Hello Everyone, and welcome to the 5th volume of Weekly Write. Weekly Write is a twice-a-month STL or National sports article by me, Charlie Bilyeu. This week I watched the first round of the CONCACAF Champions Cup game between St. Louis City SC and the Houston Dynamo.

St. Louis Missouri; over one million people call this place home. St. Louis is a sports city—the Cardinals, The Blues and now St. Louis City SC (Soccer Club). City SC is the newest expansion team in Major League Soccer (MLS)

St. Louis was the recipient of the new team because of the sports atmosphere. The Cardinals and the Blues have set the tone for St. Louis sports in our history, die-hard fans. One fan said, “When the Rams left, it left a gaping hole in our community, and City SC fills that hole, so we all support them.” This fan was referring to the NFL football team, the St. Louis Rams, the Rams moved to Los Angeles in 2015 after their 20-year stint with the city. The departure to LA left a hole in the St. Louis sports community.

The first season for St. Louis City SC was historic. They finished atop the Western Conference with 17 wins, 5 draws and 12 losses. Keep in mind that this team comprises players from the corners of the earth who met, practiced and won in nine months. However, City SC lost to Sporting KC (Kansas City) in the first round of the playoffs. Expectations were broken and the MLS world was shocked by the performance of St. Louis. 

Season two

City SC’s second season is approaching with the first MLS game on February 24th. However, City SC played their first non-exhibition game on February 20th in the CONCACAF Champions Cup (Confederation Of North, Central America And Caribbean Association Football)

St. Louis faced the 2023 conference final runner-up, the Houston Dynamo. Not only did this game have future team result implications, but the CONCACAF is one of the most prestigious tournaments in soccer.

Dynamo Vs City SC

Chants were sung, flags were waved, and the game started. João Klauss (Shew-ow -Klahs) started the game with a pass back to City SC Goalkeeper Roman Bürki. 

Small opportunities arose in the first 20 minutes for Klauss on a corner kick and a header inside the goalie box that flew just right from the net.

The Houston Dynamo received their chances as a free kick from Sebastian Kowalczyk that was wrapped up by Bürki

Dynamo Goalkeeper Steve Clark made a passing mistake that gave João Klauss a shot opportunity, in which he missed the net left. After the miss, Houston Goalkeeper Steve Clark received a cautionary yellow card for delaying the game. 

After the yellow card, Dynamo Forward Sebastiàn “Sebas” Ferreira went down with a lower-body injury, causing the play to stop. He was then stretchered off the pitch.

Play resumed after as Houston worked their way out of their zone. Just seconds later, a crossing pass from Aldaberto “Coco” Carrasquilla found the right foot of Ibrahim Aliyu for a Houston Dynamo Goal. However, the referees decided to use the Virtual Assitant Referee (VAR) to review the goal for offsides. The review resulted in the goal being nullified and the crowd rejoiced. Still knotted at 0-0.

A corner kick by St. Louis, there was a head-to-head collision between Chris Durkin and the previously mentioned Dynamo Forward Ibrahim Aliyu. Both players faced minor injuries and immediately returned to play. 

City SC Midfielder Aziel Jackson took a shot from the top of the Goalie box that missed wide right. 

The first half ended 0-0

The second half began with a possession scramble in which both teams never had adequate chances to score.

Houston and St. Louis played unrelenting defense, resulting in giveaways, blocked passes and slide tackles galore. 

This defensive streak was swiftly broken up by two shots from City SC that were saved by Goalkeeper Steven Clark. However, the shots didn’t stop. After a centering pass from Indiana Vassilev in the 61st minute, Tim Parker scored on a header: 1-0 STL.

The pressure still didn’t stop after the goal. A great shot from Tomas Totland was batted away by Houston Steven Clark.

City SC still didn’t let off the gas. A shot from Samuel Adeniran careened off the left post.

Houston quickly responded with a goal of their own off the left foot of Mid Fielder Sebastian Kowalczyk and assisted by Aliyu Ibrahim in the 72nd minute; 1-1 tie

The game spiraled back into a stalemate. However, in the 87th minute, Griffin Dorsey received a yellow card and City SC was awarded a free kick. The free kick was denied, however, Eduard Lӧwen was then awarded another corner kick, which was also denied. However, St. Louis received another corner kick, but this was again denied. The Houston defense wasn’t going down without a fight. But they did go down. 

In the 90th minute, recently acquired  Japanese youngster Hosei Kijima laid the dagger by scoring a laser from 20 yards away. 2:1 STL 

The crowd engulfed the stadium with their roars. They came here for a show and they got it.

Final: 2-1, STL Wins.

A Look Ahead

Tuesday’s match shows the potential this City SC team has. They can pounce on their opponents’ mistakes, the only thing to worry about currently is their own mistakes. However, as the season goes on, I believe that STL will succeed in the long run. 

Watch out for the next STL City SC CONCACAF game on 2/27/24.