St. Louis CITY take "boost of confidence" from thrilling rivalry win | OneFootball

By Alex Calabrese

MLS is back from the 2026 FIFA World Cup break, and as they so often do when they face off, St. Louis CITY SC and Sporting Kansas City served up a goal fest.

The latest edition of this Midwestern rivalry at Energizer Park saw St. Louis come out on top, 3-2, in a back-and-forth affair.

Thursday's result brings the hosts level in the all-time series, which now stands at four wins apiece with three draws since St. Louis joined the league in 2023.

“It’s a good way to restart because it gives us a boost of confidence by getting the result,” head coach Yoann Damet said postgame.

“At the same time, it keeps us on our toes in terms of being more consistent with our performance and taking care of those moments in the game.”

Evenly matched

Though St. Louis CITY are still a young club writing their own history, matchups against other clubs from the Midwest – particularly SKC – have usually delivered. This fixture in particular has provided 43 goals in 11 meetings, averaging almost four goals a game.

“The derbies are always physical. There’s always a little bit of an extra edge, a lot of intensity,” said STL forward Simon Becher. “We knew from the first minute to the last minute it was going to be a fight, regardless of what happened.”

In this case, there were five goals. Sang Bin Jeong and Marcel Hartel both found the net early, giving the hosts a comfortable lead. Capita Capemba cut it to a one-goal advantage before halftime with a stunning strike, and Dejan Joveljić tied it in the 76th minute in what seemed would be a decisive goal.

However, St. Louis were handed a late penalty, which Eduard Löwen expertly converted to secure the victory.

“It showed the mentality of this team that we kept going,” said Hartel. 

“We didn’t fall apart and say, ‘Let’s try to keep the tie.’ We went for the win, and I’m very happy that we got the third goal.”

Playoff chase

The victory is a fourth win amidst a five-game unbeaten streak for St. Louis, who have firmly bounced back from their slow start to the season to now sit just a point below the Audi MLS Cup Playoffs line in the Western Conference. 

They travel to LA next week to face a Galaxy team directly above them in the table – where a win would propel them into a postseason spot.

Löwen’s late winner from a spot kick put them in that position, as the German midfielder picked up his solid form where he left off before the World Cup pause.

“We had a good performance, we got the result, and it gives us a lot of confidence,” said Löwen.

“Now we want to go for the next win and the next win. We’re already focused on LA, and we want to get as close as possible, as soon as possible, to the playoff spot and not be chasing that spot at the end of the season.”

WATCH: St. Louis CITY deny Sporting KC in rivalry thriller