CITY Heads to D.C. With Actual Momentum, Which Feels Illegal But I’m Listening

Pregame Hope, Please Keep Hands Inside the Ride: St. Louis CITY SC heads to Washington, D.C. on Saturday with something we have not been able to say much this season: momentum. Real momentum. Not “we played okay for 28 minutes and then emotionally exploded” momentum. Not “the expected goals chart says we deserved better” momentum. Actual wins. CITY beat Colorado 1-0 on the road, then came home and beat LAFC 2-1 for the first time in club history. Back-to-back MLS wins. Back-to-back games scoring first. Back-to-back games where the scoreboard did not look like it was personally trying to ruin my weekend. I do not know what to do with my hands.

This Is the Game That Tells Us If the Pulse Is Real: Beating LAFC was the fun one. Beating Colorado was the relief one. D.C. United is the maturity test. This is not a glamour matchup. This is not “circle the calendar and scream into the sky.” This is the kind of road game serious teams find a way to get something from. D.C. is sitting in the middle of the Eastern Conference playoff picture, not elite, not terrible, just dangerous enough to make you regret getting optimistic. If CITY wants us to believe this recent run is more than a two-game fever dream, go to D.C. and get a result.

The Standings Say There Is Still Life, Somehow: CITY is still 14th in the West with 12 points, so let’s not start printing playoff scarves just yet. But the gap is not impossible anymore. Colorado is hanging around the 9th playoff spot at 16 points. San Diego, LA Galaxy, and Colorado are all in that 16-point neighborhood. Portland and Austin are at 14. CITY is at 12. Two weeks ago, we were having “do we sell everybody and start over?” conversations. Now? We are still having those conversations, but with slightly less bourbon. A win at D.C. would not just be three points. It would change the season’s temperature.

D.C. Is Beatable: D.C. United is not some unstoppable force. They are 7th in the East, sitting on 16 points, with 16 goals scored and 20 allowed. That is not exactly a defensive fortress. They are coming off a 3-1 home loss to Chicago, which means they are vulnerable, annoyed, and probably looking at CITY as the team they can rebound against. That is the trap. CITY has spent much of this season being the team other teams use to feel better about themselves. This weekend cannot be that. This weekend needs to be CITY walking into somebody else’s house and saying, “Actually, we brought the emotional damage today.”

The Formula Is Starting to Show Itself: We are not fixed, but we might finally have a formula. Hartel plus Löwen gives CITY an attacking brain. Sang-Bin gives it legs. Totland gives it an engine. Bürki gives it emergency services. That is the core of whatever this little mini-run is becoming. The LAFC opener showed it perfectly: Sang-Bin direct, Hartel smart, Löwen composed, Totland arriving at the back post like a man who remembered goals count the same even when they are tap-ins. That was actual soccer. Not panic soccer. Not “please, Marcel, invent something” soccer. Actual combination play. More of that. Immediately. Repeatedly. Preferably before I emotionally detach again.

Score First Again, I Am Begging Like a Victorian Orphan: The biggest change over the last two MLS matches is painfully obvious: CITY scored first. Against Colorado, Sang-Bin buried the breakaway. Against LAFC, Totland scored in the 4th minute. Suddenly, the world felt less like a burning tire rolling downhill. When CITY scores first, they can defend with shape, manage the game, and make the opponent chase. When CITY concedes first, we get 70 minutes of desperate possession, weird crosses, and me mumbling “this is why I can’t have peace” at the television. If CITY scores first at D.C., they can win. If they concede first, we may be right back in the emotional laundromat.

Sang-Bin Has to Stay Involved: Sang-Bin has been involved in goals in back-to-back matches. He scored the winner at Colorado and helped create the opener against LAFC. That is not a coincidence. That is output. CITY has been starving for attackers who turn space into danger instead of turning danger into a throw-in. If he is managing calf tightness, fine, be smart. But if he is available, he needs to play meaningful minutes. This team needs pace, directness, and somebody willing to run behind defenses like he knows the other team is legally allowed to be scared.

Totland Might Be Becoming Undroppable: Totland has quietly become one of the most important pieces in this team’s current shape. He brings energy, he gets forward, he defends, and suddenly he is popping up with goals. He has two goals in his last four across all competitions and made Team of the Matchday after LAFC. At this point, he is not just “nice to have.” He is giving CITY something they desperately need: movement with purpose. When Totland runs into the box, defenders have to actually think. That alone puts him ahead of several attacking ideas we have watched this year, including “hit a hopeful ball and see if vibes finish it.”

Löwen and Hartel Need to Be the Spine, Not Decorative Accessories: This cannot become one of those games where Hartel gets isolated and Löwen drops too deep trying to do everyone’s taxes. They need to connect. They need to be the attacking hub. D.C. has given up 20 goals, so there should be chances if CITY moves the ball quickly and attacks the spaces. The goal against LAFC was proof that this team can build a dangerous sequence when the right players are close enough to combine. Do not overcomplicate it. Give the ball to the smart guys. Let the fast guys run. Let Totland crash the box. Soccer, but with adult supervision.

