Louisville City FC gave up a goal to Saint Louis FC just before the halftime whistle Saturday, but a critical call made not long after it led to a blowout win on the road.
The head official assessed Saint Louis’ Christian Volesky with a red card for a high kick in the 48th minute, and LouCity then rattled off each of its goals in a 4-1 victory at Toyota Stadium in Fenton, Mo.
Coach James O’Connor lauded both his players — and a group of traveling supporters — for their efforts in heat that exceeded 100 degrees at kickoff.
“I don’t think we’ve ever been involved in a game that’s been hot like that,” O’Connor said. “Fantastic mentality from the players. I’m very pleased for them.”
The Kings’ Cup rivalry went to the supporters in purple for a third straight year, as LouCity and Saint Louis played to a scoreless draw in their only other meeting this season. A major effort from defender Oscar Jimenez jumpstarted the comeback.
Working on the right side, Jimenez gained possession, nutmegged a defender and fired a left-footed equalizer in the 52nd minute. Five minutes later, his cross found Paco Craig in the box for a tap-in goal that ended up the game-winner.
“I think the action picked up, and we played more relaxed in the second half,” said forward Ilija Ilic. “We all worked together. We played much better. I’d like to say the players coming off the bench did well. We want all the players to be ready and when they come on give maximum effort.”
Substitutes Luke Spencer (82nd minute) and Richard Ballard (86th minute) delivered goals in the rout, providing LouCity some redemption after a rivalry loss last week to FC Cincinnati. With the win, the boys in purple vaulted back to second place in the USL Eastern Conference standings, now just three points behind the No. 1 Charleston Battery.
LouCity fired 10 shots in the first half, but just two landed on frame, and Saint Louis FC out-possessed the club, uncharacteristic of O’Connor-coached teams. The second half told a different story. LouCity put 11 of 16 shots on target, including the four goals.
Most all of Saint Louis’ attempts to counter were stifled, though Tim Dobrowolski, in his first start since May 20, made a key save in the 87th minute, his side then ahead two goals. Seconds later, Lancaster delivered the final blow against a shorthanded host side.
“I thought we responded very well,” O’Connor said. “The play, at times, was very good. When you look at the finishing, there were some excellent finishes.”
It was LouCity, not Saint Louis, that entered missing personnel, as both defender Kyle Smith and midfielder Paolo DelPiccolo were forced to sit for accumulating five yellow cards on the season. Ilic wore the captain’s armband for the first time, leading the line to a solid start — at least until Daniel Jackson slid behind the defense in first half stoppage time for a goal.
“There were moments in the first half when I think we did show our quality — brief moments — and should have encouraged us to be like, ‘OK, we’ve got this. Let’s go,’” Craig said. “But then we went one down, which was a bit of a kick in the gut. You can tell it didn’t have a big effect in how we played afterward.”
Off the win, LouCity returns home to host the defending USL champion New York Red Bulls II at 7:30 p.m. July 29. Tickets to the game at Slugger Field are available by calling (502) 384-8799.
Game Summary
Match: Saint Louis FC vs. Louisville City FC
Date: July 22, 2017
Venue: Toyota Stadium (Fenton, Mo.)
Kickoff: 8:35 p.m. ET
Weather: 100 degrees, partly cloudy
Man of the Match: Oscar Jimenez
Attendance: 4,310
Scoring
Saint Louis FC (1, 0, 1)
Louisville City FC (0, 4, 4)
Goals
Saint Louis FC
45+3’ – Daniel Jackson (assist to Octavio Guzman)
Louisville City FC
53’ – Oscar Jimenez (assist to Ilija Ilic)
57’ – Paco Craig (assist to Oscar Jimenez)
82’ – Luke Spencer (assist to Richard Ballard)
87’ – Cameron Lancaster (assist to Richard Ballard)
Lineups
Saint Louis FC: 99- Adam Grinwis, 13- Matthew Sheldon, 5- Konrad Plewa, 33- Patrick Doody, 4- A.J. Cochran, 12- Tyler David (67’ 2- Seth Rudolph), 18- Ivan Mirkovic (41’ 11- Mats Bjurman), 24- Tony Walls, 27- Daniel Jackson (58’ 25- Milan Petosevic), 17- Octavio Guzman, 9- Christian Volesky
Subs not used: 1- Devala Gorrick, 23- Ryan Howe, 21- Max Alvarez, 7- Sebastian Dalgaard
Head Coach: Pedrag Radosavljevic
Louisville City FC: 28- Tim Dobrowolski, 18- Paco Craig, 15- Sean Reynolds, 19- Oscar Jimenez, 6- Tarek Morad, 8- Guy Abend, 80- Devon “Speedy” Williams, 10- Brian Ownby (67’ 9- Cameron Lancaster), 11- Niall McCabe, 7- Mark-Anthony Kaye (73’ 23- Richard Ballard), 14- Ilija Ilic (81’ 12- Luke Spencer)
Subs not used: 4- Sean Totsch, 1- Greg Ranjitsingh, 13- Micah Bledsoe
Head coach: James O’Connor
Discipline
Saint Louis FC:
42’ – Mats Bjurman – yellow card
48’ – Christian Volesky – red card
54’ – Tyler David – yellow card
59’ – Milan Petosevic – yellow card
Louisville City FC:
29’ – Mark-Anthony Kaye – yellow card
37’ – Oscar Jimenez – yellow card
Officials
Referee: Henrik Karlsson
Assistant Referee 1: Ryan Cook
Assistant Referee 2: Brian Bauer
4th Official: Ricardo Gutierrez
