By Andrew Bell
Louisville City FC defeated regional rival Indy Eleven 1-0 on the road Saturday night in a LouCity performance all too similar to its showing against FC Tulsa last Wednesday, when the boys in purple seemed to let the opponent back into the game after a strong first half.
LouCity’s winning goal came in the 20th minute as Ray Serrano’s corner curled over Indy’s rising center backs and landed at the feet of Wilson Harris, who deftly guided the ball under Eleven’s goalkeeper.
LouCity continued to hunt for another goal for the rest of the first half. The level of City’s play then appeared to drop off from the start of the second half. The boys in purple absorbed number of Indy attacks but, unlike against FC Tulsa, which punched City for it, the Eleven failed to put away any late chances.
The win kept City third in the USL Championship’s Eastern Conference on 20 points. LouCity also has a game in hand on Eastern division leaders Tampa Bay Rowdies (20 points) and Charleston Battery (24 points).
The shutout also brought LouCity’s clean sheet tally to five, behind only Western Conference leader Sacramento Republic’s six in the category.
Urgent pressure, patient attack
Throughout the first half and at times in the second, when out of possession LouCity succeeded in making the field feel tiny for Eleven through relentless and strategic pressure, which either forced a long ball and turnover or pushed the ball to the flank where City wingers and outside backs could converge.
If Indy worked the ball wide, wingers Brian Ownby and Ray Serrano coordinated with their respective outside back, Manny Perez or Amadou Dia, to pinch the player in possession. As a result, Ownby and Perez combined to win possession back 11 times while Serrano and Dia together tallied seven occasions of winning possession.
LouCity’s deliberate pressure prevented Indy from firing more than a single shot in the first half.
Once in possession, City was comfortable knocking the ball around until a promising channel of attack opened. For example, in the 40th minute, LouCity’s backline passed the ball around until a lane through the middle opened up. Center back Sean Totsch played a line-breaking pass to Harris, who turned and threaded the ball through to Jorge Gonzalez.
While the play didn’t result in a goal, it reset Indy’s pressure on City’s back line and gave City more ground in the opponent’s side of the pitch. LouCity’s patience when attacking consistently kept Indy on its heels in the first 45 minutes.
Safety in Semmle
In addition to making four big saves to ensure his team took home three points, shot-stopper Oliver Semmle was a key part of LouCity’s buildup play. The German native made 42 passes on Saturday and demonstrated that he’s more than comfortable with the ball at his feet.
Semmle, who signed his first professional contract when joining LouCity this season, provided a passing outlet to his defense and midfield when a move forward wasn’t on. Unless absolutely necessary, he refused to send the ball out of bounds when under pressure. Rather, he calmly recycled possession and switched the point of attack. When Semmle did opt to play a long ball, it was often a pinpoint drive out to an open winger.
Semmle’s confidence on the ball tended to draw more Indy forwards toward him, which opened up space for his teammates elsewhere.
Strike first, strike fast
Last season Harris was the center of LouCity’s attack, scoring 15 goals and assisting three others. This campaign, he looks to be doing it again. After coming back from injury, Harris has already claimed three goals. And, while the California-born striker isn’t the silkiest or even the fastest on the pitch, he gets into the right spots at the right times and makes the most of his chances. Each of Harris’s three goals this season have been the first of the game, giving his team confidence and momentum to hunt for a second.
“I think, again, he was dangerous tonight,” coach Danny Cruz said about Harris’s performance against Indy. “His work rate is relentless, and he got himself a goal off a good delivery. He’s doing an excellent job and the goals are going to continue to come from him. I firmly believe that.”
Additionally, after scoring first, LouCity has won five times and lost only once this season — that lone exception being the midweek FC Tulsa defeat.
Harris’s offensive prowess has only risen in danger this season. The 23-year-old’s improved holdup play has clearly added another dimension to his game this campaign. Against Indy Eleven, Harris could be found checking in to receive passes from deep-lying players such as Sean Totsch and Wes Charpie. Harris’s unmatched off-the-ball movement worked to pull opposing center-backs out of position and protected the ball until proper purple support could get up the pitch and join the attack.
Shifting momentum
After trailing by a goal heading into the second half, Indy Eleven came out swinging on Saturday. As a result, it would be expected that the winning team would instinctively divert its focus to defending its narrow lead, which City did. While this seems intuitive, it gifted Indy a multitude of chances to get back into the game.
LouCity’s first half pressure blitz and the subsequent turnovers from Indy led to less possession for the home team and more for LouCity. However, in the second half, City’s share of possession dropped six percentage points, and between minutes 60-75, Indy boasted 70% possession. With it, Eleven’s shots rose to nine in the second half.
“Halftime came, and you could tell the guys were fatigued,” Cruz said about his team’s very different second-half showing. “We spoke about needing to suffer to get to where we want to go, and we were under it for sure. I thought we needed to be better with the ball in transition — I thought that hurt us quite a bit. We had good movement off the ball and we didn’t reward it.
“We’re in a good spot, and — I’ve been saying it — we’ll continue to get better as the season progresses and we’re happy ultimately with the three points in a difficult place.”
LouCity will catch a week’s rest after two games in four days and will then travel to face Hartford Athletic on Saturday. Against Hartford, which sits last in the East, LouCity will hope to pick up another three points and clean sheet on the road.