John Hackworth has challenged St. Louis City to do better against Houston Dynamo after a disappointing loss to LA Galaxy last time out in MLS.
St. Louis had won back-to-back games before losing 1-0 to the Galaxy last time out in a game where they did not register a single shot on target.
They cannot make the playoffs, sitting 12th in the Western Conference on 34 points with just two games left, and Hackworth is looking to learn from their mistakes in the last game to end their final home match of the season on a positive note.
"We didn't play as well as we're capable of [against LA Galaxy], but I think that can be a good thing for us going forward," he said.
"I don't want anybody to accept that it was anything other than a loss. We can look at ourselves knowing we're much better than that."
Meanwhile, Houston bounced back from a defeat to Seattle Sounders with a 2-1 victory over New England Revolution.
With their playoff place already secure, their aim is to finish as high up the table as they can, currently sitting in fifth, with only four points separating them and Los Angeles FC in second.
Ben Olsen was particularly pleased with his defense against the Revs and believes that will be the key for them in the postseason.
"Our defense is what we hang our hat on," Olsen said. "Sometimes we get some credit for some of the build-up, but really we're a defensive team, and we can defend with the ball, but we've got a great back four.
"It's a collective effort, everybody's doing their part, but we're going to keep working so they know when they're good or when they're not up to snuff."
PLAYERS TO WATCH
St. Louis City – Cedric Teuchert
Cedric Teuchert has scored in each of his first three home appearances for St. Louis City, the only player in club history to do so.
Only one player in the last 20 years has scored in each of his first four career MLS home games: Federico Bernardeschi with Toronto FC in 2022 (first five).
Houston Dynamo – Adalberto Carrasquilla
The Dynamo have won a club-record eight away matches this season. Houston's 26 road points (W8 D2 L6) are the most they have ever collected in a single regular season in club history.
Adalberto Carrasquilla secured the record-breaking win for them against Austin on September 22 and added two more assists to his tally in the win over New England last time out.
MATCH PREDICTION: HOUSTON DYNAMO WIN
The home side have not lost any of the five meetings between St. Louis City and Houston, with St. Louis recording wins in both of its home matches against the Dynamo, including a 2-1 win in the first round of this season's Concacaf Champions Cup in February.
That bodes well for St. Louis, who have won 21 of their first 40 home matches in all competitions (D8 L11), scoring 75 total goals. They have won four of their last six at home in all competitions (D1 L1) after winning one of their previous seven at home (D2 L4).
However, Houston's 2-1 win over New England on Wednesday took them to 51 points for the season, equaling their total from last year. A win over St. Louis City would set a new club points record for the Dynamo, surpassing the 53 they earned in the 2012 campaign.
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
St. Louis City – 32.9%
Draw – 25.6%
Houston Dynamo – 41.5%
Rudiger lauds 'ridiculous' Yamal after sensational LaLiga start
Real Madrid's Antonio Rudiger has lauded Barcelona's Lamine Yamal as 'ridiculous' following the teenager's rapid rise to stardom for their fierce LaLiga rivals.
Yamal broke into Barca's first-team last term, making 50 appearances in all competitions before announcing himself on the international stage for Spain at Euro 2024.
He became the first Spanish player to register four assists in a single European Championship tournament.
It was also the joint most that any player has ever assisted at a single edition of the tournament that Opta has on record (1980 onwards).
Yamal also broke Pele's record from the 1958 World Cup final for Brazil against Sweden by becoming the youngest player to feature in a major international tournament final at the age of 17 years and 249 days in Spain's 2-1 win over England.
And the teenager has picked up where he left off in Germany, already notching 10 goal involvements (five goals and five assists) in 10 appearances in all competitions this season.
The 17-year-old has also completed the joint-most dribbles alongside Sevilla's Chidera Ejuke (23) in LaLiga this season, while only Raphinha (26) has created more chances for Barcelona in the league this season than Yamal (17).
"You have to give credit where credit is due," Rudiger told The Inside Scoop podcast when asked about Yamal.
"He is 17, it's ridiculous. The player he is already for them [Barca] at 17, it's quite scary. What he did in the Euros, you have to give kudos to him. He has a great future ahead.
"I think they [Barca] have a player who has a [big] career and hopefully, he will stay healthy."
Colorado Rapids head coach Chris Armas believes his side can break into the top four of the Western Conference ahead of facing the Seattle Sounders this weekend.
The Rapids currently occupy sixth in the standings and have already qualified for the playoffs, but are just three points behind Real Salt Lake in fourth.
Armas’ side have won just one of their last four MLS fixtures, though, with their latest defeat coming at the hands of the LA Galaxy, despite Connor Ronan scoring the opener.
