Louisville City FC saw its momentum halted Saturday in a 2-0 defeat at Birmingham Legion FC that bucked a number of positive recent trends for the boys in purple.
It had been five games — since a July 22 defeat in its first meeting with Birmingham — that LouCity lost. City also didn’t trail during its unbeaten streak, nor did the squad concede a first half goal.
That all went out the window in just the fifth minute at Protective Stadium in Alabama, where Enzo Martinez effectively put LouCity away with an early goal.
“You can’t start the game the way that we did, especially against a team that’s set up the way they are — difficult to break down in their 5-4-1 (formation),” said coach Danny Cruz. “…I thought the mentality was really, really poor tonight. I’m really, really frustrated with that.
“I felt happy with how we had been progressing in the four games prior, but too many guys tonight didn’t have what I asked them to have, which is the fight and belief.”
City (10-8-7, 37 points) remained fifth on the Eastern Conference table with its loss Saturday. Nine games remain in the regular season as USL Championship clubs position themselves for the playoffs, in which top-four finishers host their postseason openers.
Thanks to its win, Birmingham (10-11-3, 33 points) jumped to sixth place. LouCity still maintains a 10-point buffer to ninth place, the first spot outside the playoffs.
“We have to get as many points as we can. That’s what I’m taking away from it,” said midfielder Tyler Gibson. “We’ve just got to perform — change those things, start on the right foot, get the mentality right like we have been.”
This marked LouCity’s first defeat since a late July transfer brought defender Kyle Adams to town, allowing Cruz to shift to a back three. City entered the weekend having allowed just one goal from open play in its new-look formation, but Birmingham didn’t take long to crack the code.
The Legion kept alive a ball that appeared to be heading out of bounds at the City end line, recycling a cross into the box to set up Martinez’s team-leading ninth goal of the year.
“We switched off there on the first goal — just everybody assumes the ball’s out of bounds,” Cruz said. “Too many guys fall asleep and (we) end up going down a goal.”
Neco Brett doubled Birmingham’s lead on a 24th-minute penalty hammered with force enough to go in despite LouCity goalkeeper Oliver Semmle getting a hand to it. Earlier, City center back Sean Totsch tripped up Diba Nwegbo on the counter to set up the try.
LouCity locked down Birmingham in the second half, at one point going more than a half hour without a Legion shot. But Saturday’s visitors couldn’t get a goal back to narrow the gap, coming as close as an Oscar Jimenez shot from distance that had the keeper beat but hit side netting in the 70th minute.
“I don’t think disappointed does how I feel right now justice,” Cruz said. “The week of training was excellent. I thought the preparation was good. I felt the game plan was good. But we didn’t execute.”
The boys in purple added injury to their insult in the 28th minute when starting wing back Amadou Dia — a defensive talisman — was taken off for a hamstring injury. LouCity did, however, return Jorge Gonzalez from an injury of his own, with the midfielder logging minutes off the bench in his first appearance since June 3.
From here, LouCity will prepare for a return home next Saturday against Oakland Roots SC from the league’s Western Conference. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. at Lynn Family Stadium.
“There’s nine games left,” Cruz said. “All we can do is make sure we prepare the group to be better next week. We control what we can control, and that’s making sure that at the bare minimum our mentality’s right.”
Game Summary: Birmingham Legion FC vs. Louisville City FC
Date: Aug. 19, 2023
Venue: Protective Stadium
Kickoff: 5:30 p.m.
Weather: 90 degrees, clear
Scoring
Birmingham Legion FC (2, 0, 2)
Louisville City FC (0, 0, 0)
Goals
Birmingham Legion FC:
5’ Enzo Martinez (Juan Agudelo)
24’ Nico Brett
Lineups
Birmingham Legion FC: 1 — Matt Van Oekel, 33 — Moses Mensah, 3 — Phanuel Kavita, 21 — Alex Crognale, 4 — Collin Smith, 10 — Prosper Kasim (85’ 13 — Jake Rufe), 17 — Mathew Corcoran, 7 — Diba Nwegbo (67’ 5 — Mikey Lopez), 19 — Enzo Martinez, 9 — Juan Agudelo, 11 — Nico Brett (85’ 16 — Gabriel Alves)
Subs not used: 18 — Trevor Spangenberg, 23 — Grayson Dupont, 96 — Tyler Freeman
Head coach: Tom Soehn
Louisville City FC: 28 — Oliver Semmle, 32 — Kyle Adams, 6 — Wes Charpie, 4 — Sean Totsch, 13 — Amadou Dia (29’ 15 — Manny Perez), 19 — Oscar Jimenez, 12 — Tyler Gibson, 5 — Rasmus Thellufsen (69’ 11 — Niall McCabe), 22 — Dylan Mares (46’ 14 — Wilson Harris), 23 — Elijah Wynder (84’ 7 — Ray Serrano), 17 — Cameron Lancaster (69’ 9 — Jorge Gonzalez)
Subs not used: 18 — Danny Faundez, 8 — Carlos Moguel Jr.
Head coach: Danny Cruz
Stats Summary: Birmingham Legion FC / Louisville City FC
Shots: 8 / 11
Shots on Goal: 4 / 2
Possession: 49.7% / 50.3%
Fouls: 11 / 9
Offside: 3 / 3
Corner Kicks: 4 / 4
Discipline Summary
Birmingham Legion FC:
46’ Alex Crognale (yellow)
81’ Moses Mensah (yellow)
Louisville City FC:
45’+ Oscar Jimenez (yellow)
59’ Cameron Lancaster (yellow)
Referee: Matthew Corrigan
