St. Louis CITY SC achieved a thrilling 2-1 comeback win over Portland Timbers at Energizer Park, overcoming an early goal with a dominant second-half performance.
Courtesy of St. Louis City S.C. Facebook
It’s been a long time coming, but our team managed a comeback and secured a victory after a challenging season. I remain confident in their potential as we head into the final stretch, even as I see some fans growing frustrated. Let’s take a closer look at last night’s win.
St. Louis City S.C. communications:
St. Louis CITY SC earned a come-from-behind, 2-1 victory against Portland Timbers on Sunday night at Energizer Park. Despite dominating play early, St. Louis conceded the first goal of the match in the 19th minute. CITY SC rebounded just a few minutes into the second half, with Marcel Hartel roofing a strike to level the match. In the 67th minute, Hartel headed home a cross from Conrad Wallem to put CITY SC on top, earning his first career MLS brace. St. Louis is now a perfect 3-0-0 all-time in MLS home contests when Marcel Hartel finds the back of the net. CITY SC’s next match is a road showdown with FC Dallas on Saturday, July 19, at 7:30 p.m. CT at Toyota Stadium.
Postgame Notes
- Marcel Hartel notched his first career MLS brace, bringing him to five total goals across all-competitions
- When Hartel scores at home during the MLS regular season, CITY SC has an all-time record of 3-0-0
- Hartel has six goal contributions (three goals, three assists) in four all-time matches against Portland Timbers across all competitions
- Conrad Wallem notched his first career MLS assist
- CITY SC has earned points in four of their last five home matches, going 2-1-2 (8 points) over that span
July 13, 2025 – Energizer Park (St. Louis, MO)
Goal-Scoring Plays
POR: David Da Costa (Santiago Moreno), 19th minute – David Da Costa scored with a right footed shot from the central position outside the box to the bottom right corner
STL: Marcel Hartel, 54th minute – Marcel Hartel with left footed shot from the center of the box to the top left corner.
STL: Marcel Hartel (Conrad Wallem), 67th minute – Marcel Hartel scored with header from the center of the box to the top left corner.
Scoring Summary
POR: David Da Costa (Santiago Moreno), 19’
STL: Marcel Hartel, 54’
STL: Marcel Hartel (Conrad Wallem), 67’
Misconduct Summary
POR: Joao Ortiz (caution), 59’
POR: Kevin Kelsy (caution), 64’
POR: Juan Mosquera (caution), 77’
POR: Kamal Miller (caution), 79’
STL: João Klauss (caution), 90’+2
STL: Jaziel Orozco (caution), 90’+3
Interim Head Coach David Critchley
What was that like for you?
That felt good. That felt good. I’ve set here enough and said we perform well. I read some data to you guys — (audio break) — and now we have to build on it for the next game.
The way the first 50 minutes went when it seemed like you had the edge in every stat, and couldn’t score, did it seem like it was going to be that game again?
Possibly. I was very optimistic. Maybe we talked about that. We had an unbelievable training week.
So, we prepared very well. It was by far the players’ best intensity and energy on quality that they have had every single training session. So, then we go out and have a great first half performance. I think the field tilt was 78 percent us to 22 percent them. So, domination.
But we found ourselves going in 1-0 down, so I had to find a way to get the message across; if we keep applying the same game model, the results will come our way. Whenever you are a coach and you have that moment and the result comes your way, it feels extra special.
Marcel [Hartel], he had two goals the whole season until now, the importance of him breaking through at this point.
Yeah, super important. He’s been super impactful for this team in all spaces on the field. So, to finalize his game, he needs to build off this now and continue to score goals.
But I was super, super happy for him. He comes in every single day. He covers so much ground in his intensity in the way he runs and the way he trains. So, to see him get two today, I was very, very happy for Marcel.
You’ve told us you’re a glass half-full-to-overflowing kind of guy. Do you feel that this is now rubbing off on the team?
Yes, I do. I know we’ve sat here and had some results that haven’t gone our way. And when we’ve talked before in the past, it’s always, “How is the mood in there?” I was always, “It’s not that bad.” They want to win and they have a strong mindset, but there was never blaming of each other.
I think the guys, they are on this journey the last eight weeks with me. We are on this journey together and the performance, as well. There was optimism, and now it’s going to overflow into the night. So, I’m excited for them.
Could you feel the energy in the stadium pick up when Eduard [Löwen] came in?
Yes. Edu’s presence is contagious. But we had the crowd on our side from the first minute and I want to give a massive shout out to our fans because from the first minute of the game, we felt that 12th man presence. We felt them be really energetic to get us over the line when we needed two, in one or two plays specifically.
