Photo Credit: Jeremy Miller
Slugger Field — Louisville, Ky. — Attendance : 10,009
Result: FC Cincinnati: 1 – Louisville City FC: 0
The final Dirty River Derby continued Tuesday in the 38th minute after the match was postponed on Saturday because of inclement weather. The barrage of rain made for a slippery pitch and undesirable playing conditions during the weekend. Despite the conditions, Corben Bone scored in the 23rd minute, putting FC Cincinnati ahead of Louisville City FC for the first time all season.
Louisville made it apparent at the restart that it was not going to go down without a fight. Its pace set the tone for the match — quick and fighting for a possession. Louisville was awarded a free kick in the 40th minute when FCC defender Paddy Barrett was fouled outside the box. Cameron Lancaster stepped up and sent the ball just wide in what would become Louisville’s theme for the evening.
With the match resuming so close to the half, it was difficult for FCC to find its momentum. FC Cincinnati was awarded a corner kick in the 42nd minute by Emmanuel Ledesma, but it came up short. Louisville had FCC on its heels before the halftime whistle blew, dominating conditions and playing with an urgency that FC Cincinnati did not replicate.
Louisville came out on the attack with the start of the second half, but it was no match for the FCC defense. Even though Louisville ran the ball down the pitch and had plenty of shots on goal, it couldn’t capitalize. Defenders Forrest Lasso and Barrett became the wall between the ball and the net.
The midfield was the proving ground for the majority of the match. Both clubs suffered from what felt like an unusually high amount of turnovers, which could be attributed to the quality of the pitch after a weekend of rain. In the 68th minute Lancaster nearly got one in the goal but keeper Spencer Richey deflected, one of his many saves from the match.
Louisville led with shots on goal but couldn’t equalize, and none of its shots were able to hold up against the combination of Richey and the back line. Louisville had a corner kick in second-half stoppage time that could’ve changed the fate of the match, but it was too high. The final whistle blew, and FCC held onto the lead from Bone’s goal in the Saturday portion of the match.
FC Cincinnati extended its unbeaten streak to 17 matches and is now up 14 points on second-place Pittsburgh. The Orange and Blue prepare to face Toronto FC II on Sunday and potentially increase their unbeaten streak.
2 Thoughts
Pitch Imperfect – After a weekend of residual Hurricane Gordon rain that resulted in a match postponement, there’s no denying the pitch at Slugger was awful. It was even more awful than it usually is – which is saying a lot. The Saturday match was difficult because of puddles of water on the pitch. The match on Tuesday was marginally better, but the poor quality of the pitch still made for messy combinations and loss of possession. But FC Cincinnati was able to keep its defense up even in less than ideal conditions.
All About Spencer – There is no denying that Spencer Richey deserved to win Man of the Match. While the center backs had a lot of great blocks during the match, Richey held his own in the net. There was absolutely nothing getting past him. Every shot was blocked, and it was spectacular.
Box Score
Scoring:
Corben Bone – 23’
FC Cincinnati Starting XI: Spencer Richey (GK), Justin Hoyte, Forrest Lasso, Paddy Barrett, Blake Smith, Kenney Walker, Corben Bone, Nazmi Albadawi, Emmanuel Ledesma, Fatai Alashe, Emery Welshman
Subs: Evan Newton, Fanendo Adi (74’), Russell Cicerone, Tyler Gibson (68’), Dekel Keinan, Danni König, Jimmy McLaughlin (83’)
Louisville City FC Starting XI: Greg Ranjitsingh (GK), Paolo Delpiccolo, Alexis Souahy, Paco Craig, Cameron Lancaster, Niall McCabe, Ilija Ilic, Oscar Jimenez, George Davis IV, Kyle Smith, Devon Williams
Subs: Chris Hubbard, Tim Dobrolowski, PatMcMahon, Sean Totsch, Shaun Francis (63’), Richard Ballard (82’), Luke Spencer (70’)
Next Up:
FC Cincinnati vs. Toronto FC II – Sunday, September 16 – 4:30 PM (EDT) – Nippert Stadium
@trishapocalypse for @CincySoccerTalk
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