Filed with literally one minute left in Monday morning…
You know, people can bash playoffs in soccer all they want. “It’s not part of the traditional system!” said a person who conveniently forgets that Liga MX holds a playoff twice every year and that the STANDARD BEARER for ALL THAT IS GOOD AND RIGHT WITH THE GAME, the English FA, holds playoffs for promotion spots in every single one of its leagues. No, the winner of the liguilla is not “league champion,” but no one cares because they still get a trophy and a star if they’re still doing that sort of thing, CLUB AMÉRICA. Tell me who’s happier at the end of the English Championship season: the team that comfortably won the league, or the team that got to play in Wembley for that third spot? ANSWER: there’s no difference because they both get to start at zero in the Prem next fall. Well, yes, the Championship Champion gets a trophy, and that is good and important. But the match for the third spot is the one everyone watches, innit?
Anyway, playoff soccer is good and fun and we like it and we shouldn’t apologize for it. Friday night’s Eastern Conference Final match was a great time. Energy and buzz was high. I was nervous as a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs. That feeling did not subside even though City was up 2-0 at halftime. Frankly, I was only sure it was over after Speedy’s second goal, and even then I waited until like the 85′ before I could breathe regularly. What a night! Let’s hope this coming Thursday delivers on the same scale.
To the match itself:
Hackworth’s lineup and initial instructions were unchanged, and Wolyniec’s Red Bulls were unchanged from their previous two playoff matches also. In the end, though, it would be both teams’ substitutions that would make the difference in the match, but we’ll get there later.
City, similar to previous successes against Red Bulls, were content to cede possession to the talented and aggressive Red Bulls for most of the match and be disciplined in defense, while also proving to be absolutely lethal on the counter-attack. It was sort of anti-Louisville soccer in that sense, but when something works, there’s no need to deviate from that. Recall from the first match that Louisville City ever beat Red Bulls 2, a 0-3 dismembering up at Montclair State over a year ago. City sat in a block, let RB2 come at them, and then sent balls over the top or scored on set plays. They didn’t have much of the ball, but were absolutely clinical in finishing their chances.
This game was much like that, though on a much smaller field and for much higher stakes. Niall played quite a bit deeper than he has in the past three weeks or so, helping Paolo out in possession while also looking to play the ball forward. Kyle Smith and Oscar also limited their forays into the offensive third for the most part, though they still did a lot of the ball-carrying in the attack up the wings.
For the game, New York won 57.2% possession, 54.2% of their duels and 67.9% of the aerial balls. Having an absolute unit like Hassan Ndam in the back will do that. However, in spite of all of that possession and ball-winning, Red Bulls only put three of their fifteen shots on frame. They only attempted 378 passes, which is not a lot, though they completed over 70% of those and just under 65% in City’s half. On the purple side of the ball, Morados had 18 shots, seven on frame, five of which were goals. They took twelve shots inside the 18 yard box. More telling, though, was the fact that Louisville City won 80% of their tackles on the night. I don’t recall another game where the team in purple was so successful in that particular metric. While City didn’t exactly shut the Red Bulls out of their penalty area, they’re too good for that, they did manage to match and exceed the Red Bulls’ touches in the opposition box 22-20. Having that much time on the ball in the opposing 18 while only having 40% of the ball means something was going right.
Individually, no one’s passing numbers look good. Paco was 50% on duels, while Alexis won eight of eleven. Kyle Smith was 11-19, which is both a lot and really good given the talent he was facing. Smith made Justin Stroud want to die where he stood on a couple of occasions, with Ownby doing some mop-up duty early and late just to make it worse. Oscar didn’t get many chances on dead balls and was generally quiet in possession, though he did create a couple of scoring chances. Paolo did well defensively on his island, winning seven of twelve duels, with two tackles and a key interception, while winning three fouls and somehow only conceding one. Ilija scored a penalty, and created three more scoring chances. The Serb also had three tackles and one of the more important, if unsung, performances on the evening. Niall was steady, if unspectacular, and created two chances plus an assist to go with three interceptions. Luke Spencer scored but more importantly filled the hold-up role quite well. He didn’t do particularly well in duels (again, Ndam), but had more fouls than anyone else on the team without getting carded. That’s not a bad thing. Ownby, while not winning man of the match, probably should have gotten it as he had a goal, two assists, three scoring chances created, and completed more than 80% of his passes.
The change in the game, though, occurred as soon as Speedy subbed on for Cuatro. Davis IV was again tasked more with helping to contain Allen Yanes and Andrew Tinari than to contribute offensively. With his substitution, Niall moved forward and to the right, and Speedy was able to give Paolo some help in an ever-more pressure packed midfield. His introduction ended the seeming stranglehold New York had in the middle of the park for most of the second half, freed up Niall to create a bit more, and not much later, the Jamaican international was rewarded with two absolute bangers for goals.
That substitution really was the change in the game for me. Up to that point, City was clinging to a 2-1 lead that felt like it could fall at any minute, given how much control the Red Bulls had gained over the midfield. Speedy came on, helped relieve the pressure on Paolo and the centerbacks, started connecting some passes to the three attacking midfielders, and the rest is pretty much history. After his first strike, RB2 predictably pressed even higher, which made it all the easier for City to exploit the space behind and between the suddenly beleaguered Red Bulls centerbacks. It was surely game over when Williams pounded the second ball near post. Ownby’s goal in what was almost garbage time was icing on the cake, if not also very much deserved.
That was fun. Thursday night should be even more interesting, as Morados will face a Phoenix team that is talented and dangerous in attack. We’ll talk more about them in a day or two, but for now, enjoy another Eastern Conference trophy and gear up for Thursday!
