Louisville City made a few tactical changes on Saturday night in the third edition of the 2020 Kings’ Cup series that paid off in a big way. Morados scored twice in the first half and kept a clean sheet to pick up a 3-0 win that put City back in first place in Group E and created some breathing room in the race to make the playoffs in the process.
John Hackworth, with a bit of prodding from technical director Danny Cruz, rolled out a 3-5-2 for the first time in his tenure as manager. Wes Charpie started as the third center back, Napo and Oscar played wing back, and Antoine Hoppenot joined Cameron Lancaster on the forward line. The group didn’t play a completely pure 3-5-2, as Napo would often play a lot further up the field in possession and Charpie would fill in a more traditional fullback spot behind him, but defensively you could definitely see it in place. St. Louis FC didn’t have any answers for it.
City got on the board early after a feeling-out period over the first 25 minutes of the game. Speedy Williams had taken a rip at goal that was blocked from just outside the 18 yard box after a Lundt goal kick, but the rebound from Speedy’s shot landed right back on his foot. Antoine Hoppenot was sitting unmarked off the back shoulder of STL right back Richard Bryan and gladly picked up Speedy’s scoop pass into the space behind, firing a first-touch rocket into the roof of the net past a helpless Kyle Morton for the opener in the 27′.
About 15 minutes later after the hydration break, Hoppenot again made things happen after a true gaffe by St. Louis defensive midfielder Oscar Umar, who mishandled a pass into a big gap between himself and his defensive line. Hoppenot jumped right on it and drove to the left corner of the six-yard box before deftly dropping the ball to the penalty spot where Lancaster was waiting to side-foot a first-time shot into the back of the net and double the City lead going into the halftime break.
The second half was even worse for St. Louis as City absolutely throttled possession and created lots of chances that they almost mercifully didn’t convert. Jason Johnson and Bryan Ownby were the first substitutes off the bench and almost frustratingly didn’t add a third goal until the very end of the match when Ownby went on one of his patented forays down the left with the ball, beat his defender going up the goal line and hit a ball into the path of the streaking Johnson who finally got his first goal of his Louisville City career as the full-time whistle blew.
This was a dominant performance from Louisville City. Ben Lundt was hardly troubled all night. Morados passed literal circles around St. Louis, something I certainly hadn’t expected going into the match after the previous two meetings. Louisville City had 65% possession, completed 88% of their 582 (!!!) passes, took 20 shots with six on target (not all that great), and converted their two “big” chances while creating an absurd 22 of them. All of that possession limited St. Louis to only 316 pass attempts all night, eight shots, two on target, while Kyle Morton had to make three saves.
Antoine Hoppenot got the fans and FotMob’s man of the match, and there’s no question it was deserved. That said, everyone on the pitch put in a very good performance. Speedy was masterful playing the deep-lying midfielder, Sean Totsch handled every ball that came his way, Corben Bone was instrumental in both goals, Lancaster played one of his best games all year, and Napo did Napo things. It really was a complete performance, and City frankly could have scored a lot more.
The win put City back on top of Group E and five points clear of third place in the playoff race. Unfortunately, Morados can’t take much time to bask in their own glory as Indy awaits at Lucas Oil Stadium again on Wednesday. Still, Saturday’s win was a really important one and gives City a tiny bit of room for error over the last four matches, something they haven’t enjoyed all season. Given their recent form, I very much doubt they’ll need it. VAMOS!
