ST. LOUIS - St. Louis City SC returned home to Energizer Park on Saturday night, hosting a banged up Seattle Sounders squad.
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The Sounders were without all-time leading scorer Jordan Morris and wingback Paul Arriola. Both were injured in Seattle’s midweek CONCACAF Champions Cup trip to Mexico, where the Sounders lost not only their players, but were eliminated from the competition with a 4-1 defeat.
St. Louis came into Saturday’s game riding the high of a 3-0 win on the road in Carson, California against the LA Galaxy last weekend. They continued their strong defensive start with a 1-0 shutout win against Seattle.
The Sounders were without two of their biggest talents, but City would reveal bad injury news before kickoff. The club announced captain and keeper Roman Bürki fractured his hand in practice on Friday before the game. Bürki will get his hand looked at this week, and the team will figure out a timetable for his return.
“It happened yesterday in training,” City Head Coach Olof Mellberg elaborated on his keeper’s injury in the post-game press conference. “I was actually standing just a few yards away, and I saw it happen in the moment. It was a wobbling shot. Took him by surprise and just threw out his hand like a reflex. Wasn't really prepared for it. I just saw it straightaway and asked him if it was the finger or if it was the joint, and he said the joint. But he continued training. We didn't think it was too bad. But unfortunately, there is a small, small fracture there.”
Bürki’s busted hand meant that backup keeper Ben Lundt made his first start of the 2025 season, and Marcel Hartel donned the captain’s armband in Bürki’s stead. City started the game without either of Simon Becher or Joao Klauss, instead opting for Cedric Tuechert as the lone “true striker” in a formation and setup that proved to be fluid throughout the match.
Sometimes the defense was a 5-3-2, with Conrad Wallem and Tomas Totland manning the left and right wingback positions respectively. The three center backs stayed familiar: Jannes Horn, Henry Kessler in his 100th MLS start, and Kyle Hiebert manned the backline in front of the backup “Big Ben” Lundt.
Eduard Löwen and Chris Durkin lined up in midfield, and Akil Watts joined them. This left Marcel Hartel in a free-roaming attacking midfielder position and Cedric Tuechert led the line in attack.
Sometimes that 5-3-2 turned into a 4-4-2, with Wallem pinching up into midfield and the other four defenders shifting over to cover. Sometimes Wallem dropped back into defense and Marcel Hartel took up a deeper midfield role in a 5-4-1 formation.
It’s a fluidity in shape and formation that is a feature of Olof Mellberg’s style of play. Not wed to one single philosophy or idea, Mellberg’s City plays what’s offered in front of them.
There weren’t many chances for either team in the first half. Both teams combined for two shots on target. Seattle’s was a tame header off a corner that City’s deputy keeper Lundt had no trouble with. City’s was the first goal of the game.
St. Louis won a free kick in what has been known as “Eduard Löwen territory” for good reason. Löwen curled a beautiful free kick from about 25 yards out that longtime Seattle goalkeeper Stefan Frei had no chance of stopping.
“I'm always happy if I get the opportunity of a really good free kick situation,” Löwen said following the game. “You don't get the chance so often. Against Colorado, that was a little bit unfortunate that I hit the post and I actually trained it again on Thursday, so that was definitely a really good moment for me. Yeah, I'm very grateful for it, and all glory to God that I was able to score that.”
Löwen’s first goal of the season gave City an early 1-0 lead in the 16th minute. City’s midfield maestro explained in the post-game press conference that he had been pressing himself to score on free kicks last season.
“Last year, I was kind of struggling a little bit because I put too much pressure on myself,” said Löwen. “Like when I would hit a really good free kick and it didn't go in, I was kind of upset with myself, like I missed a penalty, but it didn't help me. In the end, I put too much pressure on myself, and then I was too tense. So I'm just trying to wait for the opportunity to be focused in the moment.”
Seattle held the ball for a large share of the first half, but struggled to break down the City backline when it mattered.
