we were leading and unfortunately it doesn’t go our way. We get a strange PK call, and we have to accept that. We can’t control any outcome of the referees or any circumstances. We just have to accept and move on and have the mentality if we concede one, we score two.
And today, I saw a group that was hungry and showed desire to score the second, and we kept things safe and sound in many moments as needed despite two new guys in our back line from CITY2.
So we look at growth in small fractions and I saw incremental growth, especially on the back line with two new guys who are new to our group.
It’s a process. It’s a journey. Not as desired for sure as the first 18, 19 games, but again, we know we have a bridge to gap here until July 18th, and then we can receive Jake Girdwood-Reich. We can get Cedric Teuchert in the building as well. He arrives pretty soon in a couple days, actually. So he can be connected with us in training, and that will give us just the edge and the energy we need and give a bit of freshness around here.
Following up on Jayden [Reid], how impressive was it and was there a thought process when he picked up a yellow to sub in, and how impressive to finish up his first MLS start on a yellow?
I don’t look too much in that. These guys have good experiences and they know what’s needed. Jake, I never want to compare — I was a quick player on the back line. So if you do get yourself in a pickle, you have the pace to at least get back without having to make the crazy fouls, right, to move your feet quickly, and stay on your feet.
Brooks Lennon is a really good overlapping wingback, and he’s one of the best, if not the best, crosser in the League. Jay had his hands full, and I thought he dealt with it really, really well.
So credit to him, CITY2 staff, himself in developing the right way and being open-minded enough to grow within our CITY2 program, and now the platform is open for competition. I have just spoken to all the defenders. Competition is a good thing. Keeps us all hungry and keeps the desire there.
We cannot rest on what we’ve done a few weeks ago, and making sure that we keep guys really edgy and wanting to perform the best that they can in training.
Earlier you talked about being happy with the amount you were pushing the back line offensively. Seemed to slow down around the 60-minute mark. What were they doing to slow down and take away those runs on the back line?
They started flowing things on to Silva in the half-space, so with our orientation, always very connected, our sixes were overconnected at times. I just asked to Durkin to open up the shoulder a little bit just to see because Michael Wentzel likes to step in, but sometimes you have to shift and get across on the back line. And then they work the ball across one more time and then find Silva. I think one play, he turns, Michael arrives late, and all of the sudden it’s a pass, pass weak side; and Roman comes up big for us.
Those are things from the second half that we had to mitigate as the game went on.
Touching on that formation shift, Caden Glover comes in for his longest appearance. Especially here at CITYPARK, he has not made an appearance in the first team. How do you feel he did in those moments? You were chasing the lead at that point.
For us not to chase the lead and get out of shape. For us the discipline in our organizational structure against the ball is very key. We knew we had to make changes and push Edu in the 10. We bought in fresh legs with Blom. I thought Caden kept it to one side and he did exactly as we asked him to do. He had a couple of nifty touches and could have scored on a set piece where he just volleys it over the bar.
He got really close a few times, and it looked like he enjoyed himself. He’s smiling after the game.
So, these are big moments for us as a club and these are big moments as part of a program, even when it’s not going our way, to make sure we believe in our process, and this is very important.
We love having these guys around us and to see them embracing the challenge and taking on can creating competition with our group, it’s good.
Seemed like this was easily the most comfortable that Nökkvi [Thórisson] has looked since he arrived last year. Have you seen an improvement in his game and where did it come from?
There’s two things to it. One thing is training time, and one thing is game time.
We need to keep on pushing Nökkvi in the right way in terms of training in the right way, which he did, right. And then getting to moments as he does do with the 1v1 opportunity — because in training, he’s really good at finishing those. In training, he’s really clinical.
We keep on trying to push the needle well, and then now, it’s game time under stress. And you can see him growing after every game.
So, the more minutes, and when it’s not going quite your way and you give him five minutes and we expect a miracle. And sometimes I have to look at myself and see how much game time I’m giving Nökkvi because throwing him in five minutes here, five minutes there, is not doing him any favors because we need to push him in training and then give him game time.
We always sort of suggest guys maybe keep sharp at CITY2, right. So, we can’t force any players to do these things, and sometimes it just takes longer in terms of the development process within our game model, within our philosophy. We’ll keep on pushing Nökkvi along, but if he uses opportunities wisely, and he did so today. He pushed himself to his max, and he had a couple of good looks, which is very good for us. It’s a good starting point.
