Louisville City 4-0 Forward Madison

Louisville City got out to a hot start against the visiting Mingos yesterday at Thurman Hutchins Park and saw an early 4-0 lead out to the end of a very encouraging match if you’re a Morados supporter. Cameron Lancaster scored a brace in the opening eleven minutes. Paolo DelPiccolo notched the third just shy of 20′. Abdou Mbacke Thiam continued his white hot preseason form and closed out the scoring about 90 seconds later.

I was once again really impressed with Thiam’s play in this match. He seemed much more composed in possession and caused problems for Madison the entire time he was on the pitch. Part of the reason he had so much success, I think, is the fact that Madison simply HAD to keep someone tied to Lancaster at all times, which opens up a lot of space for Abdou. The other thing that’s helpful to him is how much communication and instruction he gets from Pat McMahon behind him at nearly all times.

Alexis and Totsch had very good days in the back, though there wasn’t a ton for them to do. Madison played a standard 4-4-2 and weren’t all that adventurous except when they tried to spring counters. City did a pretty good job bottling those up with this first group.

In possession, the three central midfielders, Bone, Paolo, and Napo, all seemed to change spots every so often. One would play deeper than the other two, but it was never the same guy for very long. Because Madison was trying to stay so compact, there wasn’t a ton of connectivity in the center of the field.

No space in the middle? City can kill on the wings. Morados didn’t try as much to force the ball down the left side with OJ and Cuatro as they did on the right, maybe by design. One of McMahon’s long dribbles up the right wing resulted in a corner in the 8′. City took it short while Madison struggled just to get themselves ready, and moments later Lancaster fired home the opening goal out of the mixer.

Just moments after the restart, Madison’s keeper stopped Thiam’s shot, but it rebounded right in Cam’ lap and he calmly booted it home for his second.

Less than ten minutes later, City created some danger on the left side of the field but Madison turned Cuatro over. However, the Mingo fullback took a heavy touch and the ball was easily intercepted by Paolo while Madison was trying to get back up field. The Coloradan took two touches toward the 18 yard box and rifled a right footed shot to the back post, past the Mingo keeper.

Thiam finished off the scoring, again after a discombobulated Madison kickoff, finding himself open on the right side of the box. Madison was out of sorts defensively and the keeper was forced to defend out of the goal box. Thiam quickly beat him 1v1 and tucked a shot into the left corner. That keeper was subbed off after that.

Lancaster went out of the game after a collision with a Madison player shortly after the fourth goal. It didn’t appear to be anything serious. However, the Englishman was absolutely dominant while he was in the game. Magnus Rasmussen came on in relief, but played more of a withdrawn forward/false 9 role so Thiam and Davis could operate more in wide areas. City had a few more chances but were mostly content to keep possession for the rest of the half.

The second group didn’t have as much success as the first in keeping a stranglehold on the game, but it certainly made for more entertainment. Lundt was only forced into service once and made an easy save early in the second period. Spencer put in a lot of work up front, but Madison had a couple of center backs that mostly bottled him up.

I liked seeing Elijah Wynder play left back behind Ownby, and Ownby consistently beat his man to the enplane to put in crosses. There were a couple of decent looks at goal, but none went in. Niall McCabe was probably the best player on the field this half, as he would create space with the ball at his feet.

Newcomer Wes Charpie didn’t stay in line in the back 100% of the time but had great recovery speed and made some great tackles. Jimmy Ockford was more or less a mountain and his area of the field on the right was basically a dead zone for Madison.

It was a fun game! Glad I got to tell you about it. The next friendly is on Saturday at 5:00 in Lexington at the Bell Soccer Complex against UK. You should go!

Other bits:

• Single game ticket presale starts today for season ticket members and tomorrow for the general public if there are any left. WATCH THAT INBOX!
• That’s pretty much it for now. Have a great Wednesday!