
St. Louis City SC midfielder Chris Durkin (8) gets off a shot with pressure from Real Salt Lake in the second half Saturday, Feb. 24, 2024, at CityPark.
A year ago, St. Louis City SC got everyone’s attention by winning its first five games, an unprecedented feat for an expansion team.
In Season 2, through four games, the team still hasn’t lost an MLS game, though, as coach Bradley Carnell notes, “it’s not quite as firework-y as last year.â€
That’s because while the team has yet to lose in its first four games, it’s won only one of them. Three of those matches have ended in ties, by scores of 1-1, 2-2 and last week in Los Angeles, 3-3.
So, it’s good but no match for last season.
“This team set a high expectation last year and we want to maintain and keep that,†said midfielder Chris Durkin. “And you know if we can go 5-0 in wins in the first year and then 5-0 undefeated the second year, I think that’s a pretty good standard. Just want to keep it calm.â€
City SC will put that undefeated (not winning) streak on the line Saturday when it faces D.C. United at 7:30 p.m. at CityPark (MLS Season Pass on Apple TV). It’s a return home for the team after back-to-back road games and it’s a day for reunions, after a trade in December brought Durkin to St. Louis from D.C. United while Jared Stroud and Lucas Bartlett went the other way.
The reunion won’t be quite as big for Durkin as it will be for Stroud and Bartlett. While almost all of the City SC team is back from last season, it’s an almost all-new team for D.C. United. Only four of the top 10 players in minutes for the team last season are back.
“Seeing a couple old friends,†Durkin said, “but honestly a pretty new face of a team as well. A lot of new players, so I’m viewing it like any other game. I don’t want to be too emotional coming into it. Just excited to get back home, to be honest. It felt like we’ve been away from CityPark for a while.â€
That’s one of the reasons City SC is OK with its recent ties, particularly last week’s. Going into Los Angeles and getting a tie with the Galaxy, which looks to be one of the top offensive teams in the league this season, figures to be no small feat.
“The one tie that I’m disappointed in is the Salt Lake tie,†Durkin said, referencing the team’s opening day result amid matches in the CONCACAF Champions Cup. “Other than that, I think those ties have been really important for us, especially away. If you can average close to a point on the road, you’re doing a really good job. So just the mentality of the group in those two games away, I think is incredible. So we’re proud of being undefeated still and we want to keep it that way.â€
“That’s a really good record,†said goalkeeper Roman Burki. “I mean, unbeaten still. We had a lot of away games too. And yeah, we just try to keep going, try to keep improving. It’s not the same start that we had last year, obviously, but also the teams, they’re getting better and better. They know how we want to play that they can react to it. And so I’m happy that we’re still unbeaten and I think six points. It’s not bad.â€
“You take two points in these environments, it’s massive,†Carnell said. “It’s really massive for momentum, for the belief in the group, the way we come back and the way it leaves us leaving that field. That leaves us thinking, yeah, unbeaten after four. Collecting points along the way. Road trips are never easy. Just take a look at the league, look at the away results. They’re never easy playing away from home. Then you come back to CityPark. We know this is a special place.â€
City SC is one of nine teams in the league yet to lose, and four weeks in, there are no teams that have won all of their games. City SC is tied for fourth in Western Conference with six points, even with the Galaxy and Sporting Kansas City.
City SC will be without midfielder Eduard Lowen (hamstring) and center back Tim Parker (back) as they get over what the team hopes are minor injuries. Carnell said Lowen has resumed running, which is a first step on him returning to action. Carnell said Njabulo Blom, who has missed the past three games with a knee injury, should be available.
But those absences pale compared to D.C. United, which is without two starters and two others because of international team callup, and another because of a red-card suspension. United has a win, a loss and two ties to start its first season under new coach Troy Lesesne, who is trying to get the club back in the playoffs after not qualifying the past four seasons. Lesesne, like Carnell a former interim coach of the New York Red Bulls, has also brought that team’s pressing style to United.
“It was a pretty big overhaul,†Durkin said, “but looks like they had a decent start so far. Obviously I’m happy for them. I’ll always be watching the club, it’s my boyhood club, so I’ll always be kind of looking at them. But yeah, my focus obviously now is here and I think it’s definitely going to be a battle on Saturday. It’s kind of like looking ourselves in the mirror, both high pressing teams. So it’ll be a fun game.â€