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St. Louis CITY SC Falls to Chicago Fire — And It Stings | St. Louis Metro News | St. Louis

Published

2 years ago

May 23, 2023

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click to enlarge COURTESY ST. LOUIS CITY SC CITY goalkeeper Roman Bürki.

St. Louis CITY SC lost for the third consecutive match following a 1-0 defeat to the Chicago Fire at Soldier Field. It marked a second straight loss to Chicago after the Fire eliminated CITY from the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup on Tuesday.“We go twice down to Chicago in a week,” CITY coach Bradley Carnell said after the match. “I thought we took a step forward today, despite the result.” CITY struggled to generate dangerous opportunities throughout the match. The team’s offensive woes in recent weeks can be attributed to striker João Klauss’ absence due to a quad injury. Klauss scored five goals in nine matches before his injury. Goalkeeper and team captain Roman Bürki acknowledged Klauss’ absence was a factor in the defeat, but added “I have a feeling something is missing in the team.”Center-back Tim Parker and midfielder Rasmus Alm also missed the match. Parker received a one-match suspension due to yellow card accumulation, while Alm is recovering from an abdominal injury. Despite missing key starters, sporting director Lutz Pfannenstiel believes CITY should have played better. “We don’t make excuses at CITY. The result wasn’t good enough. We must improve — and we will,” he said on Twitter. Thank you CITY fans for the tremendous away support.We don’t make excuses at CITY.The result wasn’t good enough. We must improve – and we will. Remember, it’s a long season, there is plenty more soccer left to play.See you Saturday at @stlCITYPARK Let’s go @stlCITYsc 💪 pic.twitter.com/SjKk5RFV4M— Lutz Pfannenstiel (@1_LPfannenstiel) May 14, 2023 Chicago controlled the first 10 minutes of the match and forced Bürki to make two crucial saves. Bürki believes the defense started the match sluggishly. “They were sleeping, like the whole team, in the first minutes. They were not ready.” Chicago set up in a traditional 4-2-3-1 formation. A 4-2-3-1 produces triangles all over the pitch which a team can use to create numerical advantages. Chicago used these advantages to break CITY’s press and create dangerous transitions throughout the match. Turning PointSwiss international Xherdan Shaqiri stood over a free-kick for Chicago in the 40th minute. “There’s two dangers when Shaqiri’s on the ball, right? The one danger is he puts it in the top corner. The other danger is he picks out a teammate,” Carnell said.Shaqiri opted for the latter as he crossed the ball to Rafael Czichos at the back post. CITY’s defensive line failed to track Czichos as he ran in unmarked to give Chicago a 1-0 lead. CITY players looked at each other in confusion as Chicago ran off in celebration.Bürki is familiar with Shaqiri’s set-piece abilities due to their time as teammates on the Swiss national team. “I was surprised that [Shaqiri] crossed the ball. But I mean, in the end, the [defensive] line has to be aware of that. It cannot happen that a guy who is strong in the air, like Czichos, is all alone,” Bürki said.Carnell questions whether CITY could’ve done more to prevent Czichos from being wide-open. “Are we doing enough in our defensive responsibilities? Are we blocking guys? Are we bumping guys? Are we, you know, trying to impede their runs a little bit?” Being down 1-0 forced CITY to take more risks. CITY earned a corner kick in the 70th minute and squeezed into Chicago’s box. The team left John Nelson, who was on a yellow card, alone as the last defender. Chicago won the initial header and launched a counter-attack.Nelson found himself isolated against Chicago’s Brian Gutiérrez. Nelson lunged and committed a foul against Gutiérrez. Nelson received a second yellow card for the challenge. Nelson’s second yellow card automatically turned into a red one, which resulted in CITY playing the rest of the match down a man. “I fully stand behind my player who tries for the best reasons possible to try and win the ball and win the game for his team,” Carnell said. Nelson’s red card significantly lowered CITY’s chances of overcoming the 1-0 deficit. Carnell made numerous adjustments as the match progressed, but to no avail. Chicago comfortably withstood CITY’s attack for the remainder of the match. click to enlarge COURTESY ST. LOUIS CITY SC Caden Glover makes his MLS debut.
The Road Ahead
“The result didn’t go our way today. But you know, there’s a couple of successes in terms of guys’ performances and what it meant to them,” Carnell said. One of those successes included 16-year-old Caden Glover’s professional debut in the 77th minute. CITY signed Glover as its first-ever homegrown player in January. Glover’s appearance against Chicago made him the second academy graduate to play for CITY, with the first being 18-year-old Miguel Perez. “We believe in homegrowns, we believe in the development of our academy, so we see this as a big success moving forward,” Carnell said. Captain Roman Bürki made his frustrations about the loss clear. “I’m far away from being happy with the performance. I mean, we had almost no real chance to score a goal.”CITY is vocal about its culture of accountability and high expectations. “We are aware of what we can do better. Of course we talk with each other, we are very open and straightforward,” Bürki said. CITY moves from one rivalry to the next when it faces Sporting Kansas City on Saturday at CITYPARK. Bürki believes a full week of training can help the team end its losing streak. “I’m happy that we have one week, one full week, to prepare for Kansas [City].”Julian Trejo, a freshman at Washington University in St. Louis, is a native of Arkansas, and a former goalkeeper for several state championship teams. His work is supported by the River City Journalism Fund. Subscribe to Riverfront Times newsletters.Follow us: Google News | NewsBreak | Reddit | Instagram | Facebook | Twitter

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Fenton Man Charged in Sword Attack on Roommate

Published

1 year ago

May 22, 2024

Natural Bridge

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A warrant is out for a Fenton man’s arrest after he allegedly attacked his roommate with a sword.

