Saturday night’s 4-1 win against playoff-contenders Charleston Battery was satisfying, and yet also not. It was refreshing in the sense that Morados thoroughly dominated the game, scored a bunch of goals, and got three points against an above-the-line team in what is turning into a race for second at the moment in the Championship. Tampa Bay hasn’t lost in the league yet, and it’s making me uncomfortable.
The win was pyrrhic, however, in the sense that two Louisville City players, both starters and veterans, were sent off and will miss the next league match against Loudoun on Saturday. There are worse games to be four men down (Shaun Francis and Speedy Williams are off for Jamaica’s Gold Cup camp for at least a couple of weeks), but still. Just when it seems like John Hackworth’s purple machine is set to start humming, a new wrench flies in to gum things up.
Paco Craig, given some of the tackles and challenges he’s been making lately, probably could have seen a suspension coming. Craig had been sitting on four yellow cards going into Saturday’s match, and picking up his fifth in the 67′ ensured he’d miss the Loudon game either way. Whether it will be more than one game remains to be seen until the USL Discipline Report comes out on Wednesday. I’m not optimistic, but the good news is City actually have some depth at centerback so his absence will be blunted a bit.
Brian Ownby’s red was more disappointing in that it was unnecessary as The Virginian won the foul on the play that got him sent off and the elbow to Vincenzo Candela’s face was the definition of violent conduct, even if the contact probably wasn’t nearly as bad as what Vinny C was selling. He could have also used more match minutes against a bad Loudon team to regain fitness as he works his way back into shape following his long absence due to injury.
All of that aside, though, City put three in the net (officially, anyway) and picked up a fourth thanks to an own goal to comfortably handle a Charleston team that appeared out of its depth. That’s good.
For once, the scoreline reflects the statistics. Louisville City had 70% of the possession in the game, to be expected when the Battery went down to 10 men just 20 minutes into the game. The Battery only attempted 250 passes the entire game, while City had that many in just the first half. Louisville City completed 87.4% of their pass attempts all game, and completed 78.7% in Charleston’s half.
Morados did reasonably well in duels, though aerials weren’t as successful due in large part to Charleston’s always tall back line and the fact that Lucky Mkosana was playing centrally in attack. Lucky’s height disadvantage didn’t work against City too badly, however, as they got 20 shots off, 8 on target. The Battery took 10 shots and put four on target, with one score off a corner kick. Charleston only had seven touches in City’s 18 yard box all game. Part of that can be down to the Battery’s defensive playing style, and part can be attributed to being down a man, but credit should also go to the City defense for a near shut-out from the box.
In spite of being a man down, Charleston still conceded 16 fouls in the match to Louisville City’s 9, and yet it was City that had two men sent off to the Battery’s one.
Paco’s impetuosity aside, he otherwise played a pretty good game. He and Alexis both completed more than 90% of their passes, and both did reasonably well in duels, Alexis a little less so. To Craig’s credit, he won as many fouls as he conceded, but his recklessness of late certainly caught up to him.
Oscar and Franno both played quite well. Oscar had lots more room to operate once Kierron Mason was sent off, and he had one of the best passing nights of his career in purple, going for 90% and 80% in Charleston’s half. The two outside backs created a scoring chance apiece. Francis played a slightly more defensive role in the match to accommodate Oscar’s forays upfield, and won four fouls for his efforts.
Paolo put in a fabulous performance in central midfield. I can’t overstate how important he is to Louisville City’s success in the past and going forward. His command of the game when he’s on is unmatched in my view, and he put that on full display in this game as the team’s leading passer with 84 attempts, of which he missed just six. He also managed to create two scoring chances from a deep spot on the field. Speedy wasn’t quite as proficient but he was playing in a more aggressive role and his circulation and distribution, while still good, weren’t as needed against a Charleston team missing a midfielder for most of the match.
Niall McCabe had one of his classic games where he was both industrious and efficient. He passed the ball quite well and led the team in chances created with three, to say nothing of one of the better free kick goals you’ll ever see at Slugger Field. Cuatro and Maggi both had two apiece, and were also dangerous in the attack. Lucky didn’t have manny passing chances but did have 30 touches in the game, 10 in the box, and won the penalty that put City up 2-0. His far post run in the third minute of the match opened up space for Cuatro to score the opener, too.
Spencer and Ownby both did well in their substitute appearances, though Brian’s was obviously marred by the red card. That was too bad, because he’d created two scoring chances in his fifteen-ish minutes on the field.
All in all, again, a good performance and a good result. It’s nice when those two things match up. City also get a full week’s break between matches to prepare for what should a complete dismemberment of Loudoun United. I’m looking forward to it.
