City SC midfielder Aziel Jackson and Union Omaha’s Dion Acoff compete for possession on Tuesday, April 25, 2023, in the first half of the third round game of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open tournament at CityPark.
Christian Gooden, Post-Dispatch
ºüÀêÊÓƵ City SC midfielder Eduard Lowen, right, celebrates after scoring a goal on Union Omaha goalkeeper Rashid Nuhu, center, on Tuesday, April 25, 2023, in the second half of their U.S. Open Cup game at CityPark.
Christian Gooden, Post-Dispatch
ºüÀêÊÓƵ City SC players Isak Jensen, left, and Akil Watts celebrate Watts' second-half goal on Tuesday, April 25, 2023, in the U.S. Open Cup against Union Omaha at CityPark in ºüÀêÊÓƵ.
Christian Gooden, Post-Dispatch
ºüÀêÊÓƵ City SC forward Celio Pompeu and Union Omaha defender Carlos Octavio Palacios compete for possession on Tuesday April 15, 2023, in the first half of their US Open Cup game at CityPark.
In front of a record-setting crowd at CityPark, ºüÀêÊÓƵ City SC started the U.S. Open Cup with an emphatic 5-1 win over third-division Omaha Union on Tuesday night.
Aziel Jackson scored twice for City SC and got an emphatic ovation from the crowd when he was subbed out in the 75th minute after just missing a chance to complete the hat trick. City SC also scored on an own goal by Union Omaha when a cross by Celio Pompeu was deflected in and Akil Watts had the fourth. Eduard Lowen, who came on as a sub, closed the scoring.
The draw for the round of 32 to determine City SC’s next opponent will be held Thursday.
The crowd of 22,423 was the largest ever for a third-round match in the Open Cup, a single-elimination tournament run by U.S. Soccer that runs concurrent to the MLS season and is open to all clubs in the United States. The third round is where Major League Soccer teams enter the competition and are matched up against lower-division teams.
The previous high for a third-round game was 19,301 for a game at Real Salt Lake.
City SC jumped out to a quick lead on Jackson’s goal in the third minute. He took a pass from Celio Pompeu near midfield and dribbled all the way to the top of the box, where he shot with his left foot and beat Omaha goalie Rashid Nuhu to the short side.
Three minutes into the second half, City SC got its second goal. On a free kick from 36 yards out, Pompeu made a run off the ball and Indiana Vassilev passed to him, Pompeu got into the box and crossed the ball and a sliding Joe Gallardo knocked the ball into his own net.
In the 62nd minute, Pompeu and Watts worked a give-and-go that ended with Watts scoring from eight yards out. Four minutes later, Jackson got this second, with Isak Jensen feeding Pompeu who fed Jackson from 12 yards out to make it 4-0.
Union Omaha got its goal in the 79th minute.
City SC kept the chances coming, especially after some of the starters came out and coach Bradley Carnell turned to a bench loaded with his regular starters. Vassilev came out in the 70th minute for Lowen and Jackson came out in the 75th for Jared Stroud and both had chances.
Jackson has played only two games and 17 minutes with City SC this season, more often than not the odd man out in the midfield. He’s played five games with City2, starting three, with no goals or assists but he’s been fouled a lot as teams have sought to slow him down.
As City SC begins what looks to be at least two weeks without Klauss after the team’s leading scorer suffered a strained right quad, this game was a chance for some players to try to accelerate their case for stepping into his spot. City SC started Pompeu and Tomas Ostrak up top, and Isak Jensen on the left side of the midfield, and all three of those players could step into the equation somehow for the starting spot created by the absence of Klauss.
Union Omaha had some chances in the first half, especially in the minutes immediately following Jackson’s goal and Lundt had to make a save off an Omaha corner amid some steady pressure.
The starting lineup went pretty much as expected, with Vassilev and Watts the only players who went 45 minutes on Saturday at Colorado in the starting 11. Still, there were some players have started this season who were in the opening lineup: Ostrak, center back Lucas Bartlett and midfielder Miguel Perez. Josh Yaro started at center back alongside Bartlett and wore the captain’s armband, reprising his role from last season with City2. Ben Lundt started in goal. Jonathan Bell came on as a second-half sub to make his debut with City SC.
Adeniran loaned to San Antonio
City SC has loaned forward Samuel Adeniran to San Antonio of the second-division USL Championship, though they have the right to recall him if needed.
Adeniran played in four games with City SC for a total of 87 minutes, all as a substitute. He scored no goals in that time but had some excellent chances in San Jose game in Week 4 that he couldn’t finish.
Adeniran is quite popular in San Antonio, where he played last season on loan from his MLS club, the Seattle Sounders, and he had 10 goals in 23 games as San Antonio won the league championship. City SC acquired Adeniran in a trade with Seattle for general allocation money, and he projected to be a forward off the bench.
Two things worked against him: the emergence of Klauss and Niko Gioacchini as a potent tandem at striker and Klauss showing he could play 90 minutes without a loss of effectiveness. With that the case, Adeniran’s potential playing time dwindled and he didn’t make the game-day roster for the previous two games. With the team wanting Adeniran to get playing time rather than sitting on the bench, the team chose to loan him to San Antonio, even though the injury to Klauss figures to temporarily open up some playing time up front.
ºüÀêÊÓƵ City SC goalkeeper Ben Lundt, who played his first City MLS game against Vancouver, joins the podcast.
Christian Gooden, Post-Dispatch
City SC midfielder Aziel Jackson and Union Omaha’s Dion Acoff compete for possession on Tuesday, April 25, 2023, in the first half of the third round game of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open tournament at CityPark.
ºüÀêÊÓƵ City SC midfielder Eduard Lowen, right, celebrates after scoring a goal on Union Omaha goalkeeper Rashid Nuhu, center, on Tuesday, April 25, 2023, in the second half of their U.S. Open Cup game at CityPark.
ºüÀêÊÓƵ City SC players Isak Jensen, left, and Akil Watts celebrate Watts' second-half goal on Tuesday, April 25, 2023, in the U.S. Open Cup against Union Omaha at CityPark in ºüÀêÊÓƵ.
ºüÀêÊÓƵ City SC forward Celio Pompeu and Union Omaha defender Carlos Octavio Palacios compete for possession on Tuesday April 15, 2023, in the first half of their US Open Cup game at CityPark.