Louisville City FC faces FC Cincinnati in the second edition of the 2018 Dirty River Derby series on Saturday night in the Queen City. LouCity’s first trip resulted in a 0-1 win at Nippert Stadium back in April, and this will be the second of three meetings against FCC with the final matchup in September at Louisville Slugger Field.
City is riding the high of a 1-0 win against Saint Louis FC in the Third Round of the 2018 U.S. Open Cup but is aware of the strength of Saturday’s opposition, who also advanced to the next round of the competition after a win against Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC.
When & Where
City makes the trip to Nippert Stadium for a 7:30 p.m. kickoff on Saturday night. The match is City’s last in Cincinnati for the year before the final meeting between the pair in September at Slugger Field.
WBKI carries the match on your screen while 840 WHAS will broadcast the match live over the airwaves. Fans can also follow #CINvLOU on Twitter & Instagram.
TV: WBKI
RADIO: 840 WHAS
STREAM: ESPN+
DOWNLOAD: LouCity app for iOS | LouCity app for Android
Last Time Out
Louisville City FC advanced to the Fourth Round of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup with a controlled, disciplined 1-0 win over fellow USL foe Saint Louis FC on Wednesday night.
A screamer from defender Sean Totsch in the 68th minute separated the two sides as over 2,000 LouCity and STLFC faithful packed Lynn Stadium for midweek cup action. The goal was Totsch’s first of the year in all competitions and helps set a date with MLS club New England Revolution in the Fourth Round.
– U.S. OPEN CUP: LouCity hosts MLS side New England Revolution Fourth Round –
Rewind against FC CINCINNATI
Louisville City FC defeated FC Cincinnati, 0-1, in front of a crowd of over 25,000 during FCC’s home opener at Nippert Stadium on Saturday, April 7.
After a little persistence in the attacking third, the “Boys in Purple” broke the deadlock just 13 minutes in. As FCC failed to clear a loose ball in their penalty area, forward Cameron Lancaster came sweeping in to fire home from close range with his left foot. At the break, LouCity led 0-1.
FCC came out the more aggressive side to start the second half, but the LouCity defense held tight. In the 53rd minute, Emmanuel Ledesma nearly opened the scoring for the hosts, but instead fired over the bar from close range.
In the end, another steadfast performance from LouCity saw them earn all three points in the Dirty River Derby. Behind the 1-0 win, goalkeeper Greg Ranjitsingh earned his third consecutive clean sheet.
KY Lottery Kees to the Game
For the team’s second run to Cincinnati, here are a few Kees to the Game presented by Kentucky Lottery:
1. Let the atmosphere fuel you
2. Trackback in transition
3. Take your space
James O’Connor’s pre-match press conference:
On how to prepare for Cincinnati:
“Rest. I think the lads need to rest as much as possible. I think we really need to get as much recovery as we can into the guys, massive game now against Cincinnati on Saturday, so we need to focus on that.”
On the team’s performance against Saint Louis FC:
“They’re a very good team. You look at Anthony [Pulis], I mean for me he’s someone who’s very organized, very detail-oriented. Defensively they had really good positioning, and they’ve got players who can counter and cause problems. But I think if you look at the couple of chances, [Kyle] Greig’s header, and obviously Corey [Hertzog] had that one as well. So I think, when you look at how he sets them out, we always knew they were going to be very organized and it’s going to be difficult to break them down. For us, it was great that we were able to play on the bigger field at U of L so massive thank you again to everybody at U of L for the hospitality and allowing us to play there because it’s been great.”
On Sean Totsch’s wunderstrike against STLFC:
“Pleased. Very Pleased. I think it was fantastic technique. In training sometimes, a couple of times, I think it was preseason he’s hit one from there. He’s got a very good strike on him. He’s very technical. I thought we’d been unlucky with some of the other chances and some half-chances the ‘keeper made a couple of good saves on. Perhaps we need to make a little bit more of the opportunities. I thought Luke led the line very well as well; I thought his work rate was excellent. He set the tone for the team tonight which was very good, very impressive for us.”
On the focus heading into Cincinnati:
“They’re on a fantastic run themselves. They beat Carolina and then Pittsburgh [in the Open Cup]. They’re in good form, we’re in good form, so it makes for a really exciting game. They are games that both clubs enjoy and both sets of supporters, and it’s one we’re looking forward to.”
On the role the 0-1 win in Cincy in April plays this weekend:
“I think they are playing in a different formation to what they played early on in the season. I think in any type of rivalry game, I don’t know if either they or us take confidence from the run they’re on or we’re on. It’s very much a case of what happens on the day. So, we’ll try to do the things we want to do and get the strong performances that we have had of late. We want to maintain that on Saturday.”
On playing on the road vs. playing at home:
“Our approach is always the same. Our process is always the same whether we’re home or we’re away. Our intentions are always the same.”
Team News
QUESTIONABLE – Richard Ballard (stress fracture)
QUESTIONABLE – Shaun Francis (hamstring)