That would continue to be the case in the second half, even when Seattle poured pressure on looking for an equalizer. Seattle had most of the ball in the second 45, but couldn’t crack City’s defensive block.
St. Louis City came close to a second at the hour mark. A St. Louis counter attack found Marcel Hartel running into the heart of the Sounders defense, and he found Conrad Wallem running in open space down the left channel. Wallem continued his run into the box, cut back onto his right foot, and fired a low driven shot that Frei in the Seattle goal had to dive to his right to stop, and then had to stick his right hand out to keep the ball from trickling over the goal line.
City brought on four substitutes just after this chance, but only wanted to bring on three. Alfredo Morales once again replaced Eduard Löwen, Josh Yaro replaced Jannes Horn, and Simon Becher relieved Cedric Teuchert.
The substitute appearance for Alfredo Morales marked his 100th MLS appearance, spanning across his time playing for New York City FC, San Jose Earthquakes and his brief time with St. Louis.
“I thought we needed a little bit of energy at that point,” said the City head coach, drawing out why he brought on multiple substitutes after the 60th minute. “I thought we struggled a little bit with the energy and the quality on the ball. I thought the guys who came on did really well. I mean, throughout the game we defended really well, and we had our good moments going forward, especially in the second half.”
The fourth substitution came after Tomas Totland came up hobbling and clutching his hamstring. Totland, who had played every minute of the season, bombing up and down the right wing, now had to be subbed off. Tomas Ostrak came on for Totland, making his first appearance of the MLS season following the ankle injury that ended his 2024.
This forced a bit of a shift in the City setup, but the team stayed in a 5-4-1 defensive block to absorb the pressure from the Sounders as the visitors tried to get back into the contest.
Absorbing pressure comes at a risk, and in second half stoppage time, Seattle were awarded a penalty when Obed Vargas went down in the box, referee Fotis Bazakos pointed at the spot, and City players implored the official to go to the video review screen.
The prayers of the City team, and the 22,500 fans in attendance in Downtown West, were answered when the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) buzzed into Bazakos’s ear to review his penalty decision.
After a look at the monitor, Bazakos reversed his call as it was concluded that Vargas maintained possession by use of his left hand before the tackle, meaning no penalty.
Joakim Nilsson, sidelined for much of last season and the start of the 2025 campaign, made his first appearance for City in the waning moments of stoppage time for a bit of security in defense.
City saw out the final moments of stoppage time, and secured a 1-0 shutout victory when the final whistle blew. It’s City’s fourth straight clean sheet to start the season, only two other MLS teams in the history of the league have managed that feat: New York Red Bulls in 2007 and the Vancouver Whitecaps in 2012.
Ben Lundt, City’s brave backup keeper, earned his first MLS clean sheet. With Bürki hurt for the foreseeable future, Lundt wants to back up his clean sheet with more solid performances.
“[City’s] first clean sheet, we've never had a point against Seattle,” Lundt noted postgame. “That all comes together, and again, with Roman [Bürki] being injured at the moment, I don't know for how long, I just have to do my best. That's my job, and I'm pretty happy for tonight, at least. Soccer is always a quick turnaround, so I can enjoy maybe tomorrow or maybe Monday, and then we really have to focus on the next game.”
City boss Olof Mellberg thought Lundt served City well in the emergency situation.
“I thought [Lundt] did really well. He was solid,” Mellberg stated. “[Seattle] didn't have many shots on goal, and he didn't have to make that many saves. But he did well, and he's a good goalkeeper. He's shown that in preseason, as well. He’s a good shot stopper. It's different [having Lundt in goal] obviously, because Roman is a top, top goalkeeper in the world, I would say, in all aspects, shot stopper, on the ball, in the air. So, you know, with that in mind, I thought Ben stepped up, and did extremely well, and a good performance to build on.”
Lundt, Mellberg and City will look to build on their first home win in a special reunion next weekend in Philadelphia, when they take on former head coach Bradley Carnell’s Philadelphia Union team, featuring recent City departee Indiana Vassilev.Bradley Piros also contributed to this story.
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