
St. Louis CITY SC Falls to LAFC at BMO Stadium
July 13, 2023 - Major League Soccer (MLS)
St. Louis City SC News Release
LOS ANGELES - St. Louis CITY SC's three-match winning streak was snapped on Wednesday night after falling 3-0 to LAFC. LAFC's Carlos Vela, Stipe Biuk and José Cifuentes all scored in the second half to secure the three points for the home team. St. Louis CITY SC remains in first place in the Western Conference standings with 38 points.
Postgame Notes
Jon Bell made his first start for CITY SC
CITY SC fielded its 20th different lineup in 22 MLS games
With 12 games remaining, CITY SC remains atop of the Western Conference
Goal-Scoring Plays
LAFC - Carlos Vela (José Cifuentes), 72nd minute: Carlos Vela left footed shot from the center of the box to the high center of the goal.
LAFC - Stipe Biuk (Denis Bouanga), 82nd minute: Stipe Biuk right footed shot from the center of the box to the bottom left corner.
LAFC - José Cifuentes (Nathan Ordaz), 90'+2 minute: José Cifuentes left footed shot from the center of the box to the bottom right corner.
Next Game
Following a two-game road trip, St. Louis CITY SC returns to CITYPARK to take on Inter Miami CF on July 15.
July 12, 2023 - BMO Stadium (Los Angeles, California)
Goals by Half 1 2 F
LAFC 0 3 3
St. Louis CITY SC 0 0 0
Scoring Summary
LAFC: Carlos Vela (José Cifuentes), 72
LAFC: Stipe Biuk (Denis Bouanga), 82
LAFC: José Cifuentes (Nathan Ordaz), 90'+2'
Misconduct Summary
LAFC: José Cifuentes (caution), 14
LAFC: Denil Maldonado (caution), 30'
STL: Jon Bell (caution), 51'
STL: Jake Nerwinski (caution), 72'
Lineups
LAFC: GK John McCarthy; D Denil Maldonado, D Diego Palacios, D Giorgio Chiellini, D Ryan Hollingshead; M Ilie Sanchez, M Mateusz Bogusz (Stipe Biuk 62'), M Mateusz Bogusz, M Jose Cifuentes, M Kellyn Acosta; F Carlos Vela © (Nathan Ordaz 86'), F Denis Bouanga
Substitutes Not Used: GK Eldin Jakupovic, D Mamadou Fall, M Timothy Tillman, M Daniel Crisostomo, D Erik Duenas, D Diego Rosales, F Julian Gaines
TOTAL SHOTS: 11; SHOTS ON GOAL: 3; FOULS: 15; OFFSIDES: 2; CORNER KICKS: 4; SAVES: 2
STL: GK Roman Bürki ©; D Jake Nerwinski, D Lucas Bartlett, D Jon Bell (Kyle Hiebert, 69'), D John Nelson; M Njabulo Blom, M Indiana Vassilev, M Rasmus Alm (Jared Stroud 56'), M Tomáš Ostrák (Aziel Jackson 78'), M Célio Pompeu (Eduard Löwen 69'); F Nicholas Gioacchini (Sam Adeniran 69')
Substitutes Not Used: GK Ben Lundt D Josh Yaro, D Akil Watts, M Miguel Perez
TOTAL SHOTS: 9; SHOTS ON GOAL: 2; FOULS: 10; OFFSIDES: 0; CORNER KICKS: 5; SAVES: 0
Referee: Joe Dickerson
Assistant Referees: Logan Brown, Stefan Tanaka-Freundt
Fourth Official: Elvis Osmanovic
VAR: Younes Marrakchi
AVAR: TJ Zablocki
Venue: BMO Stadium
Weather: Sunny, 81 degrees
ST. LOUIS CITY SC POSTGAME QUOTES
Audio:Recordings
Bradley Carnell
Opening statement...
Yeah, I think the result sucks. The scoreline sucks, but I think the performance, yeah, really gave me things to have hope about. And just looking at the way we went at it, you know, we gave guys a run, and I thought those guys came through. Again, a lot of those plays that started the game we've created history with down the stretch the first five games, and yeah, for me it was an easy choice to play guys here tonight. And yeah, we fought for 70, 71 minutes and then, you know, the randomness of a long ball, a long play and the quality of LAFC in transition, they can hurt you and they certainly did. Think if I look at the stats, three shots on target and three goals. So, you know, this was a game finely poised and finely balanced. And unfortunately, we lost the critical moments at critical times, and then we see the score line at the end of the day. So, you know, I thought we grew as a group together today. You know, we win so many times together. Today, we lost together. We get out of here after a successful week, I would say, and now we head back home and get prepared for a very important Inter Miami match on Saturday.
On if there is an inherent risk to completely rotating the backline...
I don't see so. I mean, we changed the whole backline or we changed a bunch of players against San Jose. You know, we've done it so many times, and we've been rewarded so many times. I definitely won't buy that narrative. Everyone has created history, like I said in the opening statements. You know, we've got these guys and we've got these players, and I take every bit of responsibility here for these guys. I'll protect these guys because they've done exactly their job, and they've done exactly what I needed here today. And unfortunately, we couldn't just reward ourselves for the final stretch, you know, towards the end of the game.
