By Andrew Bell
Louisville City FC was defeated Saturday night by Miami FC in a 1-0 game marked by LouCity’s inability to pierce Miami’s low block after the Blue and Orange took an early lead at home.
Miami FC striker Kyle Murphy scored the game’s solitary goal in the fourth minute after being slipped in behind and finishing low across LouCity’s goal. Despite their efforts across the following 90 minutes, the boys in purple failed to respond, picking up their first loss since early June.
A loss meant City’s 10-game undefeated run ended with nine games to go before the playoffs. The club still sits first in the USL Championship’s Eastern Conference with 55 points, four clear of second-place Memphis 901 FC. City’s hunt for the regular-season points title continues as Western conference leader San Antonio (57 points) also dropped points Saturday with a defeat at Indy Eleven.
“It was a big missed opportunity,” coach Danny Cruz said of the Miami FC result. “If we got the first goal it would be a completely different game. All in all, it wasn’t good enough. It wasn’t good enough in the back there for the first goal and certainly not good enough in the attack. We need to make sure that we respond in the right way. We’ll learn in the areas that we need to grow in.”
What we learned
LouCity left back Amadou Dia spoke after the match about the importance of beginning the game strong, saying, “We didn’t start off the game well. We talked about it before the game, we have to start off every game really well. But, we got scored on in the first four minutes. We put ourselves in that situation and we didn’t deal with it.”
LouCity have failed to score first in just seven league matches this season, dropping points in four of those games, three of which ended in defeat. A compact Miami unit sat back for the remainder of the game to deny City an equalizer. None of LouCity’s 12 corner kicks, 40 crosses or 82 final third entries saw a finishing touch despite a seemingly dominant performance.
Miami FC was unwilling to allow City to play through the middle of the pitch due to a low block, as is usually the case when an opponent is leading the boys in purple. According to Stats Perform, 77% of LouCity’s possession was held in wide areas while five central shots were blocked by Miami.
When going down a goal, City must be able to use its quick, wide talent to play dangerous balls into opponents’ final third. Chances like Enoch Mushagalusa’s 29th-minute cross and Ownby’s gorgeous header to meet it were far too scarce on the night.
Dia summed up the team’s frustrations after the match.
“[After Miami scored] they sat back the whole time, parked the bus, and we couldn’t find a breakthrough,” he said. “We did that for 90 minutes, and it wasn’t good enough from any of us. With the quality we have on the team, we should never be dropping points.”
Bright spots
En route to a tough loss, 78th-minute City substitute Carlos Moguel Jr. stood out, producing three shots, two crosses and 100% passing accuracy against Miami. The 19-year-old LouCity academy product caught a whiff of goal late in the game when his dipping free kick forced Miami goalkeeper Connor Sparrow to make a save at his near post and concede a corner kick in the 82nd minute.
After battling injury throughout the 2021 and 2022 campaigns, 19-year-old Elijah Wynder logged 30 minutes on the field against Miami FC. He recorded 100% passing accuracy and won three fouls — the most out of both teams Saturday night — around the Blue and Orange box.
Next, LouCity travels to play an Indy Eleven team on Wednesday that’s looking to topple a second conference leader within the week. For City, it’s a quick turnaround but a prompt chance to rebuild momentum.
