There were some breakthrough moments for ºüÀêÊÓƵ 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.â€
“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.â€
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.â€
“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.â€
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.â€
“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.â€
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.â€
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.â€
ºüÀêÊÓƵ City SC beat writer Tom Timmermann and co-host Beth O'Malley discuss the team's loss to Real Salt Lake, and then welcome a guest. Ci…
City SC forward Klauss celebrates scoring on a penalty kick in the second half to tie the game against D.C. United on Saturday, March 23, 2024, at CityPark.