A long Memorial Day weekend plus the attendant crush of to-do’s at work upon returning from such weekend mean that the deep dive into stats and other stuff had to be delayed to the afternoon where we get waaaaaaayyyy fewer clicks but such is life. Let’s. Go.

Hot damn that was a fun game for Louisville City fans! I’m one of those, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I especially enjoyed the second goal. I literally laughed and laughed when it went in. Was it a little lucky? No, it was a LOT lucky. Lucky goals count the same as well-executed ones, though, and the well-executed chances weren’t going in for some reason. It was about time that City were rewarded for their slick build-up play.

I didn’t have a good feeling going into this match. Cincinnati were on a tear and had a rested squad that was scoring a lot of goals. Louisville City’s starting eleven wasn’t much different than the one that started against St. Louis on Wednesday, so fatigue was a concern in defense and the midfield. City wasn’t scoring a ton, and were struggling to keep clean sheets in league play. Then they absolutely ruined Cincy’s party.

The game was pretty even from a distribution perspective. Cincy actually had more of the ball, winning the possession battle. The problem for them is the ball almost never left their half. Here’s their heatmap for the full 90:

Lotta deep red in the Cincy half, not so much in the City half. That’s what we want.

Cincy actually attempted and completed more passes than Louisville City did, but the bulk of them were in their own half of the field. Witness their passing charts:

Just one pass completed inside the box all game, and just one pass completed beyond the 18 yard box. Any time you don’t see a lot of green arrows pointing at your goal, it’s good.

A lot of that had to do with City’s midfield putting in their best shift of the season defensively. Look at the interceptions and recoveries just by Paolo and Speedy in the game:

[INSERT GANDALF YOU SHALL NOT PASS MEME HERE]

The full-squad chart is even more full. Pat McMahon absolutely held down the left side of the defense in his first start since Morados’ last trip to Nippert, too.

The most damning stats from this game are the shots, of course. Cincinnati had nine shots, zero on target. Louisville City had 14, seven on target. You might remember the 26 shots against St. Louis that led to just six on target and one goal. I like a 2-1 ratio a lot better than 13-3.

Still, the goals didn’t necessarily come because Cincy’s defense is terrible. Well, they sort of did, but not in the way you might think. Cam Lancaster’s free kick was as much due to FCC’s inability to set up a wall and listen to the ref’s whistle as it was a good take. It was a good take, but had the Blorange had another second to collect themselves, it probably never gets past the wall. Cam’s sneaky like that, and I love it.

Cuatro’s goal was a fluke. He still earned it, given that he’s been pressed into playing winger lately, among other things. Ownby set things up with a good drive with the ball to the box, taking two defenders with him. He passed it to an open Oscar who had made a great cutting run of his own from the wing, while Cuatro patiently waited his turn on the ball at the top of the D. There wasn’t an FCC defender within twelve yards of him, so he took his shot when Oscar sent the ball his way. Yes, it was plenty lucky, as Evan Newton played very well in goal all night, but, again, the man was due. Davis finished the night with two shots on target and a 100% completion rate in Cincy’s half of the field.

Individual thoughts:

• I hope Cam is okay. It’s never good when you come out that early. Plus, he’s on a scoring tear for the Purples.
• Pat McMahon was awesome. He led the defense in passes completed and won eight of his twelve duels. If Cincy thought he was going to be a weak spot in City’s defense, they were very wrong. The back line operates so well when he’s in it. I hope he’s back to 100% or somewhere close to it.
• Paco had six interceptions in the game, which is a lot for a central defender. He also won nine of fifteen duels.
• Oscar should have scored. He and Kyle Smith put in a chance apiece, but were more dedicated to defending in this game than usual. It worked.
• Speedy and Paolo owned the midfield again. They completed about 80 passes between them. Speedy generated two scoring chances himself. Master class.
• MAG RAM probably played his best game but couldn’t get a goal to show for it. He earned the foul that set up Lancaster’s free kick in the first half, completed 80% of his passes in Cincy’s half, and generated two scoring chances. He didn’t do so well in 1v1s, but it was an improvement.
• Ilic didn’t have his best game, but did generate a couple chances himself.

This was obviously a satisfying win. It leaves Louisville City on top of the table again, winners of the third Dirty River Derby with a game to spare, and a nine day rest period before the next match. I can’t wait.