City Stymied 1-0 In Houston, Fourth Straight Game Without A Win

HOUSTON - St. Louis City SC is in the dog days of its Major League Soccer summer schedule as the team passes the halfway mark of the 2025 season. After a hot and humid Wednesday game at home, a 72-hour turnaround saw them take a trip down to Houston to take on the Dynamo Saturday evening.

Much like Wednesday’s 4-2 loss at Energizer Park at the hands of Orlando City SC, Saturday’s game in Houston was muggy and miserable. Unlike Wednesday’s 4-2 loss, City failed to find the scoresheet or even challenge the Dynamo defense in any serious way, losing 1-0.

Interim manager David Critchley’s starting eleven featured the youngest defensive core that City has ever fielded in MLS play. Left back Jay Reid, age 23, center backs Jake Girdwood-Reich and Michael Wentzel, ages 21 and 23, and right back Joey Zalinsky, age 22.

The shift to youth comes as an opportunity to get a look at these young players, often on the fringes of the starting team, but also out of necessity. Center back Timo Baumgartl injured his knee in Wednesday’s loss at home, and Wentzel replaced him as a substitute.

Alfredo Morales and Conrad Wallem served as the holding midfield pair for about 15 minutes, when Morales had a collision and an awkward fall that saw the midfielder clutching at his collar bone. Morales was substituted after just a quarter of an hour, and Akil Watts came back into the midfield role he played during the first half on Wednesday.

The four-pronged attack once again featured both João Klauss and Simon Becher, with the latter drifting wider to the right and attempting to make supporting runs to offer the former some attacking help. Celio Pompeu started in his usual left wing spot, and Marcel Hartel played as a number 10.

The first half definitely happened, which is about the most that can be said about it. Players were on the field, some even kicked the ball a few times, but neither team seemed incredibly interested in playing soccer.

To their credit, both teams were coming off Wednesday defeats, both teams were likely exhausted as could be, and the two sides scrapping for any possible points below the MLS Western Conference playoff cut line were simply playing not to lose.

City had two shots in the first half, and neither tested Houston keeper Jonathan Bond. Houston added seven shots of their own, but only one made its way through to the St. Louis City captain and keeper Roman Bürki, and it was directly at him.

There were over twice as many fouls (20) as there were shot attempts (9) between the two teams in the first half. City’s shots didn’t arrive until first half stoppage time, which gave the promise that maybe the team was finding their legs in the Houston heat.

That promise was rather short-lived, as City struggled to turn any possession into a serious attack. Quick passes along the wings were snuffed out, breakout attempts went awry, and the makeshift team pieced together out of necessity lacked cohesion.

“We just had issues breaking down their first line of confrontation today,” David Critchley said following the game. “...We have to put a team out there that's as fresh as they can be, and sharp as they can be, to try and win the game.”

The hosting Dynamo looked more comfortable on the ball, but at times far too comfortable, with orange-clad players lining up around the City box waiting for a defensive lapse. That lapse came in the 66th minute. Sustained Houston pressure around the City box created havoc, and City players not tracking back to protect the goal saw the Dynamo break the deadlock.

Houston substitute defender Ethan Bartlow swung a cross into a crowded City 18-yard box from the right side, that cross found teammate Franco Escobar open at the edge of the six-yard box, but he couldn’t direct his effort goalwards, instead it fell into the path of teammate Felipe Andrade, who lunged to send the ball back across the face of goal.

That third ball bounced off Houston’s number 10, Ezequiel Ponce, and into the City goal. Some City defenders were frantically trying to mark multiple players at once, as some in City white were watching on indifferently. None of it looked good, and again City found themselves behind.

It took 30 more minutes of game time before City even registered a shot on goal, as their best spell of offense in the second half came in the final moments of the contest. That lone shot came from Cedric Teuchert, but straight at Jonathan Bond in the Dynamo goal.

Bond could have brought a Nintendo Switch 2 with him on the field Saturday night, and it wouldn’t have made much of a difference. Including stoppage time, it took City 103 minutes of game time to actually call the English keeper into action.

“We weren’t good enough with our build-up,” said City interim manager David Critchley following the defeat. “If we're going to be a team that tries to build and play through opponents or around opponents, the end objective is to always try to create the shot from it or at least create the ball into the final third. That, for us, was the missing piece. We just couldn't break down Houston's block.”

There weren’t a ton of positives to take from the 1-0 loss, but the young defense did well, and the goal allowed was more a collective failure than the fault of either young center back.

“JGR [Jake Girdwood-Reich] and Michael [Wentzel], who haven't been given a ton of opportunities under my tenure so far, both stepped in, both I thought were very good on the defensive side,” Critchley said postgame. “[Both] had good moments on the ball as well. But I was very happy for those two young men coming in together as well as a new partnership and competing well. So, I was very, very happy with their two individual performances.”

“First off, tough conditions, but I felt like we all tried to give our best,” City center back on the night Michael Wentzel said. “It was very good playing with [Jake Girdwood-Reich]. I felt like he and I had good communication on the field. So I think we have to build on that. I don't know when our next chance will come, but that's part of being a team player.”

“I think most people actually forget that I think I am more of a center back than a six,” explained Jake Girdwood-Reich. “I played there mostly back in my old club [Sydney FC in the Australian A League], so I was happy to be given a chance at center back tonight.”

“I think me and Michael did well together,” Girdwood-Reich expressed. “I'm very disappointed with the goal, but I think we've worked well together. And in my old club, I had a partner that was my age as well. So, I'm used to playing with a younger center back.”

St. Louis City SC are back at it next Saturday on the road against another club fighting to get out of the bottom of the MLS Western Conference, Real Salt Lake. Kickoff is scheduled for just after 8:30 p.m. Central time.

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