By Andrew Bell
Louisville City FC was defeated by Birmingham Legion FC, 2-0, on Saturday in an away game where two first half goals from the hosts put City on the ropes early, knocking the boys in purple out of any sort of rhythm and forcing them to play from behind for the remainder of the match.
Birmingham’s fifth-minute opener came after the ball was narrowly kept alive on LouCity’s own end line and crossed into the box, where Legion’s season top-scorer, Enzo Martinez, was unmarked and waiting to fire home.
Birmingham’s second came in the 24th minute after LouCity center back Sean Totsch found himself defending a Legion break away one-on-one with Birmingham midfielder Diba Nwegbo. Nwegbo cut inside, dropped to the floor, and was awarded the penalty kick. Neco Brett punched the penalty in despite City goalkeeper Oliver Semmle getting a hand to it.
“I thought the mentality was really, really poor tonight, and I’m really, really frustrated with that,” coach Danny Cruz said of his team’s performance on Saturday. “I felt really happy with how we had been progressing four games prior. But there were too many guys tonight that didn’t have what I asked them to have, which was that fight, that belief, that mentality. I think it’s clear that when you look at the game over 90 minutes. It was nowhere near good enough.”
The loss ended LouCity’s four-game unbeaten streak and in turn granted Birmingham their first three-point night since defeating the boys in purple in the teams’ initial meeting on July 22. Legion hadn’t won a game in four outings, last tying Sacramento Republic on Aug. 12.
On Saturday, LouCity’s play was marked by a lack of defensive vigor and offensive misfires. Despite maintaining its flexible 3-5-2 formation with minimal changes to the starting 11, Cruz’s team couldn’t crack Birmingham’s stubborn defense or create enough quality chances to even come close.
First half trends
LouCity’s first half performance forced the boys in purple to fight an uphill battle for the rest of the match. Certain metrics highlight clear differences between the home side’s strengths and City’s weaknesses on both sides of the field.
LouCity’s mere 0.08 expected goals in the first 45 minutes, compared to Birmingham’s 1.16, indicates that City’s midfield and attacking department failed to feed each other quality chances. Also putting City on its heels, Birmingham tallied six total first half shots, with four landing on target against City’s three shots with one on target.
“It was not a start to our standard,” midfielder Tyler Gibson said about his team’s performance on the night. “We switched off in a couple of moments and went down two early goals. I just don’t think our mentality was right from the beginning.”
It seemed as though Birmingham was ready for LouCity’s flying wing backs. Against its recent previous opponents, City found success overloading the opposition’s defense with its additional two wide players. However, on Saturday, Birmingham dropped its entire midfield behind the ball so that its outside backs could defend LouCity’s wing backs without leaving a massive gap to the Legion center backs. This prevented LouCity from making quality crosses and, thus, chances.
Another possible factor in LouCity’s inability to find its offensive pulse was the amount of stoppages in the first half. Birmingham’s opening goal came as a shock to the system. Then, 20 minutes later, the penalty call and goal seemed to suck the life out of City. Amadou Dia, one of LouCity’s most consistent performers with 25 appearances this season, went down in the 29th minute with a hamstring injury and was replaced by Manny Perez. Moments later, midfielder Dylan Mares went down but was able to continue playing after receiving medical care.
Having played two consecutive games at Lynn Family Stadium, traveling to play on Protective Stadium’s artificial surface may have affected LouCity players on Saturday.
A bright spot from LouCity’s first half came from Mares’ three created chances, more than any player from either team in the first 45 minutes. Signed from El Paso Locomotive this past offseason, Mares has become a staple and chief creator in the midfield of his team’s new formation with 20 chances created in 18 appearances.
A turning point too late
LouCity came out looking different in the second half against Birmingham. Offensively, City outshot the Legion, 8-2, and defensively, City didn’t allow either of Birmingham’s shots to land on target.
Although LouCity bested Birmingham in most offensive statistics in the second half, including 0.42 xG to Birmingham’s 0.32, the boys in purple struggled to create clear-cut opportunities to score and left too little time on the clock to effectively slash the deficit. LouCity’s first real opportunity came in the 54th minute when Wilson Harris played the ball to Cameron Lancaster at the top of the box. Lancaster’s shot forced a save out of Birmingham’s goalkeeper.
As fouls committed by LouCity mounted and frustrating stoppages continued into the second half, City’s offensive advances seemed more like half-chances as Birmingham’s defense grew more compact and stubborn. Although LouCity managed to put up more impressive offensive numbers, tiring legs in Alabama’s heat failed to land a shot on Birmingham’s goal on more than one occasion.
Defensively, LouCity was much more robust in the second half than in the first. From minutes 60-90, LouCity didn’t allow Birmingham to take a single shot.
What we learned
While LouCity may have just had an off night on Saturday, there are certain trends which appear problematic this season. First, City has failed to score in half (six of 12) away games. If LouCity, currently sitting fifth in the Eastern Conference, doesn’t finish within the top four of their conference, its postseason will start on the road. In this scenario, it is crucial that LouCity’s offensive production improves in its last five regular season away games.
Second, LouCity is not adept at playing from behind. This season, LouCity is 0-4-0 when trailing at halftime. Playing from behind proved crucial in City’s run to the final last season, when the boys in purple overcame a 2-0 deficit against Pittsburgh Riverhounds FC to score two late goals and win on penalties in the first round of the 2022 USL Championship Playoffs.
Despite being granted 13 minutes total of stoppage time against Birmingham on Saturday, City failed to kick up the intensity of play toward the end of each half. If LouCity has hopes of making a deep run in the postseason, it must become comfortable with playing from behind and playing with urgency for the entirety of a match.
In the midst of LouCity’s sub-par performance on the night, Jorge Gonzalez’s return from injury was a silver lining. The Spaniard, playing his first game since early June, put in 20 minutes, posting 5 of 6 duels won, a shot from inside the box, and a foul won.
“He’s done a lot of work to get where he is now,” Cruz said about Gonzalez’s return. “He’s an important attacking piece for us.”
LouCity will return to Lynn Family Stadium next Saturday to take on Oakland Roots SC for the first time. Nine games remain in the regular season for the boys in purple to return to their winning ways.
