ST. LOUIS - A new era began for St. Louis City SC on a sunny Saturday afternoon as the club hosted the San Jose Earthquakes. Olof Mellberg was fired by City on Tuesday evening, and Saturday was caretaker manager David Critchley’s first game in charge of the big club.
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A new man in charge brings new hopes and expectations for fans and the club alike after an abysmal start to 2025. Goals in first and second half stoppage time propelled St. Louis City to a 2-1 victory, their first in Major League Soccer since March 15.
City’s dismissal of Mellberg on Tuesday was not just about results, which have not been good for the team in 2025, but also about the type of soccer the team intends to play. Mellberg was criticized for playing a “boring” defense-first style, but he played that style more out of what he saw as a necessity to try to secure points.
What ended Olof Mellberg’s reign in St. Louis was that the compromised system was still losing games. Caretaker manager David Critchley is tasked with bringing the energy back to a City team that, when healthier, was a pretty good team once the likes of Marcel Hartel, Cedric Teuchert, and Jannes Horn joined over the summer transfer window.
Gone was Mellberg’s five-defender system, and the back four was back at Energizer Park, with Jay Reid playing left back, Chris Durkin lining up at center back for the first time in nearly a year, Timo Baumgartl alongside him, and rookie Joey Zalinsky at right back, making his first start in MLS for City.
In front of those four were Eduard Löwen and Conrad Wallem, who both played as central midfielders. Celio Pompeu, Marcel Hartel, and Cedric Teuchert played in more attacking midfield roles, joining striker João Klauss in attack when City had the ball.
On a warm day in St. Louis, it took both teams a bit of time to find their legs in the first half. The visiting San Jose Earthquakes had more opportunities in the opening stanza, but didn’t trouble City captain and keeper Roman Bürki.
The injury bug reared its ugly head yet again in the 40th minute, when Cedric Teuchert collapsed to the turf after an attempted clearance in the City box. Teuchert didn’t make contact with another player, going down on his own. Xande Silva came off the bench to replace him.
David Critchley didn’t have an update on Teuchert’s status postgame.
The first goal of the David Critchley era was scored by João Klauss, and he was set up by Eduard Löwen.
Löwen clipped a long ball into Klauss’s path running at the San Jose defense, and Klauss headed the ball forward in the direction of the Earthquakes’ 18-yard box. Visiting keeper Earl Edwards Jr. hesitated, and didn’t collect the ball, giving Klauss time to run onto it and slot home a shot to Edwards Jr.’s left and put City ahead.
“We were playing well in the first half,” said Klauss on scoring before the break. “We changed a lot of things under [Critchley], and I think we were doing well. This goal was important for the confidence of the team.”
City took the lead into the second half, and their caretaker manager brought in some fresh legs in the form of Henry Kessler, who replaced the deputizing Chris Durkin at center back.
Kessler and Durkin’s respective outings show that there’s a bit of light at the end of the tunnel that is the St. Louis City SC injury list. Both look to feature more prominently in the upcoming weeks, given no more training injuries.
San Jose saved their firepower for the second half, bringing on their stars Cristian Espinoza and Josef Martinez with just a half-hour to play. City also welcomed the return of Tomas Totland at the hour mark, another player who’s been battling injuries in efforts to make the starting lineup once again.
With some added oomph in their attack following some second half substitutions, the Earthquakes began to make their presence felt on offense, and began to ask more questions of the City back four and Roman Bürki. In the 83rd minute, San Jose’s pressure paid off.
Vitor Costa collected a ball on the left wing, and whipped in a ball across the face of the City goal. Josef Martinez, who’s made a career of poaching goals in MLS, was well covered by City center back Timo Baumgartl, but stuck a boot out and redirected Costa’s cross into the City goal.
Despite the new coach and the new hopes of a fanbase, the vibe around Energizer Park after the San Jose equalizer was eerily familiar. This would be the biggest question of the David Critchley-led City team: would they respond and attack, or would they curl up and accept the dropped points?
“‘Belief’ is one word we’re going to have to have around here,” said David Critchley postgame. “I had a feeling, I believed in the team. We accepted nothing today but three points as a team… Yes they equalized and gave us a little bit of adversity, it’s okay. We’re changing things around here. We don’t sit back in those moments, we go and try and win a football game.”
With that belief and a newfound directive to not sit back, City would make their breakthrough. Conrad Wallem played a long ball out of defense for Simon Becher, who came on for Klauss in the 92nd minute, and Becher had nothing but green grass and Earl Edwards Jr. between him and the San Jose goal.
Becher looked a little shaky running on goal, but made the move that forced Edwards Jr. to commit to the ground, and tripped Becher in the process. Referee Ismir Pekmic pointed to the penalty spot.
There was no one else but Eduard Löwen, given his tumultuous 2025, that felt more right taking the penalty in second half stoppage time. Löwen sent Edwards Jr. the wrong way, and gave City a 2-1 advantage in stoppage time that would be the final score.
“In that moment, I wasn’t thinking about scoring too much,” said Löwen on his penalty kick. “Once you put things into perspective, you know, I love soccer, but its just a game. I love winning games, I love playing out there, but at the end of the day if you miss a penalty it’s not a big deal. Everyone’s missed a penalty in their career. Obviously you still want to score, and after I scored there was a lot of relief and joy in that moment.”
It was City’s first win in MLS play since a 1-0 win over Seattle on March 15, going without a victory in 12 straight MLS matches, nearly a third of a season. In Critchley’s first game as caretaker manager, City needed three points, and three points they found.
“I think our fans were suffering with the results, just like all of us [as a team],” said Klauss postgame. “Players, the club, the fans, you guys know that this is not a nice situation to be in. I think it was an important game, and there were a lot of positives. There were mistakes as well, but I think it’s a game that we can build on.”
David Critchley allowed himself to take in the moment before the game, before getting focused on the task at hand.
“I tried to enjoy the moment,” Critchley said in his postgame press conference. “I’ve talked to the players about it since day one, its about having more smiles around here, enjoying our job, enjoying our work. So going into a packed stadium with great fans, the emotions can get carried away. But I took a moment before kickoff to just enjoy it, but once the ball got rolling the game started, and it was all about getting three points today.”
City will celebrate their first MLS win since March for a day or two, but its back to training on Monday before a trip to Portland next weekend to face the Timbers.
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