St. Louis CITY SC will open the 2024 MLS season against Real Salt Lake this Saturday, February 24 at CITYPARK. Kickoff is slated for 7:30 p.m. CT. Fans can watch the match on MLS Season Pass on the Apple TV app and follow via our radio partners on KYKY Y98.1 FM (English) and KXOK 102.9 FM (Spanish).
CITY SC kicked off their 2024 season in exciting fashion, defeating Houston Dynamo 2-1 in the team’s CONCACAF Champions Cup debut. Tim Parker opened the scoring in the 61st minute, heading in a cross from Indiana Vassilev off a free kick. Houston answered with a goal in the 72nd minute, but Hosei Kijima came off the bench to deliver a memorable game-winner in stoppage time.
Both Parker and Kijima made history with their goals against Houston. For the second consecutive season, Parker opened the team’s scoring account, heading in a cross off a set-piece situation. In the first match of the 2023 MLS season, Parker scored the first goal in CITY SC’s historic come-from-behind win in the team’s inaugural match against Austin FC. Parker has now scored the first MLS, MLS Cup Playoffs and CONCACAF Champions Cup goals in CITY SC history.
Having his contract announced earlier on the match day, Kijima had a debut to remember against Houston. Selected 17th overall by CITY SC in the 2024 MLS SuperDraft, Kijima suited up for CITY SC and subbed into the match in the 86th minute, delivering a perfectly placed strike past a diving goalkeeper just five minutes after subbing on. Kijima is now the second MLS SuperDraft pick to make his first-team debut and the first to score a goal in CITY SC history. Kijima also became the 18th different player to score a goal in all competitions for CITY SC.
St. Louis will look to build on a historical inaugural MLS season. The team kicked off last season in record-setting fashion, earning five victories in their first five matches, a feat that had never been accomplished by an expansion team in league history. CITY SC finished the regular season with a 17-12-5 record, 56 points accumulated, 62 goals scored and plus-17 goal differential.
St. Louis split results in their two matches against Real Salt Lake last season, with both sides winning the away leg of the fixture. In the first match at America First Field, CITY SC dominated in a 4-0 win with goals from Niko Gioacchini, Klauss (2) and Rasmus Alm. At CITYPARK, Real Salt Lake defeated CITY SC 3-1.
Real Salt Lake kicked off the 2024 MLS season against Inter Miami on Wednesday night, falling 2-0 at Chase Stadium. Per OPTA, Real Salt Lake’s 2-0 loss at Miami ended a league-record 14 straight season openers unbeaten (7-0-7) dating back to 2010. Salt Lake has never lost its first two matches of a season.
Last season, Real Salt Lake finished fifth in the MLS Western Conference with a 14-12-8 record. Jefferson Savarino (7) and Cristian Arango (6) led their team in scoring. Real Salt Lake has won only two of its last 11 away matches in all competitions (2-6-3 record) after winning eight of its previous 10 on the road.