On whether he sees anything from this game that compares to the match against Seattle earlier in the season...
Yeah, I see growth. I see growth from our group. You cannot only grow when you succeed. You have to grow when you when you fail as well, right? You find ways to bounce back, and you find ways to get back on track and you find ways to be successful. I think if you look post-Seattle, we've been pretty successful. So, you know, thinking how we grew now as a group, also in times of adversity, also in times of a bad result - I mean, is this a bad result losing to LAFC? I mean away from home on short rest with a big travel, I don't see this as a big failure.
Eduard Löwen
On how it felt to return...
Yeah, obviously it felt so great, for sure. Yeah, I'm very happy that I could be back and had a quick recovery. But, of course, obviously there are better games to come back like that, so that was a little bit of a bummer. But yeah, I'm still happy.
On what LAFC did to turn the tide in the second half...
Yeah, I think the first goal was a little bit surprising. I don't think that assist, yeah, was planned like that. Just smashed the ball away, and we weren't prepared. And then Vela strikes the ball very well, Roman can't do anything. The second goal, yeah, I don't know. We can say they played it well, for sure as well. Also, the third goal, yeah, couple of passes. We were done. So, I think they made it good, but in the end of the day, we are going to watch the video and going to prepare for Saturday what we can do better.
On what he saw from his teammates while he was on the bench...
Yeah, I think to be honest, I have to give a lot of credit to the guys because it was a completely mixed team, a different team. We never played like that. JB came in -- Jon Bell. Yeah, so I think he did a great job, not playing for a long time, was his first starting game. I think he did great. As I said, LAFC rarely found space and chances to create something. So, I think the boys did a really, really good job here in LA. And obviously it's a tough place to play, so I think the guys did really well.
• Discuss this story on the Major League Soccer message board...
Major League Soccer Stories from July 13, 2023
- MATCH Preview: Inter Miami CF to Face St. Louis CITY SC for the First Time Ever this Saturday - Inter Miami CF
- News & Notes for Matchday 25: Transfer Window News, Preparing for Houston - Colorado Rapids
- Colorado Rapids President Padraig Smith Addresses Media: Summer Transfer Window, Women's Soccer in Colorado - Colorado Rapids
- LAFC and BMO Team up to Provide LA Active Sports with $15,000 Grant to Launch New Summer Futsal League in South Los Angeles - Los Angeles FC
- Philadelphia Union Midfielder Dániel Gazdag Voted MLS Player of the Matchday Presented by Continental Tire for Matchday 25 - MLS
- Toronto FC Acquire Latif Blessing and an International Slot in Exchange for Mark-Anthony Kaye - Toronto FC
- Revolution Acquire Midfielder Mark-Anthony Kaye in Trade with Toronto FC - New England Revolution
- Sporting KC Launches Fully-Integrated Spanish-Language Website - Sporting Kansas City
- Houston Dynamo FC Exercise Option to Purchase U-22 Initiative Player Nelson Quiñónes - Houston Dynamo FC
- Xherdan Shaqiri Selected to MLS Team of the Matchday for Matchday 25 - Chicago Fire FC
- Obinna Nwobodo Named to MLS Team of the Matchday for Matchday 25 - FC Cincinnati
- Earthquakes Forward Cristian Espinoza and Defenders Miguel Trauco and Rodrigues Selected to MLS Team of the Matchday - San Jose Earthquakes
- Charlotte FC Sign Midfielder Brecht Dejaegere - Charlotte FC
- Moments of Matchday 25 - MLS
- FC Cincinnati Flips the Script, Scores Late Twice to Mount First Ever Second-Half Comeback Victory - FC Cincinnati
- MLS and Partner Organizations to Positively Impact Nation's Capital Ahead of MLS All-Star Game - MLS
- Quakes Victorious at Home, Espinoza Breaks All-Time Club Assist Record - San Jose Earthquakes
- LAFC Knock off First Place St. Louis City 3-0 - Los Angeles FC
- Sounders FC Falls 2-0 on the Road in San Jose - Seattle Sounders FC
- Austin FC Falls to Vancouver Whitecaps FC, 2-1 - Austin FC
- Levonte Johnson Earned His Second Straight Start After Signing an MLS Contract on June 30 - Vancouver Whitecaps FC
- St. Louis CITY SC Falls to LAFC at BMO Stadium - St. Louis City SC
The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
Other Recent St. Louis City SC Stories
- St. Louis CITY SC Earns 2-2 Draw on the Road against LAFC
- St. Louis CITY SC Acquires Xande Silva from Atlanta United Via Trade
- St. Louis CITY SC Adds Forwards Mykhi Joyner and Brendan McSorley on Short-Term Agreements
- Semifinal 2025 Concacaf Gold Cup Match to be Held at Energizer Park on Wednesday, July 2
- Jamaica Will Replace China PR as Opponent for the U.S. Women's National Team on June 3 at Energizer Park in St. Louis

