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For St. Louis City SC’s game last Saturday against Austin, coach Bradley Carnell did something he has seldom done: Use the same lineup in consecutive games.

In the team’s first season, he did it twice out of 34 games. The common link between those times he did it was a belief that the team had played really well in that first game — a 4-0 win over Sporting Kansas City and a 2-0 win over Colorado in 2023, a 2-0 win over New York City FC this season — and the players deserved the chance to do it again. The 2-2 tie with Austin was the first time City SC hadn’t won the back half of those pairs of games, but the team is still unbeaten when repeating a lineup.

“I’m not saying it’s a good thing or a bad thing,� Carnell said. “But I just thought that group deserved because of the performance against New York City just to roll it back again. We have a group of hungry guys, we have a roster who’s breathing down each other’s throats and want to start games and we have quality as well and showed that off the bench, great character, great sort of guts and grit and determination from the guys coming off and a willingness not to lose that game and it becomes a habit, if you can instill that culture. We know that we have that quality, especially coming off the bench with whoever is on the bench. We know we have what it takes to change games.�

The team will have a different lineup this Saturday (9:30 p.m., free on Apple TV Season Pass) when it faces the Los Angeles Galaxy at Dignity Health ÁñÁ«ÊÓƵ Park in Carson, California — midfielder Eduard Lowen is out with a hamstring injury — but the situation is interesting in the team’s attack, where two players have hot feet, neither of whom is the team’s top goal scorer, Klauss.

When Carnell carried over the lineup from the NYCFC game, he was carrying over one that had been tweaked by the team’s hectic start to the season. That game was the team’s fourth in 12 days, so Klauss, who had started the team’s first three games, got the day off. But the team had two other players who were undeniably hot. Forward Samuel Adeniran came in with goals in two consecutive games, and attacking midfielder Celio Pompeu had a goal and an assist in the NYCFC game. Adeniran didn’t score against Austin, so while his two-game goal streak ended, Pompeu got one of his own.

Klauss, meanwhile, not starting for the first time in a game where he wasn’t either coming off an injury or being rested because of a crowded schedule, came off the bench in the 58th minute and created some dangerous scoring opportunities. He’s yet to score in three MLS games and two Champions Cup games but has had chances. How to juggle those players up top looms as a tricky decision for Carnell. Adeniran had already made his case to be a regular starter and now Pompeu is bolstering his claim to a spot.

“I think we’ve got those guys to a point now where they know they can contribute starting and they can contribute off the bench and the willingness to adapt to both,� Carnell said. “We’ve always said it’s a designated team (not a designated player) and even Klauss is humble enough to know what’s best for the team and know what’s right for the team and trust us in the decision-making process. And we bring him on pretty early in the half and he plays a big, big factor in us earning the point on the road. And Sam’s done no different coming from the bench as well. So, we believe in these two guys, sometimes they work together. Sometimes we choose for more fluidity underneath, in front of the defensive line of the opponent where we can pick up balls and create transitions and in our possessions, final third entries, and then sometimes we just have to be a little bit more vertical direct with the two strikers. So we’ve shown we can play both at different times.�

“We have a lot of options for the positions,� said midfielder Tomas Ostrak. “But it’s good for us because then we can compete and we can work harder, play harder. I think it’s always good competition to each other. And I think for coach it’s even better that he has more options so he can think more and it gives him a good feeling as well.�

City SC easily could have had more goals against Austin. The team got the ball into the Austin box 26 times, a season-high and well over the usual 18 to 20.

“We had 26 box entries,� said right back Tomas Totland, “and we know that we’re going to create chances. So it’s just about making those chances into goals and when we start doing that we’re going to score a lot of goals.�

City SC and the Galaxy played twice last season, with both games ending in ties. The teams also met in the preseason, with City SC winning 2-1 on an 88th minute goal by Nokkvi Thorisson, a precursor to a theme of the early season for City SC: late goals. Five of City SC’s seven goals this season in all competitions, have come in the final 30 minutes of play. Four have come in the last 20. While Carnell said he likes the team’s late energy in games, he’s a lot more comfortable when the team uses it early in the game.

The Galaxy finished 13th in the 14-team Western Conference last season but are a much-improved team this season with a win and two ties in its first three games, the same as City SC. In the early going, the Galaxy have shown themselves to be adept at one of City SC’s strengths, its transition game.