As I mentioned last week, this was not a pretty game of soccer. In spite of the upgrade in the size and quality of the field, the teams combined to only attempt 704 passes, which isn’t a lot. Louisville City won the possession battle fairly handily, 57.5 – 42.5%, and actually passed the ball quite well, 78% and 68.2% in Phoenix’s half. Not much of City’s possession turned into scoring chances, though. Morados only connected on 11% of their 18 crossing attempts, and only three of their 16 shots were on target. Opta says the team as a whole only created nine scoring chances all match, a thirds of which came from Ilija Ilic.
The scoreboard doesn’t come with pictures, though, and City came out on top of this somewhat disjointed match. Both teams had eight interceptions apiece, which is a fairly high number and indicative of how much both teams wanted to disrupt the other’s midfield. To their credit, Phoenix was pretty happy to force Morados’s wingers out wide to try and cross balls in, only to snuff out two of every three aerials they faced. I’d questioned the Rising back line a few times coming into this match, but their fullbacks and central defenders did some very solid work all night. It also helped that Paolo had to try and outjump Didier Drogba for every goal kick, which is still very, very difficult to do.
The remainder of the counting-stats are relatively even, which isn’t too hard to believe when the only goal scored was a broken play off a set piece. City had 17 touches in Phoenix’s 18 yard box but the touchmap reveals the Rising’s commitment to keeping them out of Zone 14 on top of the D for most of the game. Phoneix only had eleven touches in Ranjitsingh’s area.
Individually, while Brian Ownby played his heart out, he didn’t have much in the way of numbers to show for it. The Virginian took just two shots all game and didn’t create any scoring chances. He did pass the ball pretty efficiently, though, and won nine of sixteen duels, which is pretty impressive given he was going against Solomon Asante and NYCFC loanee Saad Abdul-Salaam most of the night. He also had three successful tackles. Ilija struggled in 1v1s on the night but did manage to create three scoring chances. Cuatro was just steady, if not flashy. He and Smith did a masterful job of eliminating any of Phoenix’s efforts to attack down their left for most of the night.
Paolo and Niall both had great nights. DelPiccolo completed over 80% of his 59 passes and was over 77% in the attacking half. The captain also won twelve of 19 duels, won six fouls, mostly courtesy of Drogba, had three tackles and three interceptions. It was one of his best performances as a six yet. McCabe passed the ball almost as well, while playing higher up the field. He won half his duels and had two interceptions to boot.
Paco and Alexis were rock-solid in defense. Both were 50% on duels, including aerials. Both were efficient with the ball. They had a scoring chance apiece, and Paco had twelve clearances on the night. Oscar and Kyle were equally sterling in defense. Oscar had an off-night with his service and crosses, failing to connect on any of them, but still managed to create a couple scoring chances and was certainly a cause for Phoenix concern on dead balls. Greg was only called upon to make three saves all match, and each one was crucial. I don’t talk much about him in these recaps, but he’s been so reliable that it’s almost never remarkable. City’s been very lucky in the goalkeeper department since its inception, and a whole lot of credit goes to Ranjitsingh for that.
None of the substitutions’ appearances were particularly noteworthy, though Speedy picked up an interception and Totsch had a clearance in his brief cameo.
This was a pretty even match and Louisville City did well to persevere, score, and see out a 1-0 victory. Phoenix was decidedly a dangerous and quality opponent. If Chris Cortez had been in the lineup for the Rising things might have been different. Them’s the breaks, though, and we’re champs again. Let’s enjoy it!
