By Andrew Bell
Louisville City FC drew to Rio Grande Valley FC, 2-2, Saturday night in a fiery clash that saw LouCity take the lead twice only for RGV to hit back on both occasions.
LouCity struck first in the 42nd minute when wingback Manny Perez made a driving run into the final third and deftly split two defenders with a through ball to Dylan Mares. With his first touch, Mares’ shot curled perfectly between the back post and goalkeeper. Rio Grande Valley FC leveled the game in the 50th minute when a corner kick met the towering header of Toros midfielder Juan Cabezas.
Twenty-two minutes later, City made it 2-1 after Carlos Moguel’s long-range effort landed to Amadou Dia, who was waiting on the six-yard box. Dia’s attempt ricocheted off the back post and popped out to forward Elijah Wynder, who rocketed the ball into the roof of the net.
RGV equalized again in the 80th minute after LouCity failed to clear its lines on another set piece. This time, the visitors’ corner kick was headed toward goal and stabbed in at point-blank range.
The two teams then proceeded to exchange counter attacks throughout the remaining 10 minutes of regular time and into the nine minutes of stoppage. An altercation on the touchline saw RGV’s Wahab Ackwei receive a straight red card in the 97th minute, but it left LouCity little time to exploit its new advantage.
“I’m really frustrated to get that result here at home,” head coach Danny Cruz said. “When you look at the box defending on set pieces, too many guys didn’t do their job. This is the time when we have to step up and set pieces can be the difference, like you see tonight. There’s no excuse — it’s a beautiful field, the crowd is incredible. I just think that some of the performances have not been at the standard that we expect.”
LouCity now sits fifth in the USL Championship’s Eastern Conference, having picked up 37 points through 24 games. With 10 games left of the regular season, the boys in purple still have time to make up ground on the conference-leading Pittsburgh Riverhounds, who boast 47 points in 25 games.
LouCity is now undefeated through four matches, even amid schedule congestion that saw the team play its last three games within eight days. In City’s most recent span of games, Cruz’s lineup has remained relatively unchanged. However, on the night, Cruz was forced to make several changes due to midweek injury concerns for regular starters Brian Ownby and Amadou Dia. This meant Mares slid into the front three and Perez started at wingback.
Wynding up
Recently, Wynder has established himself as a regular up front in City’s newfound 3-4-3 formation. In his last four games, the 20-year-old has netted twice and assisted once. Wynder, voted last season’s league Comeback Player of the Year, has been getting himself into excellent positions going forward. Right before his 72nd minute finish, Wynder pounced first on the loose ball, despite being surrounded by RGV defenders, and smashed the ball past any efforts to thwart his attempt.
His positioning in the final third wasn’t all that Wynder excelled at on the night. In the first half, working in tandem with Mares, Wynder would drop deep to receive the ball from LouCity’s buildup play. Wynder often turned to play forward, but if a turn wasn’t on, he succeeded at drawing defenders toward him before finding another outlet.
“Comfortability is a big part of it — I am very comfortable playing this [formation],” Wynder said about his new role. “But also, this formation gives you a lot of freedom. I love this formation.”
“I thought he put in a shift tonight,” Cruz added on Wynder’s performance. “For me, his mentality was right. He [did] a great job to put himself in a good position on the goal. [He was] definitely a bright spot for me.”
On the defensive side of things, Wynder and Mares dropped behind the ball and pinched the midfield from both sides. This forced RGV midfielders to either keep playing through a congested midfield or pass the ball out wide where City’s wingbacks were waiting.
As LouCity’s formation shifts to a 5-4-1 on defense, City’s back line is physically wider on the field, leaving opposition wingers little time or space, if any, to receive the ball. Starting wingbacks Oscar Jimenez and Perez capitalized on this against RGV. The pair had a combined six tackles, two interceptions, and won possession eight times on the night.
What we learned
For Mares, it seems that his appetite for scoring has only increased as he’s gotten older. Before transferring to LouCity, the 31-year-old netted a career-high 10 goals for El Paso Locomotive last season.
This campaign, Mares has recorded four goals for LouCity, tied for second on the team with Sean Totsch. Against RGV Toros, Mares’ finish was a spectacular, one-time, finessed effort from the flank of the box. However, Mares is no stranger to scoring in fantastic fashion, as his long-range goal against Birmingham Legion in late July was struck beautifully toward the back post. With forwards Cameron Lancaster and Wilson Harris battling injury at certain times this season, Mares has filled in the gaps.
On the night, set pieces gave LouCity problems against RGV Toros. With the opposition scoring from two corner kicks, it’s clear that LouCity failed to track their marks effectively. Whether it was a lack of communication, or an overall absence of determination to be first to the ball, City’s inability to defend corner kicks on the night cost the team valuable points and undermined their overall performance on the pitch.
Cruz diagnosed the issue by saying, “Too many guys [were] walking around late. Too many guys [were] not switched on. I didn’t think the mentality was anywhere near where it needed to be.”
LouCity’s last loss in the league came against Birmingham Legion in similar fashion last month when two in-swinging corner kicks found the back of the net after LouCity failed to clear its lines.
On Saturday, it seemed that many LouCity players found themselves in awkward positions, or failed to be goal-side of their mark when defending set pieces.
Throughout the first and much of the second half, LouCity created good chances. In the last 10 minutes, however, RGV appeared to catch wind in their sails, putting LouCity on its heels and making for some nervy final moments. Unfortunately, finishing out matches has been a struggle for City this season, having lost 14 points from winning positions.
The boys in purple have a week to recover before traveling to take on Birmingham Legion on Saturday. Against the Legion, LouCity has a chance to avenge its loss in the teams’ previous clash and demonstrate more resilient set-piece defending.
