City Substitutions Save Late Draw Against New York City FC

Apr 5, 2026 12:02 PM Apr 8, 2026 2:12 PM

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FLUSHING, New York - For the first time in their short history, St. Louis City SC took a trip to the Big Apple over the weekend for a clash with New York City FC.

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After a win at home over the New England Revolution two weeks ago, City were looking to keep the momentum going against another MLS Eastern Conference squad. After a late equalizer, the tale of two Citys ended 1-1.

St. Louis City head coach Yoann Damet made one notable change to the lineup that claimed a victory at Energizer Park a fortnight prior. That change was striker Sergio Cordova making his first start in a City shirt after a few appearances as a substitute.

The rest of the team was unchanged, the same back three in defense (Dante Polvara, Timo Baumgartl, Jaziel Orozco), the same midfield pair (Daniel Edelman and Chris Durkin), the same wingbacks (Rafael Santos and Conrad Wallem), with Marcel Hartel and Simon Becher joining Sergio Cordova in attack.

Cordova, 28, on loan from Swiss club BSC Young Boys, had shown flashes of promise in his brief minutes. An athletic 6-foot-2 attacker, Sergio Cordova undoubtedly offers a physical dimension to the City attack, especially when he can get in the box and get on the end of crosses and corner kicks.

But Cordova, and to be fair, most of St. Louis City SC, were absent from the early going. New York City FC dominated the early stages, and were spending much of the opening half hour running toward Roman Bürki in the St. Louis goal.

Bürki was the subject of a bit of concern on matchday morning when the team announced that CITY2 goalkeeper Colin Welsh was being signed on a short-term loan for the trip to New York. Bürki was not on the City injury report Friday, but there was concern with his banged up shoulder following a clash in the game against New England before the international break.

After all, Bürki was fine. Welsh’s loan call-up was precautionary, City had their captain starting as usual, and he was dearly needed. When New York City was piling on pressure early, saves by Bürki kept the hosts off the scoreboard, and kept the game in the balance.

The visiting City slowed things down a bit for the latter stages of the first half, which is what head coach Yoann Damet is trying to teach. It’s a night and day difference from St. Louis City teams of the past, Damet’s City thrives on control and possession, rather than counter and chaos.

The first half ended without a goal, but the hosts didn’t waste much time to find one in the second half. Players and coaches alike will tell you that successful defense in soccer starts from the front. A chain reaction defensive lapse allowed NYCFC’s Hannes Wolf to walk through the defense, lay off a pass his number 10, Maxi Moralez, who quickly dished a pass back to Wolf who was still not picked up by the St. Louis City defense. Wolf hit a low shot to the right of Roman Bürki while the City defense looked on in bemusement.

After taking a lead, NYCFC looked hungry for more, and were pressing more and more bodies forward in attack. Roman Bürki, as he has so often done in the past, was holding the attack at bay, making key saves to keep the home side from breaking the game open.

Bürki stopped six of seven shots that New York City launched toward the St. Louis City goal. His save in the 63rd minute on Agustin Ojeda was likely his best, an instinctual stop from point-blank range after Ojeda found space in the box to the right side of the City goal.

City were hanging on defensively, but were pretty toothless in attack. Sergio Cordova’s first start was a quiet one. He had one shot, which tested the foul ball netting at Citi Field (the usual home of Major League Baseball’s New York Mets) more than it tested goalkeeper Matt Freese in the NYCFC goal.

Importantly, Cordova stayed on the right side of the St. Louis attacking trio. This isn’t where he’s really had success in a City shirt so far, and City didn’t have much threat from the right side Saturday night.

Cordova was substituted in the 71st minute for Cedric Teuchert, who was perhaps being kept from too much game action after a knock took him out of City’s last match at halftime. Lukas MacNaughton also came into the game in the 71st minute, replacing midfielder Daniel Edelman, which moved Dante Polvara up into Edelman’s midfield spot as MacNaughton slid into the back three.

