Real Monarchs 0 vs 4 St. Louis City2
August 6, 2023; CITYPARK; St. Louis, Missouri
Real Monarchs (6-12-2, 21 points); St. Louis City2 (6-8-7, 30 points)
Telling Stats: The Monarchs drop their third-consecutive match, tied for the team’s longest losing streak this season. The shutout loss marks the ninth time that the Monarchs have failed to score, sitting third from the bottom of the league in goals scored this season with 22. The Monarchs have yet to record a win against St. Louis City2, losing four straight matches by a combined total of 12-1 over the span of two seasons.
What You Missed: An overwhelming majority of first-half opportunities fell for St. Louis City2, forcing Monarchs’ goalkeeper Derrek Chan to make an impressive seven saves in the opening 45 minutes. However, St. Louis’ attack was relentless and found the back of the net twice before half time. The first goal came in the 38th minute when John Klein headed home a cross from Selmir Pidro. St. Louis struck again in similar fashion in the 44th minute on a corner kick when Joakim Nilsson slipped from his defender and headed the ball past Chan to double the lead. In the second half, the hosts continued to dominate the run of play, leaving the Monarchs with little opportunity to pull themselves back into the game. In the 63rd minute Klein found his second goal of the night to extend St. Louis’ lead, sliding a shot into the bottom corner from close range. Wan Kuzain added another goal in the 89th minute to seal the 4-0 victory for St. Louis. Despite conceding four goals, Derrek Chan was busy between the posts making eight saves, the most for any Monarchs goalkeeper this season.
What’s Next? Real Monarchs return to Zions Bank Stadium on Wednesday, August 9 to take on the San Jose Earthquakes II at 8:00 p.m. MT. The Monarchs picked up a 1-0 win over the Earthquakes back in April in San Jose thanks to Terron Williams’ game-winning goal in the 75th minute.