So, their support, it means everything to us. We are very, very happy to give them the win tonight.
Santiago and David Da Costa had success in the first half, obviously finding that first goal from David Da Costa. Second half, shut down. No goals. A lack of production offensively for Portland. What do you attribute to that second half success defensively?
We didn’t change any tactics. I just tried to demand more from the players. So that one percent better mentality — sprint back and double up on them. I think Da Costa had one where he was picking the ball up and running at Totland, and you saw a guy creating back — to create 2v1 for us, 3v1 for us.
What changed is we continued to do what we did but the mentality and intensity hit another level in the second half. So, they now feel what is required to go win a football game. So probably just the energy and intensity.
I was going to ask you how much change at halftime was mentality or strategic? And you sort of alluded to it, but I guess you also mentioned earlier the message. What did it take or how did you feel like you got that message across? You said that you felt like you had to get a message across and kept doing the things that they were doing, that that would end up in good results.
The one on top of the intensity and maybe the emotional side of the coaching points I gave, we had to get more players in the box.
So, we were pinning it back, as I said, with the 72 percent field tilt, but we couldn’t quite — I think Cedric [Teuchert] had one good [run] behind the back line of the box. We needed more of those runs. We talked about in the second half, could we get a little more dynamic runs behind their back four in order to stride to stretch them? That was the one tweak that we applied because we came out with two goals from it. That was one of the small adjustments we made.
Cedric’s attacking energy today seemed great and seems like the practice drills you’ve been focusing on the attacking side of the field have been really good for attacking on counters and it showed very effective. How do you think the team did with this?
Yeah, I thought they applied it really well. We tried to demand a quicker rhythm with the ball and more intensity in our off the ball movements and runs. Really applied themselves well today and even kept in the game.
There were several moments when we had a 2-1 lead and we were defending deep and we won it, and you could see guys sprinting up the field. If I have one moment of being — I have many moments of being proud today — but we’re not sitting back on a 2-1 lead. I think I told you guys in week one, we’re going to try to win a football game, and the best way to do that is score more goals. A couple moments defending deep in the second half and we won it — and four, five, six guys are sprinting 75 yards down the field to try to get the third goal. I was super proud to see them moments happening today.
The press was really effective in the first half and as well as in the second half, although creating some more turnovers in the second. What adjustments did you want to see later on as the game progressed?
Yeah, just try to keep our present lines and our confrontation higher up the field. They had a five-minute moment where they pinned us back into our own 18-yard box late, but with the exception of a five- or six-, seven-momentum moment for them, we did a good job confronting in the midfield and winning the ball in the midfield. So that was something I was super happy for.
Just to be aggressive and brave in defending higher up the field not to drop all the way back into our own 18-yard box.
Dealing with the injuries you’ve had, how frustrating was it to see Célio [Pompeu] go down and is there any update on his well-being?
Yeah, it’s almost a perfect picture that we come off injury-free from that game with the result. I haven’t spoke to the medical team. He’s got it in a sling right now, but I assume it’s just precautionary for him.
I haven’t spoke to medical team, so I’ll probably get an update a little bit later here. Hopefully it’s not too bad and just a mild strain or something. No update.
And this won’t be the question, but Jaziel [Orozco], cramping at the end?
Yeah, the odd cramp for him. So, he’ll be fine.
Now how do you channel this? It seemed like the emotions were really high. Were they higher than the San Jose game?
Yes, I think because the performances have been so good, but we couldn’t quite get across the line with the result. But I asked these guys to be emotionally connected with the game. That’s what I think helps winning teams: be emotionally connected with the game while also applying the discipline and the tactics and all of these things.
My message to them was get one percent better last week, which we’ve done and now the message is go be consistent. So now we have to pick up consistent results now moving.
Goalkeeper and Captain Roman Bürki
On the importance of tonight’s win:
I mean, everybody knows what situation we were in, and it feels good to win at home. To give something back to the fans and also to reward ourselves, you know, for the hard work we put in. So, we’re very happy about that.
On his thoughts after half time:
I mean, to be honest, the atmosphere wasn’t the best in the locker room, with one-zero down again. After we invested so much, the reaction afterwards was very good. We didn’t panic. We didn’t just throw everything overboard just because we were one-zero down. So, like I said, we stayed true to the plan and we executed it very well.
