Marcel Hartel delivered a goal and two assists and St. Louis City SC continued their midseason surge with a 3-1 victory over the Los Angeles Galaxy on Wednesday at Carson, Calif.
Lukas MacNaughton and Simon Becher also scored goals and Chris Durkin had two assists as St. Louis City extended their unbeaten streak across all competitions to seven matches while winning for the second time since the end of the World Cup break.
Roman Burki had two saves as St. Louis City (6-6-4, 22 points) moved past the Galaxy (5-7-5, 20 points) in the Western Conference standings and above the playoff line.
Troy Elgersma scored a goal for the Galaxy, who were reduced to 10 players early in the second half. Los Angeles remained stagnant on offense without former St. Louis City forward Joao Klauss (foot) and midfielder Gabriel Pec, who was transferred to Cruzeiro in Brazil.
JT Marcinkowski made eight saves for the Galaxy, who have been outscored 6-1 in two matches since play resumed after the break.
St. Louis City found the scoreboard when MacNaughton’s header off a corner kick from Hartel rebounded off the left post into the goal in the 42nd minute.
Four minutes later, Hartel scored his own goal when his right-footed shot from outside of the penalty area went untouched past a flat-footed Marcinkowski.
The Galaxy went down a player in the 49th minute when defender Emiro Garces was handed his second yellow card. Garces’ first yellow came after he confronted St. Louis City players following Hartel’s goal.
Becher gave St. Louis City a 3-0 lead in the 68th minute after he scored on a breakaway following a long pass from Hartel.
The Galaxy finally broke through in the 86th minute when Elgersma scored his first career MLS goal off a solid run from 19-year-old Harbor Miller.
St Louis City have scored three goals in each of their last three matches and have earned 16 points over their last six regular-season matches after sitting on six points through their first 10.
–Field Level Media
