Column: Another goal from Eduard Löwen, another win for St. Louis City

It is starting to seem routine in CITYPARK.

St. Louis City star midfielder Eduard Löwen placed the ball down for a penalty kick. As soon as the ball touched the well-kept grass, the stadium erupted with cheer in anticipation.

He stared down the opposing goalkeeper, but he could've been looking past him, toward his target, towards the supporters' section.

He kept his eyes on the ball until his foot sent it through the net. Within the snap of a finger, his kick turned into a goal, and he immediately walked toward the supporters before his teammates surrounded him.

"That one was sent with a message," City SC head coach Bradley Carnell said, "and that inspires us to do great things at home."

That one goal was all St. Louis City needed to defeat the Houston Dynamo, as they went on to win 3-0 on Saturday, June 3. Tomás Ostrák scored on assists from Lucas Bartlett and Löwen, and Niko Gioacchini scored on a penalty kick as well.

"Eduard Löwen is our engine," Ostrák said.

Löwen has scored the first goal in each of City SC's previous three home games — two free kicks and a corner kick that went through everyone — each resulting in a convincing win.

"I think it's always different when you score that early in the game," Löwen said. "you have more confidence. You have more freedom, you are just more free in your head and that helped me a lot to get even better into the game for sure."

It's been a theme for City SC's success so far in their first season, as the club is 7-0-1 when they score first in MLS matches.

"He dictates the tempo of the game and the rhythm of the game," Carnell said of Löwen. "If you look at the backline, how proud they were to defend the goal at all costs with Njabulo Blom holding the midfield together allows Eduard to get a little more freedom. So I feel there's a good chemistry going on right now and a good balance from everybody."

St. Louis City (9-4-1) has returned to first place in the Western Conference — one point in front of the Seattle Sounders and three up on defending champion Los Angeles FC — and is the quickest expansion team to score 25 points in MLS. They have also scored three or more goals in eight of its first 14 matches to post a league-high +18 goal difference.

What this team is doing in its first season is practically miraculous, considering that it's a team that has no continuity and is learning to play with each other on the fly. Gioacchini, who has five goals in 13 starts this season for City SC, started in only two games last year for Orlando City. Klauss, who emerged early in the year with five goals, is in his first MLS season, as is Löwen. Roman Bürki, the team goalkeeper and caption, fresh off his fourth clean sheet, is also in his first MLS year. City's top goal scorers and goalie are both learning the league and trying to build chemistry from scratch and have been either on top or close to the top of the Western Conference throughout the journey.

"We know each other more and more," Löwen said. "I think we have not only a great collective team but also we have a lot of good players. Tim (Parker), in my opinion, he's for sure one of the best central defenders in the league. I'm pretty confident about that. We for sure have the best goalkeeper in the league. So I think it's not only about having a good team. I think we also have a lot of good individual players."

St. Louis City travels to Dallas on Wednesday, continuing a match that was abandoned earlier this season. After that, City SC will host the Los Angeles Galaxy at noon on Sunday, June 11.