FENTON, Mo. – Louisville City FC rallied from an early deficit to post a 5-1 victory against Saint Louis FC on Saturday in front of a sellout crowd of 6,004 – a club record – at World Wide Technology Soccer Park. Louisville defended its Kings’ Cup crown in a derby that has turned into a conference crossover clash with Saint Louis heading to the Western Conference this year. LouCity defeated STLFC 2-0 on May 14 at Slugger Field in the other meeting this season. Saint Louis’ Jordan Roberts tallied the game’s first goal, but after James Musa was sent off in the 35th minute, it was all Louisville the rest of the way. Magnus Rasmussen recorded a second-half brace while Kadeem Dacres and Cameron Lancaster notched first-half goals. Louisville extends its winning streak to four games, improving to 15-6-8 (53 points) overall and 11-2-2 on the road. Saint Louis falls to 8-12-9 (33 points) overall and 4-4-7 at home as STLFC was officially eliminated from contention for a spot in the 2016 USL Cup Playoffs.

Scoring:
17’ – STL – Jordan Roberts (Irvin Herrera)
38’ – LOU – Kadeem Dacres
41’ – LOU – Cameron Lancaster (penalty)
51’ – LOU – Magnus Rasmussen
56’ – LOU – Magnus Rasmussen (George Davis IV)
79’ – LOU – Ilija Ilic

Three Things That Mattered:

• 1. Saint Louis’ James Musa was sent off in the 35th minute for his dangerous tackle against Louisville’s Kadeem Dacres, and without question it was the turning point of the match for both sides. STLFC was enjoying a one-goal lead after Jordan Roberts’ 17th-minute score off of an Irvin Herrera assist. It went south for Saint Louis following the red card as Louisville pounced at the opportunity, tallying an equalizer and go-ahead goal within 10 minutes of the sending off and never looking back. It was an unfortunate set of circumstances for goalkeeper Mark Pais and the STLFC defense. Even though the score didn’t indicate it, the back line had some pretty strong moments after the sending off.

• 2. Before halftime, Dacres equalized in the 38th minute with a long-distance tally that was built off of a short corner kick attempt. Dacres’ bouncing shot snuck inside the right post past Pais. Then three minutes later, Cameron Lancaster converted a penalty kick into the right side of the frame as Pais had anticipated the shot in the opposite direction, and LouCity went into the half with a 2-1 advantage.

• 3. The second half belonged to Louisville’s Magnus Rasmussen who recorded a brace with goals in the 51st and 56th minutes. Rasmussen now has three goals on the season, all coming in the current two-game stretch. Second-half sub Ilija Ilic, who entered in the 72nd minute, would score seven minutes into his appearance with a tap-in to give Louisville its fifth goal, which marked a single-game high this season. LouCity had scored four goals in four separate matches this season.

USLSoccer.com Man of the Match:
Kadeem Dacres, Louisville City FC – Dacres drew the sending off against James Musa and then tallied the equalizer, playing a big role in the game’s turning point to jumpstart LouCity’s rally.

Upcoming Games:
Saint Louis FC at OKC Energy FC – Sept. 24, 7 p.m. ET, Taft Stadium
Louisville City FC vs. Charlotte Independence – Sept. 24, 7:30 p.m. ET, Slugger Field