'Let's see how far we can go in our first year' – St. Louis head coach Damet bold after cup triumph

St. Louis City SC, who have already added a trophy to their cabinet this season, want "to see how far we can go in our first year", according to head coach Yoann Damet.

St. Louis beat Columbus Crew on penalties in the U.S. Open Cup final in midweek, lifting the first trophy in the club's history and earning a place in next season's CONCACAF Champions Cup.

Damet's side have also impressed in MLS, climbing as high as second in the Western Conference, and they face Real Salt Lake this weekend. The coach wants his team to maintain the momentum they have built.

Reflecting on the significance of the cup win, Damet said: "It means a great deal to the club. We are only in the club's fourth year. You always want to fill the trophy cabinet, but that takes time and it is never easy. Success is not built overnight. Going into this year, we aimed to establish a clear vision and a distinct identity in how we want to do things; we said let's see how far we can go in our first year. I am extremely happy that these players will be remembered as the first in the club's history to achieve this. Hopefully, when we look back in 20 or 50 years, we will be proud of what we accomplished together. We wanted to make history for the club."

Real Salt Lake, meanwhile, sit three points off the play-off places in the West with four games of the regular season remaining. RSL beat Sporting Kansas City 3-1 in their last match and, after four straight defeats, have collected two wins, one draw and one loss in their last four outings.

Players to watch

Real Salt Lake – Noel Caliskan

Before his brace against Sporting Kansas City, Morgan Guilavogui had scored only two goals in his MLS career. Noel Caliskan provided the direct assist for all three of Guilavogui's most recent goals. Half of Caliskan's primary assists this season have come on Guilavogui goals.

St. Louis City – Rafael Navarro

Rafael Navarro has been involved in more than one goal in four of his eight MLS appearances for St. Louis. The Brazilian also registered a goal and an assist in his most recent league outing. Since the start of September, Navarro has been directly involved in 11 goals (eight goals, three assists), and the only player with more goal contributions over that period is Antoine Griezmann with 12.

Form and head-to-head

St. Louis' 19-match unbeaten run in the regular season came to an end with a 3-2 defeat away to Minnesota United. It was the first time in MLS history that St. Louis had lost a match in which they led by at least two goals at half-time (15 wins and 3 draws in the previous 18 such games).

Real Salt Lake scored twice inside the first 15 minutes away to Sporting KC. It was the second time this season that the Salt Lake side had scored two goals in the first 15 minutes of an MLS match.

The first meeting between the two sides, in March 2023, ended in a 4-0 away win for St. Louis. Since then, however, Real Salt Lake are unbeaten in six matches against their opponents (3 wins, 3 draws).