STL City SC Player Ratings from Hard-Fought 1-0 Victory over Austin FC
by Henry Chappell
Editor's Note: The City SC Report is happy to welcome Henry Chappell as a guest writer.
Hello! My name is Henry Chappell, I am currently a sports journalist at the University of Missouri with an emphasis in writing and reporting. I have followed the Premier League very closely since 2014 with Arsenal being my team across the pond, but I have followed the St Louis clubs from 2018 till now; since the timeline of St. Louis FC until 2023 when MLS brought the sport right into the downtown area.
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St. Louis City SC captured its first victory in five MLS matches on Sunday afternoon at City Park. A 57th minute strike from forward Joao Klauss was the only goal in the contest, on an assist from Ramus Alm.
The defensive backline proved to be extremely effective against the Austin attack, allowing two shots total and zero shots on target. On the offensive side, City SC broke another long streak of 234 minutes without a goal, since Indiana Vassilev slotted home the opening goal in City's 3-1 loss against Real Salt Lake on Mar. 30.
The theme of this match, while sounding cheesy but is tried and true, was pure hard work. In a response to City squad absentee Sam Adeniran, Carnell said "The focus is on the players who were here and emptying the tank for each other." While the Adeniran talk is a conversation for another day, the team did everything necessary effort wise to secure the three points on a hot April day and while maybe only a couple players had "excellent" ratings by number, the consistency of the squad was the difference between another game without a win for City.
Roman Burki: 6 — Two saves but with no shots on target for Austin, not a very active day in goal but no glaring mistakes made in his second straight clean sheet.
Tomas Totland: 7 — The Norwegian right back acquired in December proved to be a serious attacking threat alongside Alm in his run onto the diagonal ball in the center circle before passing to Alm.
Tim Parker: 7 — The captain led the backline by example winning 50 percent of his aerial duels and a 77 percent pass accuracy.
Kyle Heibert (Off 84'): 7 — In his first start of the season, alongside Parker, Heibert took advantage of the opportunity winning seven of his eight duels and all six of his aerial duels in a shutdown performance of the Austin attack.
Anthony Markanich: 6 — In his third straight start, Markanich's game stood out more, credited with several defensive actions and being on the receiving end of three fouls. A solid performance in which Carnell kept him on the full 90 minutes.
Chris Durkin: 6 — A performance by the newly signed midfielder saw him command the middle third of the field which helped limit Austin to zero shots on target. While his long ball accuracy wasn't ideal, the nine defensive recoveries made a valuable impact.
Tomas Ostrak (Sub 84'): 6 — The two-way playing of Ostrak was on display in City's defensive third, especially appearing in the 27th minute when Ostrak helped Totland shut down a potential Austin shot on goal.
Rasmus Alm: 8 — The assist on the Klauss goal encapsulates the impact of the quality crossing and creativity on the right wing that Alm has brought to the City squad. His low cross into the penalty spot set up Klauss for the opening goal.
Indiana Vassilev (Sub 61'): 6 — A more quiet day attacking wise for Vassilev, but the work rate and accurate pass rating of 80 percent don't suggest a massive drop off in production.
Celio Pompéu: 7 — On the left hand side, Pompeu provided just as much production as Alm, providing terrific individual work including switch play between him and Totland in the first half.
João Klauss (Sub 90') MOTM: 8 — The man of the match for City, his second goal of the season ensured the squad's first victory in five matches and his first goal from open play since
Substitutions
Aziel Jackson (On 61'): 6 — An goal scored by Jackson in the seventh minute of added time was taken off the board on a clear offside call, but he proved an effective substitution by Carnell who helped to be a part of the St. Louis counter attacks in the second half.
Hosei Kijima (On 84'): N/A
Nikolas Dyhr (On 84'): N/A
Jacob Nerwinski (On 90'): N/A