More center back adventures for City SC: Nilsson out with a broken rib

The curse of the St. Louis City SC center back continues.

After missing two games with a tight back, Tim Parker was back on the practice field Tuesday, though wearing a yellow jersey as a neutral in practice. (“Goes nicely with his hair color,” coach Bradley Carnell said.) But absent from the field was Joakim Nilsson, who Carnell said will miss at least this week and probably next with a broken rib suffered Saturday in a 2-2 tie against D.C. United.

“Nilsson’s had something,” Carnell said after practice Tuesday, “and it aggravated for the last three or four days prior to that, and then playing against (D.C. United’s Christian) Benteke, he’s a different opponent or a different striker than we usually face. So he got pretty banged up, but credit to him. I thought we did a great job on Benteke. We got 80% first contact on all set pieces, so it was really good.

“He’s a competitor. He’s feisty. He loves a good challenge. And you can see he fights through a lot of things. So yeah, credit to him, but yeah, he’s around us. He’s with us. We feel this might be a short-term loss in that instance, a couple of weeks maybe. And then he’ll be back with us.”

Nilsson and Parker, the team’s preferred pair in the middle of its back line, have started just three games together so far this season, and in one of those, Parker came out after 35 minutes when he felt a leg muscle tightening. Parker has gone 90 minutes in just three of the team’s seven games over all competitions. The team’s other two center backs, Josh Yaro and Kyle Hiebert, have each missed three games. Even Michael Wentzel, the top center back for City2, has missed a game to injury.

Carnell said Parker will need to progress through his return-to-play program but was hopeful he’d be available this weekend.

Another thing the center backs have done is score. Parker, Nilsson, Yaro and Hiebert have all scored this season in some competition: Parker in the Champions Cup, Nilsson and Yaro in MLS play, and Hiebert forced an own goal in MLS play and scored in MLS Next Pro on Sunday.

Eduard Lowen trained separately from the team Tuesday, and while he’s making progress, Carnell said this week might be a bit early for him to return to action.

Refs are back

PRO, the group that runs officiating for Major League Soccer, and the PSRA, the union that represents MLS referees and assistant referees, reached an agreement late Monday night that will end the league’s lockout of officials. The officials will be back at work this weekend, which will also mean the implementation of some new rules, including one tested in MLS Next Pro where a player who is on the ground more than 15 seconds and is tended to by trainers will have to leave the field for two minutes before returning.

“Those are some things we will have to address and talk about,” Carnell said. “It might save us 10 minutes on a game like we just had.”

There were 15 minutes of stoppage time in the second half Saturday as D.C. United had multiple players hit the ground and stay there for a while.

Blom’s back

Njabulo Blom returned to action Saturday for his first game in almost a month, entering as a substitute in the 80th minute. He ended up getting 25 minutes in a game that saw 15 minutes of extra time. Blom last played Feb. 24 and then hurt his knee in practice.

“‘Jabs’ has a certain orientation,” Carnell said, “so we would have liked to have got him a few more minutes. Just the rhythm and the progression of the game, we just thought that was the right moment to bring him in, and I thought he looked pretty good. We’ll just keep on pushing him and keep on demanding more in training and getting him up to more speed, but I’m glad we’re getting healthy bodies over here.

“The impact of the Champions Cup leaves its marks, and you can see around the league what it does. We are getting over the hump now and getting guys slowly coming back and the more players that we have healthy, fit, strong in the roster, the more competition, the internal competition drives the external competition, and that’s what we need from all the players.”

Just trying to help

Hiebert is one exam shy of completing the academic side of becoming a CPA (he still needs to amass a substantial number of working hours to complete the experiential side), so while he’s not doing anybody’s taxes but his own this year, he’s still fielding questions from teammates.

“Guys will ask for advice on specific things,” he said. “Business or writing off their vehicle, whether to take the IRS mileage rate or go with the maker’s depreciation. So just fun locker room chat.”

Told it sounds like something out of “The Shawshank Redemption,” where convicted banker Andy Dufresne does the taxes for all the prison guards, Hiebert smiled.

“I feel like Andy,” he said. “Except this is the opposite of prison.”

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St. Louis City SC beat writer Tom Timmermann and co-host Beth O'Malley discuss the team's recent game against DC United, which (wait for it) resulted in a 2-2- tie. There were good moments (Klauss scored) and not-so-good moments (Stroud's crosses), and while the team hasn't won, they also haven't lost. So ... ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Timmermann also gives an injury update and the two answer a reader question about penalty kicks.

We want to hear from you: Email your questions or feedback to ttimmermann@post-dispatch.com and bomalley@post-dispatch.com 

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There were some breakthrough moments for St. Louis City SC on Saturday night. Klauss, the team’s top offensive threat, scored his first goal of the season. Defender Josh Yaro scored the first goal of his MLS career.