“We are looking forward to Saturday. We’re looking forward to getting right back out there on the pitch here at home in our quest for a top four finish,” Armas said.
“That’s what is on our minds right now. We’re looking forward to Seattle coming here, another top team.
“I’m really proud of my team and how they are going for it. We knew we were facing a really good team who are in first place. It was not the result we wanted, but that is football when you play good teams, the margins are thin, and it is a game we can learn from.”
Seattle, meanwhile, come into the encounter brimming with confidence having now gone five games unbeaten, most recently sweeping aside 10-man Vancouver Whitecaps away from home.
The Sounders are three points ahead of this weekend’s opponents but know a victory is a must if they are to remain in the top four ahead of the playoffs.
With just two games left of the regular season, head coach Brian Schmetzer was not worried about the workload on his players, insisting rotation could be required this weekend.
“If you look at the calendar and you see after this next game, we have a week off before we play Portland, so the team that is playing extended minutes is going to have plenty of opportunity to recover,” Schmetzer said.
“We’re going to go to Colorado and make sure we don’t put anybody at an injury risk and put a strong team out against a very good side.
“Then we’ll play out the rest of the season how we see fit.”
BIG ROAD DUB pic.twitter.com/Dkl4MRKVvX
— Seattle Sounders FC (@SoundersFC) October 3, 2024
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Colorado Rapids – Djordje Mihailovic
Mihailovic’s assist on Wednesday took him to 23 goal contributions this season (11 goals, 12 assists), equalling the single-season club record set by Diego Rubio in 2022.
The American is the only player in Rapids history with at least 10 goals and 10 assists in a single season.
Seattle Sounders - Albert Rusnak
Rusnak scored a goal and recorded two assists in Seattle’s win over Vancouver.
It marked the third time in his last 11 regular season appearances that Rusnak had a goal and an assist in a match after not doing so in any of his previous 93 appearances dating back to 2021.
MATCH PREDICTION: DRAW
The Sounders have recorded 22 regular season wins over the Rapids, more than against any other team since they joined the MLS in 2009. In fact, the only MLS team with more regular season wins over a single opponent in that time is Real Salt Lake, also against Colorado (24).
Including their victory over Vancouver, the Sounders have won 11 of their last 15 regular season matches (D2 L2). This is the third different campaign in which Seattle has won 11 or more times in a 15-game span in league play, joining 2011 and 2018.
Colorado come into the game off the back of a 3-1 defeat to LA Galaxy, their first such result on home soil in 10 matches. It was the first time the Rapids lost a home match by multiple goals since a 3-1 defeat to Nashville SC in May 2022.
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
Colorado Rapids – 35.1%
Draw – 26%
Seattle Sounders – 39%
Napoli 3-1 Como: Lukaku and McTominay on target to extend hosts' Serie A lead
Romelu Lukaku continued his fine start to life at Napoli as the Belgian notched a goal and two assists in his side's 3-1 win over Como on Friday.
The hosts found themselves ahead with just 26 seconds on the clock when Scott McTominay was picked out by Lukaku, with the Scotland international firing home his first goal for Gli Azzurri off the post.
But Como would draw themselves level two minutes before the break when Gabriel Strefezza's strike from distance rifled into the bottom corner.
However, Antonio Conte's side needed just eight minutes after the interval to restore their advantage when Sergi Roberto brought down Mathias Olivera in the box, with Lukaku stepping up from 12 yards to net his fourth Serie A goal of the season.
Napoli continued to push for a third goal to secure the victory, with Khvicha Kvaratskhelia going closest but saw his effort saved by Emil Audero.
But the points were sealed in the 86th minute when Lukaku turned provider once again, holding off his marker before slipping through substitute David Neres who slotted home with a fine finish to extend Napoli's lead at the top of the standings to four points.
Data Debrief: Lukaku continues Conte love story
Lukaku has been a player reborn under Conte's stewardship. The Belgian is the player who has been involved in the most goals in his first five appearances for Napoli in Serie A since the Italian top-flight returned to 20 teams (since 2004/05) with three goals and four assists.
He has also managed to better his assist tally for the whole of last season, managing just three in 32 appearances for Roma last term.
McTominay's goal after 26 seconds is the third-fastest scored by Napoli since the start of a Serie A match in the three points for a win era, after Hirving Lozano's goal against Hellas Verona in 2021 (nine seconds) and Ezequiel Lavezzi's goal against Genoa in 2008 (25 seconds).
SportsMax is the Caribbean sports channel of choice, committed to providing sporting content of the highest quality to the Caribbean, delivered by a team of highly innovative, passionate and qualified professionals.
(876) 619-7629
digitalmedia@sportsmax.tv
