ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½

A once-familiar feeling is seeping through from the sepia-toned good ol’ days of, well, 2023.

It’s a feeling of (cautious) optimism.

City SC’s fans felt it during the start of the inaugural season, when City took over the city, and Major League Soccer, by winning its first five games.

But since the 2023 playoff failure — and last season’s debacle — hope’s been on a downward slope.

But three games into 2025, there should be — again, cautious — optimism. No one is saying this team will win the MLS championship. But owner Carolyn Kindle’s declaration to the Post-Dispatch — “We will make the playoffs� — sure seems reasonable.

City tied its first two games, both 0-0. The second match, against upstart San Diego, was rough. But on this past Sunday, ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ played a brilliant brand of soccer for, at least, three-fourths of the game. It was a statement win — a statement both to the fans of City and the fans of MLS (and, really, a statement to City players themselves and to the other teams in MLS).

ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ — 3

Defending champion LA Galaxy — 0

In LA!

Sure, yes, LA was missing three key players from last year’s title team. But there still were numerous stars and standouts out there. And City smothered them.

ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ now has points in all three games. And it is the only team with clean sheets in all three games.

“It’s early in the season, it’s a new coach (in Olof Mellberg), new coaching staff, new ideas,� City SC forward Cedric Teuchert said. “But I think it’s getting better and better. So I think the win was very important for the team. ...

“I think the momentum is on our side. Three-zero away win in LA, three clean sheets. And we keep building in the in the training (sessions). And I think Seattle is a strong appointment. I think we are prepared for the next game (Saturday at Energizer Park), and with our fans too, we are going hard for the next win.�

Much is made about goalie Roman Burki, who, strictly in MLS terms, is as respected a sports wall as Pittsburgh’s Steel Curtain or Boston’s Green Monster. Burki saved the day Sunday with his saves, but credit Teuchert, Klauss and Marcel Hartel with their forward-thinking play in space.

And, of course, their big play.

So City led 1-0 to start the second half — but four minutes in, the boys doubled their lead.

Oh, it was beautiful!

Near midfield in transition, Hartel tapped a pass to Klauss — who one-timed it back to Hartel.

This unlocked the opportunity.

Suddenly, space.

Hartel to Teuchert on the left wing ... who one-timed it toward Hartel at the top of the penalty box. Sprinting hard, Hartel tapped the ball ahead and then unleashed a left-foot strike for a goal.

Three players, six total touches, more than half the field covered.

“We enjoy to play together,� Teuchert said of the trio. “So the coach says to us, ‘Feel free in the offense, but stay compact in the defense.’ And I think today we show it. ... And I think in each week it gets better and better.�

Hartel hardly was a presence in San Diego. But he was omnipresent in LA.

In fact, check this out: He ran for a total of 7.9 miles in the LA game, per Apple TV+. That’s, um, a lot of running.

“And first of all, it was nice to see him play, because he had a little bit of a stomach bug (Saturday),� Mellberg said postgame of the midfielder. “He was struggling little bit at night, so we were not sure if he was going to be ready to play. But yeah, for sure he was.

“We found him more often today, I think, when he’s dropping down or finding that the space between the defense and the midfield of the opponent. And he’s also putting the in the work. So we did well. We struggled defensively in the first 15-20 minutes on the second half, and then we changed around a little bit, and he played a little bit more to the left — and did really well defensively there as well.�

Quite simply, the team looked like a team. There was cohesion and connection. Again, it wasn’t a 90-minute work of art. And the Galaxy had a couple how-did-they-not-score-there moments. But overall, City dominated a quality opponent on the road. As ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½an Taylor Twellman, a former MLS MVP, said on the Apple broadcast, City played with a “purposeâ€� and with a “confidenceâ€� he saw in the players coming off the bus.

So yeah, Saturday night should be fun. The place should be packed full of (cautious) optimism.