The team itself, however, still can’t get its own breakthrough, still can’t cross whatever that fine line is that would get City SC a win. For the third game in a row, whatever good City SC did in scoring goals was canceled by mistakes it made in allowing goals, and the team played to yet another tie, this time a 2-2 result with D.C. United at a sold-out and cold CityPark.

So yes, City SC is unbeaten through five games, but four of those have ended in a tie, one fewer than the team had all of last season. The team also is winless in its past three games after leading in two of them.

“These ties might look terrible now,” said Yaro, who made his second consecutive start with Tim Parker out because of a back injury. “But I promise you in the end of the season, that could be the difference between getting a higher (playoff) seed or a lower seed, and we celebrate every point. Not that we’re not disappointed with some ties, but these are ties that we’re earning, and yeah, that could be a difference down the line. And so yeah, we get disappointed a little bit, but we also know that the point is always better than a loss. And so we’ll take it.”

“It’s better tied” than losing, said Klauss, “but of course we have to win games to make the playoffs in the end of the season. So yeah, we’re going to work on some details.”

The way City SC got to a tie was part of the frustration. Yaro scored in the 19th minute, heading in a corner kick, putting City SC up 1-0 in a game for just the second time in league play. But within 80 seconds after Yaro scored, the game was tied, the second time in the past three games City SC has allowed a goal immediately after scoring.

Within 20 minutes, the team was losing 2-1, and City SC spent the next 50 minutes battling to get even. It wasn’t until the 70th minute when Klauss converted a penalty kick that City SC tied the game, the fifth time in the past three games the team has fallen behind but scored to get even.

“I’m proud that we go a goal up,” City SC coach Bradley Carnell said. “Not so proud that we concede straight away. (That’s) two games where we give away these moments from the kickoff. So it’s something to reflect on, something we’re going to have to get better at and something we have to look at a little bit more intensely.”

“I’m disappointed about the draw,” said goalkeeper and captain Roman Burki. “But at the same time, I look at the game and I think if we don’t score the goals with the chances we have, if we can’t score from open play, we don’t deserve to win the game. And today it was difficult to play, but we didn’t do enough to win this game.”

City SC certainly had some chances it couldn’t finish, and Klauss often looks frustrated, but the goal he scored, even if only on a PK, could be the thing that gets him going.

“Good feeling,” Klauss said. “First of the season, I have been working very hard during the past games. Of course, as a striker, everybody expects that they score goals every single game. It’s not possible. But yeah, I’m happy to score my first one.”

“Massive,” said Carnell. “I think he’s been working his tail off to try to get in moments. ... I think we dominated much of the proceedings tonight, and so it’s massive for Klauss to get into good spots. He’s got his fitness back, you can see. He doesn’t stop working for 90 minutes and he’s a real menace up top. He’s working his way back and the harder you work, you know your game is in better situations and he did so tonight.”

The penalty kick came after Celio Pompeu, who came on as a sub in the 57th minute and did what he normally does, going at opponents and getting the ball in dangerous situations, was fouled in the box by D.C.’s Conner Antley. Pompeu was knocked down, but he got back up, retrieved the ball and put it into the box in what was either a shot looking for the back post or a cross to Klauss for a tap-in, but goalkeeper Alex Bono got to the ball first.

Play continued, but during an injury stoppage, referee Amin Hadzic was summoned to the VAR monitor and saw that Pompeu had been fouled and that he was in the penalty area. Eduard Lowen normally takes PKs for City SC, but he missed his second straight game because of a hamstring injury. So Klauss stepped up and did a bunch of stutter-steps that led to Bono diving the wrong way before Klauss rolled the ball into the net.

From there, it was a procession of D.C. United slowing the game down — some might say stalling, though Carnell called it a “disruption of rhythm” — to preserve the point. D.C. United trainers kept coming onto the field to attend to fallen players. Burki was leaving his box to run out to midfield and plead with Hadzic to do something.

“I think the frustration from our side was because I’ve never seen a team wasting time so much and the referee not doing anything,” Burki said. “I thought the goalkeeper lost a leg, but then all of a sudden he was still able to kick the ball almost to my box. So I told the ref, ‘Is it not obvious?’ and then he asked me, ‘Yeah, what can I do?’ And I felt like ‘Yeah, you have two cards in your pocket. Use them if you have to.’ I mean, control the game. Don’t let the game control you or the other team control you or control the game. It’s unfortunate, but I’m pretty sure DC is not the only team doing that. I think we will try to when we are winning, not when we are in a draw.”