And Now, the Required Wallem Portion of the Blog: Wallem cannot start if CITY wants to win. I am sorry, but we have seen enough. At some point, this stops being a debate and becomes a safety notice. He turns the ball over in bad spots, gets caught in dangerous moments, commits sloppy fouls, and generally makes every possession feel like we are transporting soup across a trampoline. This team has finally put together back-to-back wins, and one of the cleanest lineup improvements against LAFC was simply not seeing Wallem out there from the start. That is not me being mean. That is me having eyes and a blood pressure reading.

Seriously, No Wallem, Please: If Damet wants to keep this streak alive, he cannot go back to the old lineup habits that helped bury us in the first place. Wallem may work hard. Great. I also work hard carrying too many grocery bags in one trip, but that does not mean I should start at right mid. CITY needs composure, clean touches, better decision-making, and players who do not create transition chances for the opponent like they are handing out samples at Costco. Against D.C., one dumb giveaway can become a Baribo goal. One bad foul can flip a road match. One bad start can kill the vibe. No Wallem. Protect the streak. Protect our sanity.

Tai Baribo Is the Guy You Cannot Lose: D.C.’s danger starts with Tai Baribo, who leads them with seven goals. That is the name CITY has to circle, underline, highlight, laminate, and tape to the locker room wall. No free runners. No sleepy marks. No back-post mystery. No “who had him?” group project after the ball is already in the net. CITY’s defense has survived some scary moments recently, but D.C. has a striker who can punish loose defending. Bürki is elite, but “Bürki saves us again” cannot be the official game plan every week. Eventually, the man is going to file for overtime. Actually, I think he already did.

Do Not Turn This Into a Chaos Match: D.C. is at home, coming off a loss, and sitting in that “we need points” zone. They are going to want this to get physical, weird, and emotional. CITY cannot help them. No stupid fouls. No cheap cards. No bad giveaways in the defensive third. No possession sequences that look like someone unplugged the controller. Road games are already weird. Do not add garnish. Keep the shape, make D.C. chase, and punish the space when it opens.

This Is Also a Damet Test: Damet has a chance here to prove the last two matches were not accidental. He found something. Maybe through necessity, maybe through fitness, maybe through finally reading the room, but he found something. Now the challenge is not to outsmart himself. Start the players who give this team legs, brain, and bite. Keep Hartel and Löwen connected. Keep Totland involved. Trust Sang-Bin if he is fit. Keep Wallem nailed to the bench unless there is a true emergency, and even then maybe check the waiver wire first. Make proactive subs. Do not wait until the match has already turned into a haunted corn maze.

What I Want to See: Score first. That is priority one, two, and three. After that, I want to see CITY attack with purpose, not just possession. I want midfielders carrying into space. I want Sang-Bin running behind. I want Hartel and Löwen combining. I want Totland arriving late. I want Bürki bored for at least 20-minute stretches, because the man deserves a nice peaceful evening once every fiscal quarter. I want D.C. to feel like CITY is not just visiting, but actively trying to ruin their night.

What I Fear: CITY gets a little too pleased with itself after beating LAFC, comes out flat, concedes first, and we spend the rest of the match saying things like “they had some decent spells” and “the ideas were there.” No. The ideas are no longer enough. The standings do not care about ideas. The standings care about points, and CITY needs them like I need a podcast microphone and a reason to complain.

A Win Changes the Season: Let’s say it plainly: if CITY wins at D.C., the season changes. Not completely. Not magically. But the conversation changes. Three straight MLS wins after the way this year started? Back-to-back road wins? Scoring first repeatedly? Suddenly the LAFC win is not a one-off, Colorado is not a fluke, and the climb toward the playoff line becomes real. With Houston in the Open Cup and Austin at home coming up, this could become the stretch where CITY drags itself out of the basement and makes everyone uncomfortable again.

A Loss Does Not End It, But It Would Hurt: Losing at D.C. would not technically kill the momentum, but it would put a wet towel over the good vibes. We have been here before. A big win, then a faceplant. A promising stretch, then a giveaway buffet. That is why this match matters. Good teams stack results. Improving teams stack results. Teams that want fans to believe do not treat momentum like a rental car.

Final Thought: D.C. is not a statement game in the LAFC sense. It is a maturity test. Good teams do not just get up for the big home match. They go on the road against a middle-table team, stay organized, finish chances, and leave with points. CITY has a chance to build on two straight wins, start a real winning streak, and make the playoff conversation feel slightly less insane. But they have to prove they can handle success without immediately walking into a rake.

Pregame Verdict: Start Sang-Bin if healthy. Keep Hartel and Löwen connected. Let Totland cook. Track Baribo. Score first. No cheap giveaways. No dumb fouls. And for the love of everything toasted and ravioli-shaped, do not start Wallem.

City SC Posse Mood: Cautiously optimistic. Slightly terrified. Ready to believe, but keeping the receipt because this team has hurt us before.