St. Louis CITY SC Advances to U.S. Open Cup Round of 16 with Shutout Victory over Union Omaha

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MLS St. Louis City SC

St. Louis CITY SC Advances to U.S. Open Cup Round of 16 with Shutout Victory over Union Omaha

May 8, 2025 - Major League Soccer (MLS)
St. Louis City SC News Release


ST. LOUIS, MO - St. Louis CITY SC punched its ticket to the U.S. Open Cup Round of 16 with a shutout win against Union Omaha on Wednesday night at Energizer Park. After a scoreless first half, 2025 MLS SuperDraft selection Joey Zalinsky rocketed a strike in from distance to put St. Louis on top, scoring what finished as the game-winning goal in his debut with the team. With stoppage time approaching, João Klauss slotted home another goal off a feed from Cedric Teuchert to double CITY SC's advantage and seal the victory. CITY SC returns to MLS action this weekend, facing off against San Diego FC on Saturday, May 10, at 7:30 p.m. at Energizer Park.

Postgame Notes

Joey Zalinsky made his first appearance for CITY SC

Zalinsky scored the first professional goal of his career

Xande Silva and Mykhi Joyner made their first starts for CITY SC

João Klauss scored his second goal across all competitions this season

Cedric Teuchert picked up his second assist across all competitions this season

The clean sheet was the third for Ben Lundt and the sixth for CITY SC across all competitions this season

May 7, 2025 - Energizer Park (St. Louis, MO)

Goal-Scoring Plays

STL: Joey Zalinsky, 68th minute - Joey Zalinsky scored with a right footed shot from outside the box to the bottom left corner of the goal.

STL: João Klauss (Cedric Teuchert), 87th minute - João Klauss scored with a right footed shot from outside the box to the bottom right corner of the goal.

Scoring Summary

STL: Joey Zalinsky, 68'

STL: João Klauss (Cedric Teuchert), 87'

Misconduct Summary

OMA: Marco Milanese (caution), 45'

OMA: Brandon Knapp (caution), 45+3'

OMA: Joe Gallardo (caution), 62'

OMA: Charlie Ostrem (caution), 90'

STL: Mykhi Joyner (caution), 90+3'

Lineups

STL: GK Ben Lundt; D Joey Zalinsky (Jannes Horn 74'), Josh Yaro ©, D Timo Baumgartl, D Kyle Hiebert; M Tomáš Ostrák (Eduard Löwen 46'), M Célio Pompeu, M Alfredo Morales (Conrad Wallem 44'), M Mykhi Joyner; F Simon Becher (João Klauss 74'), F Xande Silva (Cedric Teuchert 63')

Substitutes not used: GK Christian Olivares, M Akil Watts

TOTAL SHOTS: 24; SHOTS ON GOAL: 10; FOULS: 15; OFFSIDES: 4; CORNER KICKS: 6; SAVES: 3

OMA: GK Rashid Nuhu; D Brandon Knapp (Mark Bronnik 85'), D Brent Kallman, D Marco Milanese, D Samuel Owusu (Anderson Holt 46'), D Charlie Ostrem; M Joe Gallardo, M Laurence Wootton, M Max Schneider, M Kemy Amiche (Mehdi Ouamri 58'); F Aaron Gómez (Sergio Ors Navarro 58')

Substitutes not used: D Ryen Jiba, GK Cole Jensen, D Josh Ramsey

TOTAL SHOTS: 8; SHOTS ON GOAL: 3; FOULS: 15; OFFSIDES: 1; CORNER KICKS: 6; SAVES: 7

Referee: William Hale

Assistant Referees: Matthew Rodman, Bruno Salgado Rizo, Kyle Armstrong

Venue: Energizer Park

Weather: Cloudy, 70 degrees

Postgame Audio: Recording

Postgame Video: Footage (Passcode: 7^KP^ULr)

Head Coach Olof Mellberg

On Zalinsky being a starter tonight:

I spoke about it yesterday that he was probably going to get the chance to play. We decided from the start, and I thought he did really well and deserved a goal.

On whether it was a must-win match:

Yeah, I think so. I mean, we're playing against the lower-level team. You know, they're not bad. They have some good players. So we had to fight for it. We had a lot of chances today, and it's obviously a game that we should win, and we did the job. We had good energy in the team, I thought that they did fairly well in the first half, we created some good chances, and, you know, in the second half, we had a bad spell for 10 or 15 minutes when we were 1-0 up. They were really close to scoring, so I wasn't happy with that period.

On Burki's progress recovering from injury:

He's good. He got the clearance today from the medical department, so he's going to be in full training from now on.

On if the match was scary being tied after an hour:

I don't know if I would call it scary, but yeah, there's obviously a risk of losing. We are obviously in total control of the game. We are creating the chances and we have a lot of possession, but anything can happen. So it was nice to score that first goal, you know. So even if they would have gotten the goal at that point, we would have still had time. And also, you usually end up getting a chance in the end, which we did.

Joey Zalinsky

On scoring his first professional goal:

Insane - I couldn't ask for much more. You know, first professional goal, first start in a stadium with fans who are amazing. So, it was unbelievable. I was so happy.

On whether it was rough being on the bench most games prior:

No, not at all. I mean, our team is one. I'm just trying to be there for my teammates. They're there for me, telling me I'm doing great every day in training. So, just waiting for my moment. Tonight was the moment. I had to show out. It felt good, but definitely not rough at all. No, I'm just enjoying the ride so far.

On how his more experienced teammates have helped him:

You know, they played at levels where people only dream of, so learning from them is just an experience. Learning from them every day, just taking it all in and understanding what they do and how they do it. So, hopefully in the future, I'm able to follow up on those lessons that they gave me and just keep doing it every day.

On whether he felt it was a must-win game:

A win is a win. Definitely, the guys feel the energy, so hopefully we can keep this momentum going to the weekend and also Open Cup after that. So definitely got to keep the energy up like we have in the locker room. It's going well, definitely

João Klauss

On Zalinsky scoring his first professional goal:

Joey has been working so hard since preseason, did a great job in preseason. It's a guy that brings a lot of energy and positivity every day. Yeah, we are very, very happy for him.

On today's overall effort despite the match not being pretty:

I think we did our job. We know this is a must-win game. This is also a Cup that we want to take very seriously. But yeah, as you said, it wasn't pretty. A lot of things that we have to fix, a lot of things that we have to improve, and we have to go to the training field and get better.

On the result giving them momentum heading into Saturday's match:

Of course, especially after the stretch that we had, it's always important to get a win for the confidence of the team, for the confidence of the players. Also, I think the players that played today, they played very well, which brings more competition inside of the group. And yeah, we hope that we can build from this game. As I say, there is a lot of things that we have to fix, but yeah, it's always important to get a win

On whether his minutes today will affect him Saturday:

No, I think we prepare ourselves for every game. When you have games in the middle of the week, it's tough physically, but I think we have a very good team, very good staff, that do a great job to make sure that we recover well, day by day. So, everybody's doing a great job, and I think we are ready. If we have to play two or three games during the week, we will do it.

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