Marcel Hartel scored the tiebreaking goal midway through the second half to help St. Louis City post a 2–1 victory over the Los Angeles Galaxy in Major League Soccer action Sunday St. Louis.
Hartel’s goal in the 68th minute allowed St. Louis City (5–10–12, 27 points) to halt a five-match winless stretch (0–3–2) in MLS play. Cedric Teuchert also scored for St. Louis. Gabriel Pec scored early in the second half for the Western Conference-leading Galaxy (15–6–7, 52 points), who had a three-game winning streak halted.
Los Angeles star Riqui Puig missed the game due to a one-game suspension for yellow-card accumulation. St. Louis City goalkeeper Roman Burki made five saves, while Galaxy counterpart John McCarthy had three stops.
St. Louis City took a 2–1 lead on Hartel’s first MLS goal. Jayden Reed had the ball on the left and noticed Hartel was open and skidded a left-footed ground pass to him in the center of the box. Hartel quickly opened up toward the goal and sent a right-footed shot into the top right corner.
Galaxy leading scorer Dejan Joveljic (hamstring) entered in the 77th minute for his first appearance since being injured against Minnesota United on July 7. St. Louis City also had its leading scorer on the field as Joao Klauss entered in the 65th minute. It was his first time on the field since sustaining a right-knee sprain against Atlanta United on June 22.
St. Louis City took a 1–0 lead in the ninth minute after the Galaxy turned the ball over in their own zone. Teuchert had his initial shot stopped by Marky Delgado but immediately got the ball back and sent a right-footer into the right corner. The goal was the second of the season for Teuchert.
Los Angeles tied the score in the opening minute of the second half when Pec sent a short left-footed shot past Burki. It was Pec’s 11th goal of the campaign.
St. Louis had a solid chance in the 52nd minute but McCarthy stopped Chris Durkin’s hard shot. The Galaxy out-shot St. Louis 10–9.