Police say that on Sunday, Angelus Scott spoke openly about “slicing his roommate’s head” before he grabbed a sword, raised it up and then swung it down at the roommate.

The roommate grabbed Scott’s hand in time to prevent injury. When police arrived at the scene, they found the weapon used in the assault.

The sword in question was a katana, which is a Japanese sword recognizable for its curved blade.

This isn’t the first time a samurai-style sword has been used to violent effect in St. Louis. In 2018, a man hearing voices slaughtered his ex-boyfriend with a samurai sword. His mother said he suffered from schizoaffective disorder.

As for Scott, 35, the St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office was charged yesterday with two felonies, assault first degree and armed criminal action. The warrant for his arrest says he is to be held on $200,000 bond.

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Caught on Video, Sheriff Says He’s Ready to ‘Turn It All Over’ to Deputy

Published

1 year ago

May 22, 2024

Natural Bridge

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Video of St. Louis Sheriff Vernon Betts taken by a former deputy suggests that the sheriff has a successor in mind to hand the reins of the department over to, even as Betts is in an increasingly heated campaign for reelection.

“I ain’t here for all this rigmarole,” Betts says in the video while seated behind his desk at the Carnahan Courthouse. “The Lord sent me here to turn this department around and I’m doing the best I can and I think I’ve done a good job. I’ve got about eight months and I’m going to qualify for my fourth pension.”

He goes on, “Right now I can walk up out of here and live happily ever after and forget about all this…and live like a king.”

The sheriff then says his wife has been in Atlanta looking at houses and that the other deputy in the room, Donald Hawkins, is someone Betts has been training “to turn it all over to him.”

Asked about the video, Betts tells the RFT, “My future plans are to win reelection on August 6th by a wide margin and to continue my mission as the top elected law enforcement official to make St. Louis safer and stronger. Serving the people of St. Louis with integrity, honor and professional law enforcement qualifications is a sacred responsibility, and I intend to complete that mission.”

The video of Betts was taken by Barbara Chavers, who retired from the sheriff’s office in 2016 after 24 years of service. Chavers now works security at Schnucks at Grand and Gravois. Betts’ brother Howard works security there, too.

Chavers tells the RFT that she was summoned to Betts’ office last week after Betts’ brother made the sheriff aware that she was supporting Montgomery. It was no secret: Chavers had filmed a Facebook live video in which she said she was supporting Betts’ opponent Alfred Montgomery in the election this fall. “Make the judges safe,” she says in the video, standing in front of a large Montgomery sign on Gravois Avenue. “They need a sheriff who is going to make their courtrooms safe.”

In his office, even as Chavers made clear she was filming him, Betts told Chavers he was “flabbergasted” and “stunned” she was supporting Montgomery.

“I don’t know what I did that would make you go against the preacher man,” he says, referring to himself. He then refers to Montgomery as “ungodly.”

Betts goes on to say that not long ago, he was walking in his neighborhood on St. Louis Avenue near 20th Street when suddenly Montgomery pulled up in his car and, according to Betts, shouted, “You motherfucker, you this, you that. You’re taking my signs down.”

Montgomery tells the RFT that he’s never interacted with Betts outside of candidate forums and neighborhood meetings.

“I don’t think anyone with good sense would do something like that to a sitting sheriff,” Montgomery says.

Montgomery has had campaign signs missing and on at least two occasions has obtained video of people tearing them down. (Chavers notes that the sign that she filmed her original Facebook video in front of is itself now missing.)

One man who lives near Columbus Square says that he recently put out two Montgomery signs, which later went missing. “If they keep taking them, I’ll keep putting them up,” he said.

Betts says he has nothing to do with the missing signs. In the video Chavers filmed in Betts’ office, Betts says that his campaign isn’t in a spot where it needs to resort to tearing down opponents’ signs.

“If you sit here long enough, a man is getting ready to come across the street from City Hall bringing me $500, today,” Betts says. “I’m getting that kind of support. I don’t need to tear down signs.”

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St. Louis to Develop First Citywide Transportation Plan in Decades

Published

1 year ago

May 21, 2024

Natural Bridge

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The City of St. Louis is working to develop its first citywide mobility plan in decades, Mayor Tishaura Jones’ office announced Tuesday. This plan seeks to make it easier for everyone — drivers, pedestrians, bikers and public transit users — to safely commute within the city.

The plan will bring together other city projects like the Brickline Greenway, Future64, the MetroLink Green Line, and more, “while establishing new priorities for a safer, more efficient and better-maintained transportation network across the City,” according to the release.

The key elements in the plan will be public engagement, the development of a safety action plan, future infrastructure priorities and transportation network mapping, according to Jones’ office.

The overarching goals are to create a vision for citywide mobility, plan a mixture of short and long-term mobility projects and to develop improved communication tools with the public to receive transportation updates. In recent years, both people who use public transit and cyclists have been outspoken about the difficulties — and dangers — of navigating St. Louis streets, citing both cuts to public transit and traffic violence.

To garner public input and participation for the plan, Jones’ office said there will be community meetings, focus groups and a survey for residents to share their concerns. The city will also be establishing a Community Advisory Committee. Those interested in learning more should check out at tmp-stl.com/

“Everyone deserves to feel safe when getting around St. Louis, whether they’re driving, biking, walking or taking public transit,” Jones said in a news release. “Creating a comprehensive transportation and mobility plan allows us to make intentional and strategic investments so that moving around St. Louis for jobs, education, and entertainment becomes easier, safer and more enjoyable.”

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