St. Louis City Falls 3-0 to Los Angeles FC

On paper, a 3-0 defeat seems definitive and dominant. But St. Louis City SC’s 3-0 defeat to Los Angeles FC was deceitful. The match had been dull and uneventful until the 72nd minute when LAFC opened the scoring.

Small moments often determine the outcome in contested match-ups. St. Louis City SC head coach Bradley Carnell believes his team lost too many of them against LAFC.

“This game was finely poised and finely balanced. And unfortunately, we lost the critical moments at critical times, and then we see the score line at the end of the day,” Carnell said in a post-match press conference.

An Unremarkable First Half
LAFC trailed five points behind City in the Western Conference table prior to the match. LAFC expectedly dominated possession of the ball and attempted to spread City’s defense to create dangerous opportunities.

But LAFC found no breakthroughs because City decided against deploying its distinguished high-intensity pressing style. City instead focused on eradicating the spaces between its defense and refused to be drawn out of position by LAFC’s passing.

This discipline prevented LAFC’s attackers from creating dangerous attacking opportunities. LAFC tediously passed the ball from side-to-side in an attempt to draw out City’s defense but to no avail. City refused to bite.

A common tactic teams deploy to draw out a sitting defense is allowing the full-backs and an additional midfielder to join the attack. This creates additional passing lanes and overloads that teams can use to progress the ball.

But LAFC limited the amount of players it allowed to join the attack. LAFC realized more players in the attacking half meant it would be exposed to City’s lethal counter-attacks. The first-half became an innocuous game of cat and mouse, with both teams refusing to give anything up.

The lack of offensive opportunities was evident in the stat sheet at half-time. LAFC produced four shots while City managed just two shots.

Second-Half Substitutes
The second-half continued exactly where the first-half left off. Neither side made adjustments and it appeared the match would end in a stalemate.

LAFC was match number two in a stretch of three-matches in just eight days. Much like City with CityPark, LAFC wins most of its matches at BMO Stadium. All facts considered, a draw would have been a good result for City.

But the match changed after Carnell’s 69th minute substitutions. The most notable was Kyle Hiebert coming on for Jon Bell. Bell performed well in his first start for City, but fatigue led to his replacement.

“[Bell]’s legs started to fade and fatigue a little bit down the stretch. We knew this wouldn’t be a 90-minute game for [Bell],” Carnell said.

An LAFC clearance made its way to City’s Lucas Bartlett near the half-way line. Bartlett leaped to head the ball away as Hiebert inexplicably challenged for the ball as well.

Hiebert bumped into Bartlett and fell over. This left LAFC’s Carlos Vela unmarked. The ball fell to LAFC’s José Cifuentes who immediately played a long ball for Vela to run onto. Vela eventually scored to put LAFC 1-0 up in the 72nd minute, three minutes after Hiebert’s introduction into the match.

LAFC turned another clearance into a goal in the 82nd minute. LAFC’s Dénis Bouanga headed the clearance toward Vela near the sideline. Vela held up the ball as Bouanga continued his run. Vela flicked the ball into Bouanga’s path and Bouanga dribbled it toward City’s goal. Bouanga crossed the ball to Stipe Biuk who scored to double LAFC’s lead.

LAFC’s third goal in stoppage time demonstrated its threat in transition. LAFC’s Nathan Ordaz crossed the ball to an open Cifuentes at the edge of the box. Cifuentes then scored to seal the game for LAFC.

What’s Next?
A 3-0 defeat will be a tough pill to swallow for City. But Carnell believes his team performed well given the circumstances. “I mean away from home on short rest with a big travel, I don't see this as a big failure.”

City remains first in the Western Conference despite the loss. Carnell believes his players gave it their all against a formidable opponent. “They empty the tank every single day for me. And I couldn’t ask for more. They gave me exactly what I thought the game would give us. Unfortunately, we just couldn’t hang on until the end,” Carnell said.

Carnell believes his team can get back to winning ways against Inter Miami on Saturday at CityPark. “You have to grow when you fail as well. You find ways to bounce back, and you find ways to get back on track and you find ways to be successful.”

This reporting was supported by the River City Journalism Fund.

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