On his thoughts being down 0-1 going into halftime:
In halftime, we talked about how we had different stats on the board. We were better in every stat than Portland. Just the most important one wasn’t on our side, so we knew that we were on the right way. We just need to be patient and keep doing what we’re doing, and then we will catch our chances.
Midfielder Marcel Hartel
On the emotional victory:
Yeah, it was very emotional. It was very important for us as a team. We put so much energy every week in training, in the games. You can see the turnover was there. We played good games, but we never get the result. And today was an amazing game. From the beginning, we played a very, very good first half, but we don’t show the goal, then we concede the goal. We go into halftime, Critch had a good half time talk to us, and we come out, continue playing forward. And we turn the game in our direction. And in the end, was just like defending with our heart to get these three points. And after the whistle from the ref, you can feel this emotion from the whole team and also from the crowd.
On his two goals:
Yeah, it was also important for me to get confidence. But the goals were especially [important] for the team, for the coaching staff. They put, they put so much effort every week, in training, in our analyses, pre-, post-match, and the goals were just for the team to celebrate after the game.
On the execution of the second goal:
First it was an amazing cross from Conrad [Wallem], but this was one point which Critch told us in the half time that from this area, we have to focus on taking crosses to the second post. And I mean great effort from the coaches that they see that. And Conrad [Wallem] did an amazing, amazing cross.
Midfielder Conrad Wallem
On the feeling at halftime:
It was frustrating, of course, with our past. We were the ones putting all of the pressure on but trailing at half. We talked about it, though. We just needed to keep pushing hard, be more dangerous in the box and the goals will come. I think the game as a whole was really good, so you cannot be to result oriented at halftime.
On his comfortability playing wing to end the game:
I can play both wings back, the attacking midfielder, six, or anywhere really. So, it does not matter that much to you. I try to get my strength out in whatever position I play and help the team as much as I can, because at the end of the day, it will always be game to game and what I can provide to the team.
On [Marcel] Hartel’s brace:
That’s, of course, everything for him and for us. He’s the type of player that is a game changer. So, in our moments, for example, the moments today, we are playing a game changer, a game changer that steps up and helps the team and wins the game. So that’s massive.
Defender Jaziel Orozco
On his two games with CITY SC:
Honestly, it’s been, honestly, just getting used to the left back position as well. But, I’ve enjoyed it a lot. Just working hard with my teammates and getting used to the new staff —the new coaching staff as well — a little bit familiar with them, with Christian [Olivares], Baggio [Husidic] and the other guys are there. But they helped me a lot. And right now, I’m just enjoying it. Thank God we had the victory today. One of the things that we were wanting to do. You know, getting good performances, good shots, and now everything just comes back to us as a good reward, and it’s been good.
On adjusting to the level of play:
It’s something that I wanted to come back with. Of course, in Salt Lake. I’m grateful for everything I did. I had my spell over there, and when I was 17, touching the MLS pitch, it was something that I always wanted to come back to. And now that I’m here, I’m just trying to enjoy and stay here. Of course, keep building on it. Keep working hard and keeping my head down and being humble in terms of, like, there’s always room for improvement for everyone and for myself as well. Now, I just need to keep building on that and try to give the best for the team.
On how the team welcomed me:
Oh, good. They’re a great bunch of lads, that’s what I call them. They’re good guys. I love coming in to train and I enjoy every single day with them, and I owe a lot to them for making me feel comfortable — even for me, just out of nowhere. I remember this when I had training with the first team, and from coming back from a CITY2 game, I see my name on the start and the guys just welcomed me. They were like, “You’re going to do great.” Feel comfortable that I can play under Critch as well, from the coaching staff. Everyone would just give me a lot of confidence to come in.
ABOUT ST. LOUIS CITY SC
St. Louis CITY SC, one of the few majority female-led ownership groups in all of professional sports, is Major League Soccer’s 28th expansion team and plays at Energizer Park, an STLMade 22,500-seat world-class soccer-specific stadium. Energizer Park is part of a new world-class stadium district, which includes a practice facility, team store and team headquarters all within the same 30+ acre urban campus in downtown St. Louis to help further the region’s continued growth and revitalization. St. Louis CITY SC’s vision is to be an exceptional club and neighbor that brings people together through the power of sports.
St. Louis CITY SC, Portland Timbers, MLS soccer, comeback victory, Energizer Park, St. Louis sports, MLS match highlights, soccer news 2023, St. Louis soccer team, Portland Timbers result
#STLCitySC #MLS #Soccer #ComeFromBehind #EnergizerPark #StLouisSports #MLS2023 #SoccerNews #PortlandTimbers #MajorLeagueSoccer
