51黑料

Klauss scored the first hat trick in 51黑料 City SC history, with his third goal coming on a shot in the 95th minute that left teammates shaking their heads in wonder. But all it got City SC was a 3-3 tie with the Los Angeles Galaxy, and while a tie and one point may be better than a loss and zero points, in the predicament City SC is in, it鈥檚 not much better.

鈥淚t's very tough,鈥� said midfielder Celio Pompeu, who had the assist on Klauss鈥� second goal. 鈥淚t's a mix of feelings, because I know we鈥檙e playing better. 鈥� It's just tough, because we give up some easy goals, I could say, like stupid goals, but it鈥檚 on us, it鈥檚 on the players that are on the field. And we just gotta do better in those times that we need to to be calm.鈥�

鈥淚 think we are stepping in the right direction,鈥� said Klauss, 鈥渂ut we still have things that we have to fix.鈥�

City SC led 1-0 and 2-1, then managed to fall behind, presumably for good, at 3-2 in the 87th minute on a gut-wrenching goal that came from two of the young players given a chance by interim coach David Critchley turning the ball over in the worst possible spot. But Klauss then turned the clock back to 2023, when his quick start turned him into a fan favorite, and salvaged a tie.

But what City SC needs now are wins, not ties. It took 47 points to make the playoffs in the Western Conference last season, and City SC went into the game needing to win 11 of its final 17 games to get there. Now, they pretty much still need 11 wins, but from 16 games.

鈥淚'm very proud for (Klauss), and I'm very happy for him,鈥� Critchley said, 鈥渂ut we know we needed to go and get three points today.鈥�

If City SC is going to pull off this comeback, a goal-scoring Klauss seems essential. Klauss had 10 goals in City SC鈥檚 first season, five of them in the first five games as his jersey became one of the top sellers in the league. In Season 2 he had five goals all season and now he has five this season just past its halfway point, plus two more in the Open Cup. Four of those goals have come in Critchley's three games as coach. And with his contract running out after this season (the club has an option), he knows how important goals are for the team, and for him.

鈥淥ne more time I put my name in the history of the club,鈥� he said. 鈥淏eing here from Day One, everybody knows the relationship that I have with everybody in this club, how much I enjoy to be here, how much I enjoy to play in front of our fans, how much I enjoy the city and the club. I have a lot of respect for everybody around here. Sometimes you have ups and downs in soccer. I know I had a great first season then the second season wasn't that good. But I told you guys when I left last year that I was going to work really hard to come back and play a good season. I think we are improving. I think we are in a good way now.鈥�

When Critchley talked with reporters on Tuesday, he said when he was done he was going inside to talk with Klauss about finishing and confidence. Talk about a message received. The first goal was a well-taken shot off a nice feed from Hartel, but goals two and three were individual masterstrokes, a shot on the run into the roof of the net to make it 2-1 and then a volley to finish a play that went from Roman Burki鈥檚 foot to Timo Baumgartl鈥檚 head to Klauss鈥� foot and into the net in six seconds.

鈥淭hat's the details that you guys don't see,鈥� Klauss said, 鈥渂ut help us a lot. I had a video this week with Critch, and it was just about to give me confidence. He said he feels now that my confidence is 50 percent and he wants to help me to get to 100 percent. He also gave me a lot of freedom. Now I'm playing kind of a different position, like a hybrid 9-10, and he also showed me what he wants from me. He wants me between the lines. He thinks I can help a lot if I get between the lines, if I can get the ball, turn, help the team to combine, but also, he showed me the chance that I missed against Portland, and he said, 鈥楲ook, before you didn't have a lot of chances in the first 15 games. Now you have to be prepared that this chance will come. You're gonna miss some of them, but I promise you, you're gonna score way more goals now.'

鈥淪o this confidence that he gave me, he also told me, like, Look, I need you to be more relaxed when you play, like, if you make mistakes, I want to see you flicking the ball around. I want you to improvise things. So he's just, like, amazing guy, amazing coach, and we are really, really enjoying to work with him and all his staff as well. 鈥� That's why I always tell you guys that I think we are a good way now.鈥�

While Klauss and the team talk about needing some time for Critchley鈥檚 changes to take hold, Klauss is apparently a quick learner. Critchley can also apparently see the future. During a cooling break in the first half, when Klauss came over to the bench, Critchley told him, keep doing what you鈥檙e doing and you鈥檒l score. Five minutes later, he got the first of his three.

鈥淭hese things help a lot,鈥� Klauss said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 been amazing for us. 鈥� He鈥檚 helped me a lot. He鈥檚 given me a lot of confidence and I hope this good form continues.鈥�

City SC not only had to fight itself out of a hole, it had to fight its way out of one of its own creation. Joey Zalinsky had the ball in front of the City SC bench but felt pressure and decided to play the ball back to Jayden Reid on the other side of midfield. The pass was dangerous enough because the pass covered 30-40 yards and the Galaxy鈥檚 Gabriel Pec was close enough to put pressure on Reid. When Reid turned to try and play the ball back to Burki and out of danger, he instead slipped and fell and Pec was alone on Burki and scored. It was the fifth goal given up by the team after the 80th minute in its last five games.

鈥淭hey're kind of beating themselves up in the locker room a little bit right now,鈥� Critchley said, 鈥渂ut every player in the world, once you get to this level, you're going to have mistakes. It's about, how do you minimize them, week by week, month by month, year by year?鈥�

Amid the dejection, there was hope. City SC gave up a late goal in Critchley鈥檚 first game, against San Jose, that was going to turn a win into a tie but got an even later goal to get the win. They did it again on Saturday, turning a loss into a tie.

鈥淥f course, we鈥檙e mad,鈥� Pompeu said of the feeling at 3-2. 鈥淲e鈥檙e frustrated. But at that time, I thought everybody was all right. We still have time to tie the game. I didn鈥檛 feel anybody with their heads down.鈥�

And then Klauss delivered a moment of magic. Baumgartl, at the top of the box, headed the ball on to Klauss, who ran on to it about 6 yards out and struck the ball on the bounce into the far netting, which Klauss called 鈥渁n unbelievable finish.鈥�

鈥淲hen we played the long ball from Roman,鈥� Klauss said, 鈥渁nd I see Timo going for the first ball, I think their back line, everybody, was just ball watching and they forgot the space behind them. I tried to use this space. Timo did great and then it was just about the finishing."