St. Louis City will face the Seattle Sounders again this Saturday in Seattle, but St. Louis coach Yoann Damet isn’t dwelling on their previous encounter from six weeks ago.
“It feels like it was months ago,” Damet said about St. Louis’ 1-0 loss. “We’ve played a lot since then and I think we’ve improved.”
“I’m not expecting the same game. It will be completely different at their home.”
The Sounders (4-1-1, 13 points) won the last match on March 7, with Kalani Kossa-Rienzi scoring the only goal in the 47th minute. Andrew Thomas made five saves for a clean sheet.
This will be Seattle’s first home game in the MLS since their season opener. During the past five matches, they went 3-1-1 while a new grass field was being laid at Lumen Field in preparation for this summer’s FIFA World Cup.
Seattle played on the new turf Wednesday, winning 3-1 against Tigres UANL in the CONCACAF Champions Cup. However, they were eliminated due to the away-goals rule.
About the new field, forward Danny Musovski said, “I think all the players liked it. It played really well. The ball was moving smoother than it usually does, and it feels better on our bodies.”
Midfielder Paul Rothrock leads the Sounders with three goals, while forward Jesus Ferreira has provided four assists.
St. Louis (1-3-3, 6 points) is showing some improvement with a record of 1-0-2 in their last three league games after a three-game losing streak. They tied FC Dallas 1-1 last Saturday, with defender Timo Baumgartl scoring a goal in the 61st minute, and goalkeeper Roman Burki making two saves.
St. Louis also played midweek, beating FC Tulsa 4-0 in the U.S. Open Cup, where Marcel Hartel scored the first goal. He leads the team in the league with two goals.