End of the Drought, St. Louis CITY SC win at Home, Courtesy of Löwen and Klauss

With the change in Leadership mid-week, "Caretaker Manager", David Critchley, shook things up ahead of Saturday's fixture versus the San Jose Earthquakes, whom CITY have a 4-0-0 record against.

Some new faces were seen in the bout, Joey Zalinsky and Jay Reid got their first MLS Starts at Right Back and Left Back, respectively, as Chris Durkin, normally a midfielder, was stationed at Center Back alongside Timo Baumgartl.

As the game began, City started on the front foot, quickly getting a corner kick which Eduard Löwen took, getting a large cheer from the sold-out crowd in downtown St. Louis. Fans remain desperate for three points as the team hasn't won an MLS fixture in 77 days, dating back to their 1-0 win over Seattle on March 15th.

Cedric Teuchert goes down with injury

After an uneventful first half, Cedric Teuchert went down with a lower-body injury in the 41st Minute. He came off for Xande Silva; Cedric went straight to the locker room.

However, In the second minute of extra time in the first half, a long pass is played towards João Klauss, who wins a header, keeps possession. Then San Jose Goal Keeper, Earl Edwards Jr., hesitates and is caught watching as the ball goes into the back of the net to break the 0-0 scoreline.

Critchley implemented his patented back-four defensive structure, which held strong for 81 minutes, until San Jose's #13 Josef Martinez found the back of the net in the 83rd minute. 1-1 with less than 10 minutes to go.

Eduard Löwen just before taking the game winning PK

Everyone in the stadium felt a sense of dread as yet another game was about to slip away. However, Simon Becher makes a run, all the way to San Jose's box, muscles a man out of the way, and gets fouled by the keeper in the box. The ref points to the spot, and Eduard Löwen walks up to take the penalty. The man who just came back, the man whose life was uprooted last summer, the man who this team needed, and the man who scored the second City Goal of the match. 2-1 City.

Late in the game, Conrad Wallem gets two yellow cards in a matter of minutes, resulting in a red card ejection and a subsequent 1 match suspension.

After the final whistle, David Critchley spoke to the media.

• "Belief" is one word we're going to have around here."

• "We always talk about, especially at home, how we can set the tempo, how we can control the game. The first ten minutes were crucial for us. The message to the team was very, very clear: that we have a 12th man here. We better utilize them, and for us, going out there and showing ways to do that, getting the crowd engaged with us, and us being engaged with the crowd, was super important.  "

First Half Stats and Subs.

Stats

• City Leads in xG (expected goals) with 0.58, compared to San Jose's 0.34

• City's Passing 84% trumps San Jose's 80%

• City SC's highest rated player according to Fotmob.com was Eduard Lowen with a rating of 7.8, Joao Klauss isn't far behind at 7.6.

• Possession is even at 50% each.

Subs

• City SC: Cedric Teuchert was subbed off following a Lower-body injury; he was replaced by Xande Silva in the 41st minute.

Second Half Stats and Subs

Stats

• City led in xG with 1.08, compared to San Jose's 0.44

• San Jose's passing percentage of 86% was better than City's 81%

• City had 44% possession, San Jose had 56%.

Subs

• City SC: Christopher Durkin comes off following halftime, Henry Kessler comes on in the 46th minute.

• SJ: Beau Leroux on for Nick Fernandez in the 60th minute.

• SJ: Christian Esponoisa on for Ousseni Bouda in the 60th minute.

• SJ: Josef Martinez on for Hernan Lopez in the 60th minute.

• City SC: Tomas Totland returns from injury and comes on for Jayden Reid in the 62nd minute.

• SJ: Vitor Costa on for Jamar Ricketts in the 66th minute.

• City SC: Joao Klauss comes off, Simon Becher replaces him in the 71st minute.

• City SC: Joey Zalinsky leaves, Alfredo Morales comes on in the 73rd minute.

• SJ: Nick Lima off, Ahmal Pelligrino coming on in the 79th minute.

  
  

Notable Players

• Eduard Lowen: 1 goal, 1 assist, 8.7 Fotmob Rating.

• João Klauss: 1 goal, 100% passing, 7.9 Fotmob Rating.

• Jay Reid: 8 defensive actions, 7.6 Fotmob Rating.