Louisville City FC hosts Fury FC for Noche Latina on Saturday night! City is buzzing coming in off a vital 0-3 result against Penn FC while our visiting foes have won their last two matches to put themselves in position for one of the final playoff spots.
With just five games remaining in City’s 2018 regular season, Hackworth & co., aren’t afforded much room to maneuver as they look to lock up the #2 seed in the playoffs and secure what would be home-field advantage up to the Eastern Conference final, should they progress that far.
When & Where
The match is set to take place at Slugger Field with kickoff set for 7:30 p.m. ET.
The match will be aired on WBNA 21 as well as streamed on ESPN+. Fans can listen to the match on 790 WKRD. Fans can also follow #LOUvOTT on Twitter & Instagram.
TV: WBNA 21
RADIO: 790 WKRD
STREAM: ESPN+
DOWNLOAD: LouCity app for iOS | LouCity app for Android
Where They Stand
Louisville City FC:
14-6-9, 51 points – 2nd in EC
Penn FC:
12-13-5, 41 points – 7th in EC
Last Time Out
LouCity defeated Penn FC, 0-3, on Wednesday night for the team’s first win since August 22 in Charlotte.
Like was the case in Pittsburgh, a set-piece was what gave LouCity the lead after 25 minutes. Defender Shaun Francis hung an excellent cross to the back post for captain Paolo DelPiccolo to head on and the captain nestled his effort in the back of the net for his third goal of the season.
A blitz from City saw them score a second goal just three minutes later, this time courtesy of midfielder Niall McCabe. Debutant midfielder Jonathan Lewis, who officially joined on loan from NYCFC, shined in his debut by displaying his pace and agility out wide. Cutting to the byline, Lewis swung in a deep cross that reached the Irishman McCabe, who crushed the ball to the far post and found the side-netting for City’s second.
City continued to knock on the door despite being a man down and patience paid off in the form of a penalty awarded to the visitors in the first minute of stoppage time. After an incredible full 90 minutes, forward Luke Spencer stepped up to take the penalty and buried it into the top left corner for City’s third and final goal of the evening.
Goalkeeper Greg Ranjitsingh kept his 10th clean sheet of the season as midfielders Paolo DelPiccolo and Niall McCabe, as well as forward Luke Spencer, get on the scoresheet to keep LouCity in second place until the weekend.
Rewind against Ottawa Fury FC
Louisville City started the game testing the Fury FC backline but the hosts would refuse to concede. After five minutes of play, Ottawa had the first scoring opportunity but came up empty after the hosts’ free kick was halted by goalkeeper Greg Ranjitsingh. Just eight minutes later, Louisville City’s first set-piece proved useful when Oscar Jimenez’s corner found captain Paolo DelPiccolo in the box to open the match’s scoring.
With the one-nil lead heading into the break, City continued its pressure on the Ottawa defense and found themselves with another chance just two minutes into the half. Again, it was Oscar Jimenez’s set piece in the 47th minute that found defender Paco Craig after a series of deflections, doubling City’s lead.
More efforts from the Ottawa attack came up short-handed with City’s stingy backline unwilling to concede. Just ten minutes following the strike from Craig, it was Devon “Speedy” Williams who closed the scoring sheet for the Boys in Purple after an Ottawa defender’s attempt at a clearance fell at Williams’s feet and eventually found the back of the net.
Coach John Hackworth’s pre-Ottawa assessment
On the team receiving his style since the debut:
“I think both the team and I are still learning a lot about each other. Part of it is me coming into this league and the way that I want our team to play and the way that I asked them to play initially is counterintuitive to how sometimes you have to play in this league. In particular, in certain venues and ours included.”
On how he feels the group is coming together:
“You have to adjust your tactics and expectations sometimes. The players are still trying to adapt to things that they liked initially and that they wanted to continue in training, but it has to translate into games. It’s been a learning curve there as well but I’m happy with the progress we’ve made and I’m looking forward to the future.”
On what he wants to tweak with five games remaining:
“I think we can play out of the back much better than we have been. To be fair, we’re going to continue to do that on a game-by-game basis. For instance, last night and against Pittsburgh, there was no use in playing out of the back. We have to make sure that we recognize the appropriate factors and I think we’ve been doing a better job of that.
“I want us to be a team that can close games with possession and that’s something we have to do better. In our last two games, for sure. But in the previous five, we did an excellent job dictating our rhythm with the ball and we just need to get back to that a little bit.
“I’d also like to see our team collectively defending from start to finish. I’ve seen it in some games, I’ve seen it in long stretches, and yet we still have some moments where we really need to be better.”
KY Lottery Kees to the Game
With City rolling off the back of taking four points from two road matches, here are the KY Lottery Kees to the Game for #LOUvOTT as the boys return to Louisville:
- Defend from start to finish
- Close out the game in possession
- Play out of the back with confidence
Team News
OUT – Magnus Rasmussen (Knee Sprain)
