LOUISVILLE CITY FC 0
PITTSBURGH RIVERHOUNDS SC. 1
4/6/19
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The terminology in Pittsburgh and around the USL is “Lilleyball”, Riverhounds’ head coach Bob Lilley’s patented style of football that thwarts and frustrates opposing teams, and in which the odd goal is supposed to win the game – if there is an odd goal at all.
There may or may not have been some tweaks this season as the boys from Highmark Stadium have thus far shared around a few more goals than in the past. At Slugger Field on Saturday, though, it seemed to be more of the old as the visitors emulated their solid performance of 2018 in walking away with another 1-0 victory. An ailing Lou City was left wondering what will befall them next after first George Davis IV and then Luke Spencer succumbed to hamstring strains in the first half of the game.
Although still a little early to sound the alarm bells, City’s game has certainly not yet gelled. Prior to the match the same could be said for a Riverhounds club that, though very well coached and containing a roster boasting plentiful capable names, had somewhat confounded its supporters with a less than stellar start to the 2019 campaign.
An absorbing fixture on the slate therefore, and in retrospect that is probably the most favorable descriptive summary of this encounter.
The opening quarter of the match was, as expected, a feeling out period and a wrestle for territorial supremacy.
Shocking to those not yet attuned to the bold and proactive tendencies of this coaching regime, celebrated central D-man Paco Craig took the fall for the defensive disorganization that has been all too apparent to this point in the season. Replacing him in the side was Taylor Peay, an accomplished performer in his time out west in the MLS and USL and a superb pickup for the club.
As the game began the preference for the high line contributed to the further condensing of a clogged middle of the park in an already confined Slugger space. A battle to circumvent over and around midfield ensued, the proven capable Championship rivals allowing each other precious few glimpses of goal.
At either end of the park, Taylor and the towering figure of Joe Greenspan at the opposite end dominated in the early stages, indicating that elevation of the ball in order to generate attacking opportunities would be dealt with most, if not all, of the time.
Oscar Jimenez nearly surprised the Hounds’ coincidentally named and physically endowed Ben Lundgaard and himself when in the 12th minute and after a Nico Brett giveaway he overhit a lob for Luke Spencer from 35 yards out, the goalkeeper backpedaling and managing to tip the ball over to safety.
In spite of, or perhaps due to, enjoying the vast amount of possession in the early stages City appeared relaxed, though with the worrisome side effect of becoming casual and blowing passes at times.
Luke almost found a seam through the Hounds’ defense but was bundled down for his trouble. At the other end, nuggety rookie Anthony Velarde beat Shaun Francis to a Ryan James cross but saw his effort go wide.
In the 18th, the impressive Greenspan stepped up to the halfway line to intercept Oscar’s chip and punch his header all the way to former Ottawa Fury and Cape Verde power forward Steevan Dos Santos. Duba’s thrust caught Taylor on the wrong foot as he bore into the area and toward the City goal. Taylor stayed on his tail, however, and with Alexis Souahy responding and checking across in support, both defenders made a play for the ball. Under heavy pressure, Dos Santos went to the floor, Alexis probably making the bulk of the contact and giving the referee a difficult decision as the ball rolled away for a corner. To Dos Santos’ utter consternation and the relief of the majority of the Slugger Field denizens (not to mention the defenders concerned) it fell in favor of the home side as no foul call was forthcoming this time.
Two minutes on and George Davis IV pulled up short on a through pass, the victim of an apparent hamstring pull, and just like that his night was done, Lucky Mkosana coming on in relief.
In minute 24, Luke found Magnus Rasmussen central at the top of the Hounds’ area but, with Lucky in handy space off to the left, the Dane elected to attempt an individual move instead which the defense thwarted and the chance was lost.
City had held nearly 3/4 of the possession over the first quarter of the contest, a figure which gradually dropped as the game progressed as distribution from the back often failed to meet the level of quality required.
At their best, the Riverhounds’ midfield is a most effective unit and Thomas Vancaeyezeele, Ryan James (with the cross), Kenardo Forbes and Mouhamed Dabo combined to set striker Nico Brett to gain a corner on a Taylor block.
Greenspan is always target number one from set pieces and already this season has a headed goal to his credit, but in this match City defended such plays and he never got a clear effort on frame.
Along with Paco, Greenspan is also a standing USL All Star defender, though Magnus, again with help from Luke as well as a Greenspan giveaway, won a foul and a caution at his expense. Oscar’s righty free kick from just outside of the 18 sailed high above the crossbar, however.
In the 32nd and just twelve minutes after George’s departure, a carbon copy situation saw Luke breaking down, likewise the victim of an uncooperative hamstring. All of a sudden the entirety of the famed “Triumvirate” were all on ice and on the sidelines. Sean Totsch stepped on in replacement and took over at holding mid shifting Speedy Williams vertically ahead a little.
