After stringing together wins over Indy and Tulsa, it was starting to look like the dominate Louisville City of old was back. With momentum seemingly in the right direction, the boys in purple had a big match against 2nd place Charleston Battery ahead of them. Last meeting in Charleston ended in a draw. Should all three points be secured in this second meeting, Louisville be right back in the mix for top of the East. Could they make it three straight or would the Battery slow their roll?
Lineup
Match Highlights
68' - Lancaster
By The Numbers
It was largely Louisville’s game up until around 75’. A late push by the visitors helped earn them an xG of 1.53 to LouCity’s 1.29. Morados found more shots, but CHS had more on target (one to five). Possession was a more even affair than the previous two matches using the 3-5-2. City did well, but the Battery showed why they are one of the top teams in the East this season.
Full-Time Thoughts
While it was a respectable result against a quality opponent, it does sting a bit to think about how a win could have propelled the team into the upper echelon of the East. LouCity’s new CB, Kyle Adams, felt a tinge of frustration at the missed opportunity, “maybe at the end of the season we’ll look back and see it as a point gained, but tonight we feel it’s probably two points lost.” Coach Cruz took a more optimistic view of the result. “I think tonight we certainly deserved (points) more than when we tied at their place,” he said. “These are two good teams. It was a good match — chances on both sides of the ball. We needed to be better there in the second half, but the first half was excellent.”
I’d be remiss if the final sequence of the match was not brought up. It ended in a bit of controversy when a CHS corner resulted in the ball finding its way into Louisville’s at the near post. A foul was called much to the ire of the Battery and the final whistle signaled the end of the match. It was a soft call and one that even most Louisville fans would state was probably wrong. But given Louisville’s luck with officials calls this season, I think we can all agree we were owed one.
Things got dramatic after the match. In his post match interviews, CHS coach Ben Pirmann childishly insinuated that the call was intentionally made in Louisville’s favor given their record of success and their top stadium.
While Pirmann was within his right to be upset about the call, the following accusation(s) was clearly out of line.
While three points would have been fantastic, a draw was a fair outcome based on both teams’ performances. Louisville’s change in shape has clearly been for the better and the team now seems poised to make up for lost time earlier this season. Every point counts when you are trying to secure as much home field advantage in the playoffs. Let’s hope the teams renewed form continues on for the rest of the season!
Parting Thoughts
Want to do a little more reading on LouCity? I suggest the following:
Be sure to check out the Vamos Morados Podcast featuring me, Benton, and Zach Allen-Kelly. It’s available on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcast, Audible, and Spotify. Everything you need to listen can be found on the Podcast page. Subscribe so you don’t miss an episode!
If you don’t follow the site on Facebook, do yourself the favor and follow there so you don’t miss any of the action! I'm also on Twitter dispensing #LouCity and #RacingLou info and thoughts as well as Instagram!