Following an emphatic victory over FC Cincinnati, St. Louis CITY SC heads west to take on Colorado Rapids this Saturday, April 22, for Matchday 9. Kickoff is set for 8:30 p.m. CST, and the match will be televised on MLS Season Pass on Apple TV and broadcasted by our radio partners on KYKY Y98.1 FM (English) and KXOK 102.9 FM (Spanish).
Last time out, St. Louis CITY SC put five past then-league leaders FC Cincinnati, snapping a two-game losing streak in exciting fashion. Following a two-hour weather delay, CITY SC came flying out of the gates with Jared Stroud wasting no time finding the back of the net in the third minute, scoring CITY SC’s fastest goal of the season so far. Midfielder Eduard Löwen doubled the lead, before Kyle Hiebert, Niko Gioacchini and an own goal from Roman Celentano gave a treat to the home fans who weathered the storm.
Löwen and Hiebert were both on the scoresheet for the second time this season, giving St. Louis five different players with multiple goals in MLS, the most of any team in the league. CITY SC also has five players with at least one goal and one assist - João Klauss (5 goals, 4 assists), Löwen (2 goals, 5 assists), Gioacchini (3 goals, 1 assist), Stroud (3 goals, 1 assist) and Rasmus Alm (1 goal, 2 assists).
With the win, CITY SC regained their position atop of the Supporters’ Shield table, extending their record to a league-best 6-2-0. CITY SC rank first in points (18), goals scored (20), wins (6), and goal differential (+11). CITY SC also became the third team in MLS history to score at least three goals in five of their first eight games of a season, joining the Red Bulls in 2018 (6) and the Galaxy in 1998 (5).
With his assist to Stroud last match, Klauss is now tied for first in MLS in goal contributions (9) with Atlanta’s Thiago Almada. Löwen donned the midfield with his man-of-the match performance against FC Cincinnati. Along with his goal, the midfielder led CITY SC in touches (76), total passes (48) and total crosses (6). With his fifth assist of the season, he is also tied at the top of the assist charts with Thiago Almada, Léo Chú, Daniel Gazdag and Nicolas Lodeiro. Defensively, Löwen has won the second-most tackles (19) in the league, four behind Columbus’ Aidan Morris.
Colorado Rapids are still searching for their first win at home but come into this weekend’s matchup undefeated in their last four games, after a 1-1 draw against Austin FC, a 0-0 draw against LAFC, a 1-0 win against Sporting KC and a 2-2 draw against Charlotte FC.
The Rapids’ road draw against Charlotte marked the first time this season Colorado scored multiple goals in a single match. Entering that game, Colorado had failed to score two or more goals in any of its last 10 MLS matches, the team's longest such streak since a 12-game run in 2015.
Since the beginning of the 2019 season, the Rapids have won three of their five games against MLS expansion teams (3-1-1). Prior to that, Colorado was winless in seven games against expansion teams between the 2015 and 2018 seasons (0-2-5).