Burki was also frustrated by the team allowing two goals in 18 minutes as City SC’s lead disappeared. On both goals, former City SC player Jared Stroud, pressed into service at right back because of a depleted D.C. United roster, made crosses into the box to Christian Benteke. On the first one, which came before the PA announcement about Yaro’s goal was over, Burki stopped Benteke’s shot, but Ted Ku-Dipietro put in the rebound. The second Benteke put in the net.

“The first goal,” Burki said, “if you look at it, the most dangerous player that they have, nobody’s with him. After the cross, yes, we try to find him and defend. But we have to actually track the guys because the player in the middle is going to score the goal, not the guy who’s crossing. If Jared Stroud scores from this angle, then it’s my fault. He was way too far to score a goal from there. So we have to sometimes organize or think about who the dangerous player is here. And the attacker was all alone. Yaro came after to, like, try a little bit, but it’s just not enough.

“And the second goal, I think, was two players (Nikolas Dyhr, making his first start, and Joakim Nilsson) try to go out to pressure the pass, the ball gets played in between them. Jared Stroud, again, could shoot, but he plays it across the goal and it’s just too easy. We make it too easy for our opponents.”

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ST. LOUIS — After a conference title-winning inaugural year, St. Louis City SC’s return to the pitch has nearby businesses bolstering their game-day offerings, hoping to continue their soccer-related revenue.

The area surrounding CityPark saw over $73 million more in taxable revenue between January and September 2023 than in the same period the year before, bolstering hopes that the Major League Soccer stadium would flood nearby businesses with customers and spur economic regeneration in the neighborhood.

Taxable sales collected within the 63103 ZIP code — bounded roughly by Grand Boulevard to the west, Tucker Boulevard to the east, Chouteau Avenue to the south and Delmar Boulevard to the north — totaled nearly $441 million, nearing pre-pandemic numbers.

This is over $73 million more than what was reported in 2022 for the same period, according to the Missouri Department of Revenue.

During St. Louis City SC’s home opener last month, Schlafly Tap Room saw over 2,500 people on game day, similar to what they had last year, but the company said sales improved significantly, especially outside in the improved pre-match area, which was reconfigured for better flow and access to points of sale, said Dan Jameson, Schlafly’s head of brewpub operation.

After seeing the success of last season’s tailgates, Schlafly Tap Room puts up drink tents and serves a match day menu with snacks like soft pretzels with cheese, pulled pork, bratwursts and Red Hot Riplets pork rinds.

“I want the pubs to be more fun because if the pubs are more fun, more people come,” said Jameson. “If more people come, sales are up.”

The Tap Room plans to add additional televisions in the bar for away game watch parties.

“We never in our wildest dreams would think that we’d become a soccer pub,” Jameson said.

After a rocky start hosting soccer fans last season, The Pepper Lounge, about three blocks north of CityPark, has ramped up its soccer-related events. General manager Kelly Clark said the nightclub is transforming its front lounge into a sports bar, offering featured drinks and hosting different food trucks on match days.

Clark has noticed one side effect of the soccer development — there is less criminal activity around the nightclub compared to last year and the year before. Still, the business remains vigilant when it comes to safety, especially on match days, adding security on busy days, walking people to their cars, calling Ubers for guests who have had too much to drink and encouraging folks with valuables in their cars to park close to the venue.

“Everything doesn’t change because of soccer,” Clark said. “Things don’t change because of money. We’re still focused on safety.”

The London Tea Room, an English tea shop and events space, relocated to Locust Street from Tower Grove in late 2022 with hopes of capitalizing off of the area’s shiny new soccer stadium and other revitalization, said owner Jackie James.

Since then, some customers have told James that they are unwilling to travel to her new location because of assumptions of a violent and crime-ridden downtown, she said.

“They’re very much the minority,” James said. “But they’ll say ‘I don’t come downtown for anything.’”

The tea shop owner said she hopes this will change and estimates that the neighborhood will be completely revitalized within five years.

“It’s really up and coming, just so much going on here and people moving in,” James said.

Other businesses are also going all in this year to capitalize off of the soccer buzz.

Nearby on Olive Street, dispensary Viola STL just celebrated its one year anniversary downtown and sales are about what they anticipated, co-founder Dan Pettigrew said.

Soccer fans have been supportive of the business during games and Pettigrew estimated that the dispensary saw about 65,000 customers last year. He said they hope to grow sales by 30% in 2024.

“We work with vendors to get as much activity around the game as possible,” Pettigrew said. “We want to be an institution in that area. We focus a lot of our attention on events.”

Pettigrew said they will continue to offer specials and discounts during soccer matches and other downtown events such as festivals, concerts and parades.

More broadly, Pettigrew said he is excited for the downtown resurgence St. Louis City SC is contributing to and he anticipates increasing growth in the area.

“It’s crazy,” he said of St. Louis’ soccer mania. “Soccer is huge in the area. It’s good to see it manifest for the team. We’ve really enjoyed fans coming by.”

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