Abdou Mbacke Thiam and Magnus combined looking for Lucky in behind but Lundgaard got out quickly to smother at his feet.
For Pittsburgh, Velarde fed overlapping Jordan Dover who fancied Dabo in the City area but under pressure his shot flew well wide.
In the 41st minute, the juiciest scoring opportunity of the match for Los Morados fell to Speedy as Abdou played in to Magnus who shuttled wide for Niall McCabe on the right. His pinpoint early birthday gift dropped ideally for the Jamaican (turning 27 on April 8th) who was racing to the 6 to meet it. But with the goal and Lundgaard at his mercy Speedy failed to collect his cake and somehow nodded a riser high into The Coopers’ section.
Before the halftime whistle went there was time for Pittsburgh to win a couple of free kicks from Taylor and Lucky on the edge of the City area, Velarde, similarly to Oscar, lifting the second of these safely over the bar.
Though tense at times the first 45 minutes had failed to live up to its billing as the two clubs had largely cancelled each other out in the middle of the park.
Five minutes into the 2nd half the yellow and black battering ram that is Steevan Dos Santos looked for a moment as if he might break the deadlock. He drove inside the area clear enough of Shaun to fire across goal from off to the right, but Ben positioned well to compel the wide shot.
Former Nashville wing back James almost gifted City the lead at the other end when his underhit back pass forced Lundgaard to get out of his area in a hurry to edge in ahead of Lucky, the Zimbabwe international getting a toe to the ball as the ‘keeper eventually had to head it clear to avert the danger.
City had forced a string of corners in the opening minutes and from the third of these Greenspan’s header cleared the arc as far as Magnus who improvised with an acrobatic overhead effort that ended up just wide of Lundgaard‘ left upright.
Having shed serious manpower in the goalscoring department over the off-season the club will be looking to Magnus, Niall and company in midfield to supplement the scoring in a meaningful way in 2019.
In the 60th, a precision Dabo pass split Oscar and Taylor and Brett’s shot across Ben from the left came out off the far post. He was adjudged offside on the play but the it was a close call on all counts.
As the match neared the theee quarter mark Dabo and James worked the ball to Brett and his cross was right on the money as the imposing Dos Santos beat Sean and sent a header high to Ben’s left, but the City custodian was well positioned to rise and turn over the Hounds’ best chance to that point in the match for the corner.
The match had been (pock)marked by a boarload of giveaways and poor passes with team chemistry, a hallmark of Louisville City football traditionally, noticeably lacking on occasion though Niall and Oscar were doing their best to overcome the situation, combining well together to gain a corner each. Although the twin towers of Greenspan and Tobi Adewole had enjoyed an ongoing dominance in aerial duels Sean Totsch made a good connection on Niall’s cross from the left following a corner but was unlucky to see his header slide barely wide of the far post.
Now, in the 72nd, city won a free kick high up upfield and sent players forward in search of the all-important go-ahead goal.
The ball arrived on the foot of Alexis well over to the right in the Pittsburgh area and he endeavored to drop it back for Niall to deliver back inside, however his telegraphed pass was intercepted by James and Velarde and the latter slipped by Niall’s desperate lunge and was off to the races.
Three Riverhounds now dashed forward up the left channel and with only Sean and Oscar available to deal with the overload Velarde played it perfectly, freezing the two exposed defenders, and James arced to the right, collected the pass and fired an effort on goal that Ben was able to push away but only as far as Velarde, now just inside the City area. Alexis had managed to recover to within range but as Velarde lined up his shot the French defender lunged ambitiously from behind, contact was made and Velarde went down.
Sometimes, perhaps, two halves make a whole and this time City would not be so fortunate as the referee whistled the foul and pointed directly to the penalty spot.
Alexis and the City defense vociferously contended the call but to no avail and Nico Brett stepped forward and buried his spot kick to Ben’s right, despite the observant ‘keeper guessing correctly.
Events were beginning to look uncannily reminiscent of 2018 when Forbes scored the only goal at a similar time of the match and Brett and his crew celebrated excitedly.
One would always expect The Boys In Purple to respond furiously in such circumstances, yet having generated little to this point, and with The Hounds ever staunch throughout the middle, little was able to be generated subsequently toward gaining an equalizer.
James and Lucky both received yellow cards, and Lucky finally lived up to his name when he fouled again minutes later and the referee substituted a possible second yellow card and a red with a stern warning.
Magnus’ headed attempt from a 77th minute Oscar corner was on net but presented little trouble for Lundgaard, and this would be all that a team long on injuries and short on potency could muster over the final 15 minutes.
Magnus showed up once more late when he collected a caution for a frustration foul, and the only vague bright spot of the closing minutes was the reprising of Paco, on in substitution for Alexis, in a central attacking role. And, just as the week before, he made himself a handful for the opposing defenders, however without managing to effect any kind of breakthrough.
