St. Louis CITY SC hits the road for a Western Conference showdown with Sporting KC this Saturday at 7:30 p.m. CT at Children’s Mercy Park. The match will be streamed on MLS Season Pass on the Apple TV app and can be heard by our radio partners on KYKY Y98.1 FM (English) and KXOK 102.9 FM (Spanish).
CITY SC extended a four-match MLS win streak at home by defeating FC Dallas 2-1. Following a scoreless first half, Anthony Markanich netted his first MLS goal to give CITY SC the lead. Forward Nökkvi Thorisson scored the eventual game-winner in the 85th minute, after finishing off a cross from midfielder Eduard Löwen. FC Dallas’ Eugene Ansah cut the lead by one in second-half stoppage time, but CITY SC held on to seal the victory.
With the win, St. Louis improved to 15-9-2 on the season, sit atop the Western Conference with 47 points and trail only FC Cincinnati in the Supporters’ Shield standings. With 15 victories this season, St. Louis tied Atlanta United (15 wins in 2017) for the second-most wins by an expansion club in their inaugural season (excluding the shootout era). Only the 2018 LAFC squad, which won 16 games and recorded 57 points in their inaugural season, sit between St. Louis and expansion-team history.
CITY SC’s 10 home wins brings the team into a tie with Charlotte FC and CF Montréal for the second-most home wins by an expansion team in MLS history (excluding the shootout era), trailing Atlanta United’s total (11) in 2017.
St. Louis’ summer signings Markanich and Thórisson shined bright in CITY SC’s home win on Wednesday night. Both signings registered their first career MLS goal three minutes apart to become the 14th and 15th regular-season goal scorers for CITY SC this season. CITY SC’s 15 goal scorers are tied with Atlanta for the second-most goal scorers by an expansion team in their first season.
Löwen continues to have a big impact on CITY SC’s success in MLS this season. Löwen led the game in chances created (4), duels won (11), fouls won (5) and was tied Njabulo Blom for the most possessions won (9). The Designated Player provided the game-winning assist to Thórisson, his 10th assist in MLS this season. His assist total ties him with Philadelphia Union’s Dániel Gazdag, Seattle Sounders’ Nicolás Lodeiro and Columbus Crew’s Cucho for fifth in MLS.
CITY SC are 5-6-1 in away matches and are 4-3-1 in road matches against Western Conference teams. St. Louis has scored 15 goals on the road this season, which is tied for eighth in the league.
The match will mark the second meeting of the two sides after CITY SC defeated their rivals 4-0 at home on May 20. Goals from Indiana Vassilev (2), Niko Gioacchini and Löwen propelled CITY SC over their cross-state rivals.
Sporting KC currently sits in 11th place in the Western Conference standings with 26 points, boasting a 7-11-8 record. Sporting KC blanked San Jose 3-0 in their last match on the back of goals from Daniel Salloi, Erik Thommy and Johnny Russell. Sporting KC are 6-5-2 at home this season, scoring 23 goals in the process. Alan Pulido leads Kansas City with 10 goals.
Sporting KC is 4-2-4 across their last ten matches against expansion teams, including a 4-0 loss to CITY SC at CITYPARK earlier this season. In home matches during this span, SKC is 3-0-2.