City homegrown Miguel Perez also came on as a substitute for Chris Durkin, and fellow homegrown talent Mykhi Joyner had to wait till the 80th minute to replace Rafael Santos on the left wing. The other 80th minute substitution was Brendan McSorley coming on for Simon Becher, a last roll of the dice for Yoann Damet and St. Louis City as they hunted for an equalizer.

Damet’s tinkering in the second half was paying dividends. St. Louis captured control late, and New York City were staying back deeper and deeper in an attempt to defend their one-goal lead.

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When the fourth official on the sideline at Citi Field held up their board signaling seven minutes of stoppage time, groans went around the ballpark from the home fans in attendance on a chilly evening in Queens. The game was in the balance.

City were about a foot away from an equalizer in the 93rd minute. A looped cross into the box was headed back across goal by Lukas MacNaughton, Dante Polvara swung a foot at the bouncing ball and hit a laser that just went over the NYCFC goal.

The hosts, in turn, looked to close the game out in the 94th minute, but again it was Lukas MacNaughton on fresh legs making a big play getting back to deny a New York City FC opportunity with a sprawling play in the St. Louis 18-yard box.

Roman Bürki was called into action one more time in the 95th minute, NYC’s Nicholas Fernandez couldn’t beat the Swiss shot stopper on a break, as he was being chased by Jaziel Orozco and Lukas MacNaughton.

MacNaughton seemed to find himself in the middle of everything that happened in stoppage time. So less than a minute later, it shouldn’t surprise you that he found himself at the middle of the goal that saved the night for St. Louis City.

MacNaughton swung in a cross from the left channel to the front of the NYCFC goal, and right to the forehead of City attacker Brendan McSorley. McSorley dove and directed the header into the ground and under the diving reach of New York City and USA goalkeeper Matt Freese.

St. Louis City SC’s first away goal of 2026 couldn’t have come at a better time, with just moments left of stoppage time. That goal would be the last meaningful action of the night, as referee Pierre-Luc Lauziere blew for full-time to confirm the 1-1 result.

For Eastern Conference contenders New York City, it’s a draw that feels like a loss. For Western Conference strugglers St. Louis City, it’s a draw that feels like a win.

“I think this is a very good moment to build on in terms of getting a point on the road, especially in the fashion we did today,” said Yoann Damet on the result postgame. “Really pleased for the guys again, the commitment tonight of the group, the mindset to keep pushing, and to go earn that point on the road was massive.”

But Damet did hold back a little bit, suggesting that this wasn’t a result that turns the tide on a long MLS season. “I don’t think it’s going to flip the season, I think it’s just part of the process.”

After all, City were second best for most of this game. The starting squad couldn’t create enough on offense. But inspired performances off the substitutes bench proved the difference.

“I thought the subs did a brilliant job tonight for us, all of them,” Damet said. “So, it was great to get Brendan [McSorley] at the end of it, and I hope this is going to give him a lot of confidence for the season.”

“I think Yoann, he goes for it; we're never going to be down in the game and not try our absolute hardest to get back into it,” said goalscorer Brendan McSorley on City’s second half. “So, while we might have given up chances on the other end, our defense did an incredible job to be able to keep it a one score game.

“And then, I think of Lukas [MacNaughton]’s performance, not even for his assist, but just how he played when he came on, he was so good. And, yeah, his cross was unbelievable as well. So, I think, no matter what with this team, we're going to go for it. We're never going to just relax and think, oh, this game's 1-0, let's try to slowly get back into it. No, we're going to go for it.”

McSorley scored in what is as close to a home game as he gets in MLS.

“This is not home, but I'm from New Jersey, this is one of the closest games that a lot of my family and friends could come to,” McSorley explained. “They've been so supportive of me, just to be able to give them that goal was special.”

A special goal gives St. Louis City their fifth point of the season in their sixth game, which is good to keep them ahead of cross-state rivals Sporting Kansas City who sit at the bottom of the MLS Western Conference. It’s still a process, after all.

The process continues next week as City again play on the road, this time in more familiar territory at FC Dallas. The game is set for Saturday, April 11, with kickoff just after 7:30 pm.

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