Neither the weather nor the results were on the side of St. Louis City SC on Saturday as they fell to Austin FC on a soggy Sunday in St. Louis. The hosts opened the match with an interesting starting squad that saw Olof Mellberg playing just two players in attacking positions and a total of five players who have regularly featured as center backs in 2025. Despite the unique look, the home side opened the match well, creating a couple of opportunities inside the opening 15 minutes.
However, the visitors would gradually get a foothold in the match as Daniel Pereira, Jon Gallagher and Owen Wolf each missed chances to open the scoring. The pressure from the Verde and Black would pay off as Myrto Uzuni’s effort from eleven yards out would deflect off Josh Yaro and hit the back of the St. Louis goal in the 33rd minute. Austin would take that advantage into the break after limiting St. Louis to just .12 expected goals on three total shots in the opening half.
Courtesy Will Bramlett
“They made a move exactly like we knew they would,” Mellberg said after the game. “We didn’t do what we agreed upon, so [it’s] disappointing. It was a quality move from them. But we should have done better.”
St. Louis brought a renewed sense of energy out of the locker room to start the second half, generating their most dangerous chance of the afternoon in the 53rd minute. Simon Becher received a pass and laid it off to Marcel Hartel whose effort forced Brad Stuver into action. Hartel’s shot generated .69 of City’s total 1.1 xG in the game. City would continue to press for the equalizer as Austin would sit in a low block after a delay caused by severe weather moving through the area. Despite generating 13 shots in the second half, that equalizer never came, and Austin would hold on to hand St. Louis its’ second straight defeat.
A Deserved Defeat?
Not in the eyes of the gaffer. Mellberg felt his side played well enough to earn the win over Austin. “Obviously, we’re doing a lot of things right. I thought we overall, dominated this game; probably deserved the win,” he said after the match. His side generated 17 total shots, which he felt should have been enough.
“I thought today as a team, we created enough chances,” he said. “We had a lot of entries in the final third. I thought our positioning was really good. Our game plan was good. Things were working really well. We just lacked the quality in the final third. I think you could see that; the amount of entries we have, and half-chances and chances, you know, we hope to score at least a goal, obviously.”
The volume of shots was certainly enough, but the quality can be called into question as City generated just 1.1 xG on the afternoon. This will undoubtedly be one of the details Mellberg and his staff work on in training this week.
“We have to look at that,” he said. “That my responsibility; the tactical approach and the game plan. But looking at the stats and looking at the game from my point of view, overall, it looked good form a defending point of view and an attacking point of view. We had enough chances to score. If we can continue with that, you can really work on the quality there and how we can improve our movement in the final third; on the crosses, on the cutbacks and all those details.”
On the other side of the ball, City conceded their first goal from open play on the season, but Mellberg still felt they played well as a unit. “I thought our game plan was good. We had them under control,” he said. “They had two chances, and they score on one. If we play more games like that, with more quality in the final third; we’ll get three points in the future, I think.”
Rain Delay Derailing City?
While the weather forced fans and players to seek shelter, it didn’t seem to take the momentum away in the second half. “We brought that [momentum] into after the break as well. So, disappointing not to get a goal today.”
Impactful Substitutions Show City Has Options
A number of injuries meant extended periods of play for Celio Pompeu and Tomas Ostrak, who are continuing to work back to fitness after each suffered season ending injuries last season.
“He’s [Pompeu] still building on everything, fitness-wise, especially, Mellberg said. “I thought he did well. And he’s a player that is good technically and good 1v1. I thought he gave us that together with Conrad, good combinations on the left-hand side, Cello joining in there as well.”
Austin improved to 4-2-0 with the victory and sits in 2nd in the Western Conference on 12 points through six weeks. City falls to 2-2-2, sliding to 9th in the conference on 8 points.
“I’m guessing there are a lot of positives to take from this game. From a playing point of view, we continue to defend really well, concede very little in this game and had a lot of good moments going forward. But again, we really need to work on that quality in the final third.”
St. Louis will look to bounce back as they travel to Children’s Mercy Park to face rival Sporting Kansas City on Saturday Night.
Taking his passion for soccer and St. Louis to the next level, Jeremy aims to provide analytical coverage of all this St. Louis City SC.
