St. Louis CITY SC looks to make it three wins in as many games when they host Houston Dynamo FC at 7:30 p.m. CT this Saturday at CITYPARK. The match can be watched on MLS Season Pass on the Apple TV app and heard by our radio partners on KYKY Y98.1 FM (English) and KXOK 102.9 FM (Spanish).
St. Louis are coming off back-to-back home wins after knocking off Sporting KC and Vancouver Whitecaps. In their most recent match, CITY SC outlasted the Whitecaps 3-1 to make history by becoming the quickest expansion team in MLS history to record 25 points, doing so in 13 games.
Eduard Löwen opened the scoring in the 10th minute after curling a freekick in the top corner of the net to record his fourth goal of the MLS campaign. The goal was voted as the winner of the AT&T 5G Goal of the Matchday for Matchday 15. Per Opta, Löwen's free-kick goal measured 44.7 yards, trailing only Lucas Zelarayán’s 54.9-yard strike in October 2022 for the longest direct free-kick goal in MLS since the start of the 2015 season. CITY SC doubled their lead in the 45th minute, thanks to an own goal by Vancouver. The Whitecaps split the deficit late in the game through Brian White, before CITY SC Homegrown midfielder Miguel Perez sent CITYPARK into a frenzy after scoring his first MLS goal.
Perez has tallied Homegrown MLS firsts in appearance (at Austin, 30 mins), start (at Portland, 66 mins), goal (at Chicago, 90'+3') in the Open Cup and MLS goal (at home, 90'+4'). Prior to signing his homegrown contract, Perez scored the academy’s first-ever goal in a 4-3 win over Chicago Fire’s U17s.
CITY SC midfielder Löwen has been in fine form so far for CITY SC. The German has 11 goal contributions (5 goals, 6 assists) in 15 games across all competitions. Löwen leads the team in assists (5) and is tied for second with Niko Gioacchini in goals with four, one behind forward João Klauss.
St. Louis CITY SC has turned CITYPARK into a fortress so far this season. St. Louis is 7-2-0 at CITYPARK across all competitions and 5-2-0 at home in MLS play. CITY SC has scored at least three (3) goals in each home win this season (3-1 vs Charlotte, 3-0 vs San Jose, 5-1 vs FC Cincinnati, 4-0 vs Sporting KC, 3-1 vs Vancouver Whitecaps). St. Louis has scored 24 goals at CITYPARK across all competitions (19 in MLS and 5 in the U.S. Open Cup). Löwen has scored the most goals (five) at CITYPARK across all competitions.
St. Louis CITY SC leads all MLS clubs with a plus-15 goal differential (29 goals scored, 14 goals allowed). The expansion side has scored three or more goals seven times this season, which also leads MLS and is two more than the next closest team LAFC who has five.
CITY SC vice-captain Tim Parker will go up against some familiar faces when he takes on Houston Dynamo this weekend. The defender was named captain in 2021 and started in 60 of the 62 matches he appeared in the last two seasons in Houston prior to joining CITY SC. Parker helped anchor the Dynamo’s defense to nine clean sheets in the regular season during his Houston tenure.
Houston Dynamo saw a three-match unbeaten streak snapped on Matchday 16 when they lost 6-2 to Vancouver Whitecaps. Prior to that match, Houston recorded victories against Austin FC (2-1) and Minnesota United (4-0) at home. Houston boasts a 5-1-1 record at home but are still searching for their first away win of the season (0-5-2 record).
Over their last ten matches against expansion teams playing in their inaugural seasons, Houston Dynamo have a combined record of 1-7-2 and are winless on the road, going 0-5-1. Across those ten matches, the Dynamo have a minus-six goal differential, scoring 15 times but allowing 21 goals.
