CITY SC wins 5-1 against Union Omaha in U.S. Open Cup match

ST. LOUIS, Mo. (KMOV) - St. Louis CITY SC won 5-1 against Union Omaha in front of a sold-out CITYPARK crowd for the third round of the U.S. Open Cup.

The sold-out crowd set an Open Cup third round record with 22,423 fans in attendance.

The U.S. Open Cup is a knockout format tournament that any organized team affiliated with U.S. Soccer can play in.

Live blog:

Aziel Jackson gave CITY the lead in the first half with a goal three minutes into the match against Omaha.

Within three minutes of the second half, Célio Pompeu sent a cross into the box that was deflected by an Omaha player into their own goal, doubling CITY’s lead.

The pile-on continued at minute 62 when Akil Watts scored the third goal of the match off of a pass from Pompeu. Then Jackson scored again at minute 65, giving St. Louis a 4-0 lead.

In minute 78, Omaha took away CITY’s ability to get a shut-out for the match with a goal of their own.

Off the bench and right before the end of the match, Eduard Löwen scored goal number five.

Pre-game

Many of the familiar faces for CITY’s usual starting XI are not on the list for tonight or are on the list for available substitutions for the match. CITY’s captain Roman Bürki is available for substitution tonight, and co-captain Tim Parker will have the night off.

Tonight’s match comes on the back of a hard-fought game Saturday night by CITY, where they tied the Colorado Rapids with the help of a stunning performance by goalkeeper Roman Bürki with a league-best 12 saves throughout the match.

CITY sits at the top of the MLS Western Conference with 19 points, while Union Omaha is in seventh place in the USL League One. The USL League One is the Division III league that is run by the United Soccer League.

A problem that was noted by the team following their tie with Colorado was that the front line not falling back to defend while they were up by one early in the first half.

“Yeah, me personally, I always want to win,” Bürki said about the tie with Colorado. “I feel empty, a little bit disappointed, because I think this team is not as good as we made them, Colorado. I think we missed a lot today when it comes to with the ball and against the ball. And I mean, if you’re up one-zero, you just have to fight for the win, you know. You have to go all in. You have to fight. We have to defend, and today not everybody was defending or not together. That’s the result, and that’s why I’m a little bit disappointed.”

Copyright 2023 KMOV. All rights reserved.