By Andrew Bell
Louisville City FC was defeated by a 5-0 score Saturday night at Sacramento Republic FC in a shocking blowout that indicated a clear need for change within the team. Sacramento started the scoring in the fifth minute and didn’t stop until the 91st when LouCity defender Amadou Dia tripped up Republic midfielder Jack Gurr upon entering the box.
Sacramento’s first three goals all came from right-wing crosses allowed by complacent defending. Republic ran their lead to four in the 71st minute after a mistake by LouCity’s backline gifted Sacramento’s Russell Cicerone a chance to chip it over City goalkeeper Kyle Morton.
“I thought we were really poor on the night,” said head coach Danny Cruz after the game. “It ultimately starts and ends with me. We’ll take a look. I’ll reflect on it and try to see where we can be better. We had a lot of poor individual performances on the night.”
LouCity has now conceded eight straight goals without an answer, as the boys in purple fell 3-0 to an out-of-form El Paso Locomotive team last time out.
What we learned
On the slim positive side of things, Morton made several big saves that prevented the hosts from breaking the game open even wider. The scoreline clearly wasn’t a goalkeeping issue as most of Sacramento’s chances were granted through poor marking and lapses in defensive effort. The 2022 USL Championship Golden Glove winner posted five saves against Republic.
Heading into Saturday’s game, LouCity’s injury report was the shortest it’s been all season. Minutes against Sacramento for Brian Ownby, Wilson Harris, Ray Serrano and Jorge Gonzalez were helpful for working back to full fitness levels after those players missed the prior week’s game. Ownby and Gonzalez also seemed, at moments, to be the rare spark in LouCity’s otherwise meek attack on the night.
Of course, the loss — although embarrassing and deflating — is better now than later. LouCity hasn’t been shy about goals not just to return to the USL Championship Final but also to host it. But there can’t be more results like this if the boys in purple are to achieve such things. Cruz should have full freedom to set or experiment with different personnel, particularly along the back line.
LouCity’s defending went awry Saturday in several key areas. Effort on the wings, as demonstrated by the first few goals by Republic, was lackadaisical at best. And, while Sacramento had quality pieces in the attack, LouCity’s defenders missed multiple opportunities to shut crosses down before they even happened.
“I thought our pressure was not good enough,” Cruz said. “I thought our defending in the box was shocking, and I thought our quality on the ball wasn’t good enough. The last two games have obviously not been the standard for myself or the club or the players. We have to turn it around.”
Dip in defending
Sacramento’s first goal started with a long ball sprayed out to Gurr, who chested it down into his path. Yet, immediate pressure wasn’t applied, even after the forward ended up off balance for a moment from straining to keep the ball in play. Gurr was then allowed to pick his head up and launch the ball toward the goal.
Before Sacramento’s second goal of the night, Cicerone hurdled Josh Wynder’s slide tackle, arrived on the end-line with his back to goal, and took time to pivot and send the ball into the box. Had pressure been applied to Cicerone before he was allowed to turn, a back pass would have likely been forced and a goal prevented.
Similarly, on Republic’s third of the night, the ball was played out to Sacramento forward Keko Gontan, who, despite being angled away from goal, was given the space to turn and release a pinpoint cross to an unmarked near post runner.
Overall, LouCity’s defense often seemed expectant of another purple and white shirt to clean up for missed opportunities and half clearances.
In the attack, LouCity saw little productivity. Despite having 54% possession, City only landed one shot on target out of 11 and created no big chances as the club’s usual offensive weapons appeared null against Sacramento.
LouCity will face a quick turnaround to host USL League One’s Lexington SC on Wednesday in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup. In league play, City gets the chance to rebound — also at Lynn Family Stadium — on Saturday against an out-of-form Detroit City FC.
