St. Louis City SC WINS their inaugural game coming back from down a goal to win 3-2 over Austin

In the first game in franchise history, St. Louis City SC’s Joao Klauss came up with the match-winning goal to down last season’s Western Conference finalists Austin FC on the road.

After striking first through the boots of Tim Parker, Austin’s Sebastian Driussi and Jon Gallagher had taken the lead by the 72′.

But New Jersey-native Jared Stroud equalized the contest just six minutes later – setting the team up to take its first point in franchise history.

Though Klauss wasn’t satisfied – making a run into the box, cutting back, and then poking the ball with the outside of his right boot to tuck it into the keeper’s right post.

He wheeled away, falling to the ground in disbelief just short of the corner flag as his teammates piled on, then held on to seal the victory.

St. Louis City SC, the newest kids on the block, downed Austin FC in their inaugural game

St. Louis City’s Tim Parker scored the game’s first goal — and the first in team history — in the 24th minute as he bulled his way to the goal mouth to get his head on a corner kick from Eduard Lowen after Austin goalkeeper Brad Stuver came way off his line but couldn’t corral the pass.

Austin got the equalizer from Sebastian Driussi, last season’s runner-up for league MVP, four minutes into first-half stoppage time.

The scoring play started with a through ball from the defensive end that Driussi reined in just outside the box. 

He took his time, steadied the ball and lifted a soft shot over the head of St. Louis goalkeeper Roman Burki and into the corner of the net to make it 1-1.

Jon Gallagher’s goal in the 72nd minute put Austin in front. 

Gallagher was led into the box by a dead-on pass by Diego Fagundez and moved the ball deftly to his left foot while in traffic before unleashing a shot into the bottom-right corner of the net.

He sprinted off to the side, collapsing on the pitch and getting piled on by his teammates

Brazilian forward Klauss scored a brilliant goal in the 86′ to give the newcomers their first win

But a glaring mistake by Austin rookie defender Kipp Keller allowed Stroud the chance to tie the game and reverse the momentum of the match. 

Keller was playing the ball back to Stuver but didn’t see Stroud, who had just got off the ground after being knocked down. 

Stroud made short work of the opportunity, booting a right-footed shot past a defenseless Stuver and into the net in the 78th minute.

That set the stage for Klauss and his world-class goal. He took a long pass from Nicholas Gioacchini, split defenders and dribbled deep into the offensive zone before cutting back toward the goal and using the outside of his right foot to curl a shot into the far left corner of the net.