I thought one of the best players, especially early on, was Hosei [Kijima] settling that ball off the rebound and getting the pass in to Klauss. Seems like his calmness and decision-making is a crucial part that’s been added to the team. Is there a way to get him more involved and more touches throughout the game?
So, it was deliberate to get him between those two lines, between their defensive three and their two sixes.
I think we got a couple of looks at exactly what we needed. But don’t forget, he’s a not a ten. So, he’s a six. But we’ve seen great things. We played him as a ten in the preseason against LAFC. We pushed the needle now in the last couple of games, and we’ve seen great things because he has that calmness to connect.
We continue to encourage him, and we continue to work with him individually. We continue to show him video. We continue to push the needle there because we see a lot of opportunities and we see a lot of talent, especially under pressure, under stress. He has that calmness about him. He shields the ball really well, and he has the eye on the weak side to find Klauss.
I mean, as far as projected, I think he’s doing excellently.
Midfielder Indiana Vassilev
On his goal tonight:
Jayden got the ball on the left side, gave it to Edu, who put the ball into Klauss who headed the ball down well. I just watched it back. I actually didn’t anticipate it too well at all in my opinion. I just stand there and then kind of react to where the ball goes, but thankfully, I was quick enough and it was a good finish. I am happy with the goal but frustrated with another tie.
On giving advice to Hosei Kijima:
I would love to answer you with a yes, but Hosei is very intelligent. He watches a lot of film and probably knows more about it than I do. So as much as I would love to give him a little bit of pointing in the right direction. I feel like he’s got it. If he comes to me and asks for advice. I’ll gladly give it to him, but I think at the moment he’s definitely got it down.
On a frustrating game, with missing chances:
Frustrating, we built to get the first one and once we got it, it felt like we were just going to get more. We then lost momentum with that penalty call, which is not ideal. And after the goal it was much more 50/50. I do not think we ever felt too threatened outside the pk.
Goalkeeper Roman Bürki
On the Atlanta United’s penalty kick:
I don’t know if I was early off the line. I don’t know. But it’s frustrating, it’s not really good. It was because of that it was already almost good again. I couldn’t really push it away to the side because it was under my body. So definitely it’s frustrating so it’s a saved penalty to say something better than the last 10 or 20.
On how it feels to get the goal but not the win:
It’s the first time that we scored a goal and then we gave the game away. Or I would say, we didn’t kill the game. We had chances again; we didn’t do that. Or we scored one goal. Did we defend the freaking good? Don’t know how many dependents we’re going to allow against us this season, but we just need to focus. We need to be ready in every situation. With our players on the field. We need to be ready, and we can’t give up.
On assessing the season so far:
I know these guys who signed quality players will definitely help us. Sometimes the quality we need we don’t have in certain games. But today I was actually very happy with Michael Wentzel and Jay Reid. Amazing players, amazing games. That’s something we can look forward to from these young guys. I think, Jay with the game today with us. This is a brilliant first game. We’re excited to see what the future holds all together. I would say I’m excited for the future. Obviously the first five months didn’t go as we as we planned, as we wanted to, but we have to find a way to come out of this situation and start winning games again.
Defender Jay Reid
On his first MLS start:
Honestly, it felt huge Big thanks to my teammates and coaches for putting their trust in me. I just felt like myself out there. I felt like after every single pass, everybody was encouraging me. So it just made the whole transition much easier for me, so I felt like home out there.
On his initial reaction when he saw his name in the starting 11:
Man, it was unbelievable. Honestly, I’m still trying to take everything in right now. Like, it’s not processing yet. I feel like when I get home, it’s all going to hit me. I just feel like I’m in a dream, like part of my dreams are being actualized and I’ve worked so hard for this and I’m just happy that some hard work is paying off.
On his thought throughout the week preparing for his debut:
So honestly, when I got the call to train with the first team, I was like, wow, could this be it? Now I need to focus, everything needs to be sharp in training, in practice, and the game. Thursday came, I trained with the team and tried to put my full focus in. And then Friday, it was the next step. And then I heard about the possibility of being able to get a start. And I was like, wow, is this really happening right now. And then we come in today and I find out and, I’m just grateful and blessed. It’s very hard to process. It’s still processing, like even this moment right here, being in this room. This is stuff that happens in video games. And I can’t believe it’s happening to me right now. But I’m grateful though.
