Louisville City fell in the fourth round of the US Open Cup last night against the Chicago Fire in a hard fought match that required thirty minutes of extra time to decide. Chicago pretty well dominated possession for most of the match, but Louisville City, playing mostly in a traditional 4-4-2, did well to snuff out all but one of the Fire’s chances (PUN!). Quincy Amarikwa, who was dangerous all night, got on the end of a deflected shot by Guly do Prado in the 115th minute of the match and headed the ball past Scott Goodwin to provide the game’s only score. It looked like do Prado’s shot went off the arm of a Chicago player in the box, but the ref didn’t see it, and Amerikwa made a great heads up play to score.

While the Fire had most of the ball, it was Louisville City that had the better chances to score. Matt Fondy, Magnus Rasmussen, Aodhan Quinn, Niall McCabe and Kadeem Dacres all had golden opportunities to take the lead in the match, and unfortunately could not take advantage. All that said, Louisville City fought hard all match and more than held their own against a middling Fire side. While the result was disappointing, that happens sometimes in soccer. I think we can all be pleased and proud of LouC’s performance last night. NOW ON TO CRUSH THE SUGAR FREE RED BULLS.

Notes:

  • Yes, Eric Gehrig was pretty dangerous down Lou City’s left flank all match, but it was fun to watch Enrique Montano piss him off.
  • Hoping Kadeem and Tarek Morad are okay, as both were subbed off with cramps or injuries.
  • The real difference in the match was one team finished on a half chance, and the other team couldn’t finish on several good ones. If City can find a way to convert chances, they’ll score three or four goals per match. Unless the opponent is Rochester, for some reason (/single tear).
  • Statistically, the Fire had 7 more shots than Louisville City, but only two were on target, same as the Royals. I still stand by my statement that City had the better chances to score.

Your tweets: