After riding high on top of the standings, North Texas SC suffered a tough loss to St Louis City 2 on the road on Sunday night, dropping a 4-0 game.
“Just not a great performance by us in the first half,” Interim Head Coach Michel Garbini said after the match, “We started very disorganized in the first half, and they took advantage…”
The Game
It was a relatively typical North Texas lineup to begin the game, with Enes Sali and Anthony Ramirez supporting Tarik Scott on the attacking end. Mads Westergren and Nico Gordon started alongside Amet Korca in defense.
One of the best keepers in MLS Next Pro, Michael Collodi started the game with a save within the first 10 minutes, but a shot from a scramble in the box was unable to be corralled and St Louis took an early lead.
After the opener, the game slowed down, the next major chance of the match came from a set piece when Mads Westergren ripped a dead ball opportunity from outside the box but he was denied by the St Louis keeper.
Six minutes into ten minutes of first-half stoppage time, the hosts doubled their advantage after an intricate passage of play led to a header into a gaping net to make it 2-0 before the halftime break.
The minutes after the halftime break did give any reprieve to North Texas, as a through ball found a St Louis attacker, who poked it home after a challenge from Korca dislodged it originally.
Ramirez nearly gets North Texas on the board, but his shot is denied. Soon after was a quadruple change for the away side, an unusual sight to be certain, but at such a scoreline it was an important hail mary.
Unfortunately, the subs would not prove the difference, as St Louis went up 4-0 in the 70th minute after an unmarked attacker roofed it home past Collodi.
Quotes and Takeaways
Road games are difficult for teams in MLS Next Pro, and tonight was no exception. The team struggled to put together threatening moves in attack and struggled against some intricate passing moves from the home side. St Louis City 2 is a good team in an area that has produced plenty of quality players.
“A lot of individual mistakes tonight, but let’s move on.” Coach Michel said of the game after the match, “Players are frustrated, but it is time to reorganize and prepare for this weekend.”
Things do not get easier for North Texas, as Colorado Rapids 2 is their next match on the schedule, “we know Colorado is fighting for a chance to be in the playoffs… we need to protect our home, we’ll reorganize… and grab those three points”