San Jose Earthquakes rally past STL City 3-2
ST. LOUIS - The ingredients were there for a St. Louis City comeback win at home Saturday night at Energizer Park.
But the first-place San Jose Earthquakes and Timo Werner had other ideas.
Werner scored twice in the second half to lead the Earthquakes to a 3-2 comeback victory of their own over STL City.
"It's disappointing; we are here to get results," STL City coach Yoann Damet said. "You know, I don't see that as a setback. I see that as part of the journey we are on. We are competing. We are creating great chances. We are putting together, again, a very good performance tonight. And it's just missing the final piece but it's going to come."
With San Jose trailing 2-1, Werner converted a penalty kick in the 69th minute to tie the score 2-2, then scored the game winner in the 83rd minute.
STL City dropped to 1-5-3 on the season and is in 14th place in the MLS Western Conference, while San Jose sits atop the standings at 9-1.
St. Louis outshot San Jose 17-10 overall and 13-4 in the first half, but found itself trailing at halftime 1-0 after a goal by the Earthquakes' Preston Judd in the eighth minute, assisted by Nick Fernandez and Werner.
"We played one of the best halves this season," STL City's Marcel Hartel said of his team's first-half chances. "We had a lot of chances. We played a very good game in general. But yeah, we just don't score a goal. Yeah, we have to get better to finish this situation, to get a better result. I mean, especially the first time we got a lot of opportunities that hit the crossbar. We had very good chances to get a tie. And yeah, we have to get better.
St. Louis staged its own rally with back-to-back goals within a minute of each other early in the second half.
Srgio Cordova scored from assists by Hartel and Chris Durkin in the 52nd minute to tie it 1-1. Then in the 53rd minute, Hartel scored from an assist from Simon Becher to give St. Louis 2-1 lead and send the crowd at Energizer Field into a frenzy.
"We need to clean things up on both side of the pitch, defensively and offensively," Damet said. "We had some big chances, but at the same time, there was a couple key moments again we need to do better. That's maybe making fouls; that's maybe not making fouls in the box. Those are the moments we are talking about."
The game also marked the first appearance of the season on the home field by Eduard Lowen, who had missed the first part of the season because of the death of his wife, Ilona on March 9, 2026, at age 28 following a two-year battle with brain cancer. He subbed into the game in the 85th minute for Daniel Edelman.
When Lowen entered the game, the Energizer Park responded with a thunderous ovation.
"It's amazing," Damet said. "Like you see the support of the fans. I think that's probably the loudest I've heard the stadium this year.
"It means a lot for him. I think it shows the support of the community and it speaks to the person he is, as simple as that. He's a great human being and I think he's touched a lot of people in and around the team. I think this is just the testament to that and it's great to see."
City will be in action Wednesday when it returns to Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Round of 16 against the Chicago Fire at SeatGeek Stadium in Chicago. St. Louis will see its next MLS action May 3 against Austin FC May 3 at Q2 Stadium in Austin, Texas.
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