St. Louis CITY SC were shut out 3-0 by Real Salt Lake on Saturday night at America First Field, with the match turning sharply against them late in the first half.
Sergi Solans opened the scoring in the 41st minute, finishing a right-footed shot from the center of the box into the lower right corner after a setup from Morgan Guilavogui. The goal gave the hosts a 1-0 lead heading into the break. Just three minutes later, the visitors were reduced to 10 men when Tomáš Ostrák received his second caution of the night and was ejected in the 44th minute. Ostrák had already been booked in the 30th minute, and Rafael Santos had picked up an early yellow in the third minute.
Real Salt Lake capitalized quickly after the restart. Dominik Marczuk extended the lead in the 52nd minute with a right-footed strike from outside the box that found the top right corner, assisted by Luc de Fougerolles. Solans then completed his brace in the 59th minute, again scoring with a right-footed effort from the center of the box, this time with assists from Saba Lobjanidze and Guilavogui. The 3-0 margin held the rest of the way.
Charles-Emile Brunet made his St. Louis CITY SC debut, entering the starting lineup and playing until the 71st minute before being replaced by Daniel Edelman. Timo Baumgartl wore the captain’s armband in the absence of Roman Bürki and produced a notable goal-line clearance earlier in the match. “I saw the chip and I saw it coming out,” Baumgartl said. “I’m tall but quite flexible. I would say the yoga lessons with my wife are good.” He added that the clearance “looked good, but unfortunately, a couple minutes later we conceded goals.”
Head coach Yoann Damet pointed to the combination of the goal and the red card as the decisive stretch. “Tonight I think the game changed in two or three minutes between the goal and the red card,” Damet said. “We made our life more difficult to try to get a result. So, it’s disappointing, but at the same time, there is a good lesson to learn tonight. Playing down a man for 45 minutes, and probably it’s better it happens now than in the playoffs.”
Damet also addressed the congested schedule, noting that reaching the final earlier in the week left less recovery time. “At the end of the day, it’s part of having success,” he said. “If we didn’t reach the final on Wednesday, we would have had the full week to prepare. We can’t blame the schedule.” He explained that the halftime substitutions of Conrad Wallem and Chris Durkin were made with player management in mind, given two more home matches still ahead.
On the field conditions in Utah, Damet said the pitch differed from Energizer Park but did not dictate the outcome. “The conditions here are a little bit different than they are in St. Louis. So, just again, it’s the same for us and for them, and it didn’t impact the performance.”
Baumgartl rejected fatigue as an excuse despite the short turnaround. “We have so many fresh guys on the team,” he said. “In professional football, you have to be able to play every three days, that’s the truth. You have to be able to do that physical wise, mental wise, and maybe we as a team are not there yet.” He pointed to sides such as Vancouver as examples of teams that have managed the load successfully and said CITY SC still has work to do to reach that standard, especially with additional competitions potentially on the horizon next season.
Statistically, Real Salt Lake controlled the evening with 20 shots and 8 on target, while St. Louis managed just 3 shots and 2 on goal. The hosts also held a 7-0 edge in corner kicks. Ben Lundt finished with 4 saves for CITY SC.
St. Louis CITY SC return home to Energizer Park on Wednesday, October 28, to face the Portland Timbers. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. CT.
