I haven’t done one of these in a while. I’m sure you’ve totally missed them, and based on the number of clicks my statistical analyses get, my confidence is kinda sorta justified (it’s not really justified). But I’m bored and trying to avoid the James Comey hearings in the Senate, so here we go:

WHAT I LIKED:

  • Louisville City dominated possession almost 60-40. That was true before the Fairclough red card, too.
  • City got to the goal line a lot more, and earned nine corners from it. I’m dubious about the actual value of a corner kick, but it does generally mean you’re attacking and putting the defense in situations they don’t like.
  • City took 18 shots, 14 of which were inside the box, and scored a goal.
  • City didn’t give up a goal.
  • The attackers attacked – the front four of Cameron Lancaster, Niall McCabe, Brian Ownby, and Richie Ballard had a total of 37 duels or take-ons in the game.
  • Central midfield created chances – two apiece from DelPiccolo and Williams. That’s good!
  • Speedy is pretty awesome. 90% completion overall, nearly 92% in the opponent’s half. Amazing.
  • The centerbacks and fullbacks did some good defensive work.

WHAT I DID NOT CARE FOR:

  • City took 18 shots, but only four were on target. That’s not great.
  • The attacking four only generated four scoring chances, none coming from Lancaster or McCabe.
  • Yes, the attackers attacked, but they were only moderately successful. As a team, City lost the battle of the duels 47%-53%. This is a little nitpicky, though, because most of those duels took place in Charlotte’s half of the field, eleven of them being in Charlotte’s penalty box. Louisville City was only required to make two tackles in their own penalty area, both by Tarek Morad.
  • Paolo’s passing wasn’t as good, but he was pretty busy with 15 duels. He also had three tackles and two clearances, so I don’t really have many complaints about his performance.
  • This has nothing to do with statistics, but Whiskey Tango Foxtrot was up with all the yellows? Crazytown banana pants.
  • The fullbacks didn’t pass the ball great, though they both generated scoring chances. Neither Oscar nor Kyle Smith did particularly well in 1v1’s either, and I think most of those were late in the game. Granted, they do a lot of running.
  • The ball spent way too much time in City’s defensive third, especially Greg’s own penalty box, in the last ten minutes of the game. There’s no good reason why a 10 man team should out-possess a full squad during that phase of the game. City is a little fortunate that they didn’t concede in that time frame, as Charlotte doubled their scoring chance output in stoppage time.

Overall, I’m happy to take the three points. This was not an efficient game offensively, and they rarely are from City this season. However, the defense again fairly smothered Charlotte until the dying embers of the match. That’s dangerous, but it’s fixable. Let’s get three more on Sunday.