St. Louis CITY SC is no longer just trying to survive the season. CITY is 7th, climbing, and suddenly staring at a massive opportunity against Real Salt Lake.
On this episode of *City SC Posse*, Bright and Kev switch up the usual format and start with the Real Salt Lake preview before circling back to the Colorado recap. CITY sits on 25 points with an even goal differential, while Real Salt Lake is one of the teams directly ahead in the Western Conference. A win could push CITY into a much more serious table position very quickly.
The guys talk about CITY’s current momentum, the new reinforcements, why a true No. 9 still feels like the missing piece, and what they want to see from the lineup against RSL. They also get into the Wallem debate after listener feedback, the surprise of Löwen not starting against Colorado, and why the attack still needs to run through Marcel Hartel.
There is also plenty of discussion around the Hartel transfer rumors. Bright and Kev both agree that moving Hartel now would feel counterintuitive unless the player himself wanted the move. With CITY finally climbing the table and new attacking pieces arriving, shipping out the player driving the turnaround would probably make CITY fans reach for torches, pitchforks, and maybe whatever is left of their toasted ravioli.
Then it is back to the Colorado match.
CITY beat Colorado 1-0 at Home, but it was not exactly a beautiful masterpiece. Colorado picked up an early red card, CITY played up a man for most of the match, and the attack spent long stretches stuck in wide pass, backward pass, switch field, repeat mode. Colorado parked the bus, threw away the keys, and dared CITY to figure it out.
Eventually, Tomáš Ostrák broke through.
After a switch of play and a smart header back from Totland, Ostrák took a touch and buried the winner off the post. It was the release CITY needed, the crowd needed, and probably Ostrák needed after a career in St. Louis interrupted too often by injuries.
CITY won ugly, climbed to 7th, and now Real Salt Lake comes to town.
Listen now at http://NFNPPOD.com.