The situation surrounding the game deciding penalty call was difficult to discern – the feeling later in the City locker room being that there was reasonable contact made on the ball by Alexis – and was summarized afterward by Magnus thusly, “It’s just, he gives the referee an opportunity to call it because he’s coming from behind. Maybe he gets the ball, maybe he didn’t. But he gives the referee the choice to give them a penalty, and that’s the way it is.”
Coach Hackworth was less forgiving, focusing on a “questionable decision” he firmly disagreed with as the difference for him between the two teams on the night, stating, “It’s tight and it’s hard for the official, but there’s no way it’s a penalty.”
When questioned how he felt about his team’s chemistry the coach credited the tough nature of playing a team like Pittsburgh and the made note of the unfortunate rash of injuries the team is now dealing with, including two more bodies on the training table subsequent to this game.
“We’ve dealt with so much adversity, so fast”
As ‘The Voice of Lou City’, Lance McGarvey puts it, Bob Lilley’s boys can hit you like an “anaconda” and it will hardly go unnoticed that the game’s only goal was the result of yet another calamitous counterattack not able to be satisfactorily dealt with.
While noting the Speedy chance that went begging in the first half, Hack was inclined on this night to count the blessings.
“Our defense was much improved from what it has been.”
“In terms of performance, I think we win a lot of games in this league if we play that way for 90 plus minutes.”
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LouCityKiwi’s PLAYER RATINGS OUT OF 10:
Shaun Francis: 4 1/2
Offered a great opportunity to prove himself in a starting role but unable to add much substantively and therefore not able to make the most of it. Couldn’t make connections often enough despite an abundance of ball coming through his quadrant.
Alexis: 5 1/2
Adjusted well to a fresh partner, though at fault twice in the play leading to the Pittsburgh PK, including the ultimate risk laden “tackle”. Also rather fortunate not to forfeit another in the first half when Dos Santos tumbled over following his partner’s initial error.
Taylor Peay: 6
Major task replacing an all-star defensive lynchpin. Showed some promise in his first start of the season with only one or two hairy moments. Doubtless will get stronger with further playing time.
Oscar: 5 1/2
Things not clicking for the popular wing back just yet. Always more comfortable going forward than defending while still not getting the service and shooting parts down. Did inadvertently cause one of the too few moments of concern at Hounds’ end when forcing Lundgaard to tip over a delivery actually aimed for Luke.
Speedy: 6 1/2
Appeared happier when Sean Totsch came into the holding role, freeing him up from the dirtier duties. Energetic enough but inconsistent in distribution and squandered City’s phattest chance of the entire evening with his least favored footballing propulsive device, the head.
Niall: 6
Not an especially lustrous night for the Liverpool loving Dubliner. Distribution uneven and unable to interrupt the end-to-end counter leading to Hounds’ winning goal. However, deserved an assist on the glorious ball over which Speedy said no thank you to.
Magnus: 7
Probably the best of the outfield players for Morados but cannot do it all on his own. Caused a momentary stir with a well executed bicycle attempt from distance.
George Davis IV : 6
Unfortunate to be shut down by a hamstring tweak just 20 minutes in and before he could really get going.
Luke: 6 1/2
Just beginning to become a pain around the Pittsburgh area before cruelly suffering an identical fate to that of Cuatro.
Abdou Mbacke Thiam: 6
Not aided by in-game tactical switches forced by team injuries and struggled in 2nd half on his stronger right side after managing reasonably in the 1st on the left.
Lucky: 5 1/2
Once more not able to make much impact coming on as an early replacement. Strove hard including helping out on defense but more pace and sharpness required playing high up the middle. Very fortunate to be shown mercy late on after an indiscreet foul whilst already on a yellow card.
Sean Totsch: 6 1/2
Arrived early in a makeshift role due to injury. Although generally not the nimblest, not altogether out of place either, acquitting himself ably screening in front of the defense.
Paco: 7
A shock exclusion from the starting eleven, and with scant attacking options at hand a late Hail Mary sub to try to bolster an innocuous City offense. Pressed upfield for second game running and again showing presence others already there are struggling for. Defensive backup being available, showed he could be at least a very interesting trial utilization in a more forward role until injured specialists return.
“LOS MORADOS NO. 1 ⭐️ OF THE GAME”
⭐️⭐️⭐️ Ben Lundt ⭐️⭐️⭐️: 9
A victim of zero upfield goal support and could hardly have done more to help the cause – unless he’d saved Brett’s very well taken penalty – bringing customary big stops in big moments. Bothersome that after four generally excellent performances, he doesnt have even more to show for it. Nevertheless, his personal stock is increasing in value with each and every outing.
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Game Highlights:
