Turns out I got bored and decided to write one of these for a game where the numbers going LouCity’s way are totally obvious. Let’s get those out of the way first right quick:
- City dominated possession 56%-45%
- City was 78% on 574 passes, which I think might be the high water mark for pass attempts this season.
- Pittsburgh connected on zero of their eight cross attempts, which is tough because that’s kind of how they like to score.
- Look at this touch map, and then look at touches in the box (hint: City had 26, PGH had…four).
That’s all you need to know about this game. Very, very good performances all around from our guys. Joker already did his ratings, but I wanted to single a couple guys out for some really sterling play:
Speedy Williams was awesome. The central midfielders in O’Connor’s 3-4-3 aren’t supposed to really create offense, but instead just control the midfield and shuttle the ball out to the wingers. Williams was consistently composed on the ball, completed 85% of his 95 passes, and won all five of his duels. I’d have made him Man of the Match even if he hadn’t scored his goal. Outstanding.
Luke Spencer would have been a very close second. He wreaked havoc on the Hounds’ back line all night. In addition to the goal, he led the team in chances with three. Cuatro Davis and MAK equally had very good nights. Davis was a lot more comfortable playing higher up the field again. For his part, Kaye was extremely active and got into 18 one on ones in the game, winning eight. That’s a lot.
Finally, the back three were rock solid again. Reynolds was a very efficient passer as usual, Sean Totsch did a good job combining with the attack, be it with the central midfield or with Kyle Smith back on the wing. Totsch and Paco Craig both did an excellent job containing runners cutting in with the ball from the outside, too.
Everyone was a lot more comfortable with Oscar and Smith back on the wings, and the team played with a confidence we haven’t seen for a while. Solid, solid performance. Let’s do it again Friday.
