Surging St. Louis City puts a 14-match unbeaten streak on the line when it hosts Minnesota United on Saturday night.
St. Louis (10-6-8, 38 points) enters the contest tied for fifth place in the Western Conference but is just two points behind third-place Los Angeles FC and eight shy of first-place Vancouver with 10 matches remaining.
St. Louis garnered four of a possible six points during a two-game road trip to the Pacific Northwest that began with a 3-1 win over the Whitecaps last Saturday and finished with a 2-2 draw at Portland on Wednesday.
After Saturday’s contest with the Loons, St. Louis hits the road again for a U.S. Open semifinal matchup against the Colorado Rapids on Wednesday.
“It’s still a long season,” St. Louis coach Yoann Damet said when asked if the MLS campaign was hitting the home stretch. “A lot can happen in the next 10 games. We focus on ourselves, on our preparation, on being consistent. There’s no change of plans because there are 10 games remaining. Right now, we’re focusing on Minnesota.”
St. Louis got a big boost in its draw at Portland from new designated player Rafael Navarro. The Brazilian striker, obtained from Colorado a week earlier, scored a brace in his first start with his new team, with the first goal coming just 34 seconds into the match, the fastest goal in team history.
Minnesota United (7-9-8, 29 points) are 11th in the West standings, just one point behind ninth-place San Diego, which currently holds the final playoff spot. The Loons, who have played better on the road (5-5-2) than at home (2-4-6) this season, are 6-1-0 all-time against St. Louis, including a perfect 3-0-0 on the road.
Minnesota is 0-2-1 in its last three matches and comes in off a 2-1 home loss to FC Dallas on Wednesday. Santiago Moreno, left wide-open in the middle of the box, scored the game-winner in the 84th minute for Dallas. The loss extended the Loons’ home winless streak to nine matches (0-4-5).
“Bitterly disappointed,” Minnesota coach Cameron Knowles said. “The road is running out in terms of the games to get above the (playoff) line.”
St. Louis last lost an MLS match on May 3 when it fell 2-0 at Austin FC.
–Field Level Media
