sT. LOUIS CITY VS ASTON VILLA FC

St. Louis, MO - 7/30/2025 - On hot and humid Wednesday Night St. Louis City welcomed Aston Villa FC. This marked the first time a Premier League team played at Energizer Park. With City in the middle of their MLS season, and Aston Villa continuing on their US preseason tour, this match was meant to be a confidence booster for both teams. With questions around a few key players for Aston Villa this was a good chance for everyone to show what they can do.

The first half started fast for Aston Villa getting a majority of the opening chances. Morgan Rogers put them up 1-0 with a goal from Donyell Malen in the 14th minute. After this City settled into what I could only describe as a bend don’t break defensive 1st half. I will say Jaziel Orozco again showed why he deserved his first team contract holding his own. 

The second half started off with a host of substitutions as again this is just a friendly. Ollie Watkins delivered a header 5 yards out from a Matty Cash cross to put Aston Villa up 2-0 in the 56th minute. City would show their dangerous counter attack though and Cedric Teuchert would tally one for City in the 60th minute. This would be the final goal of the night.

Next up City has a little bit of a break with their next match August 9th as they welcome Nashville SC to Energizer Park. 

Opinion: City really made the most of their chances. Getting Fallou Fall some touches with the 1st team under this situation is important. You could see there were some miss timed passes as he got used to his new team, but the more he played the more he seemed to settle in. I know it was only a friendly but a 2-1 loss is not a bad outcome. It should allow them to build a little confidence coming back to hopefully stay off any wooden spoon thoughts.