LOUISVILLE CITY FC 4, OTTAWA FURY FC 0

And we’ve been taking care of business (every day)

Taking care of business (every way)

We’ve been taking care of business (it’s all mine)

Taking care of business and working overtime

As much as the desire ahead of time to see any of Louisville City’s recent outings be realized as “identity defining” examples, circumstances have conspired to nullify each one as such a game.

In a “BTO” (Better Take Ottawa) game, The Purples were entertaining a club committed to (at least) one more year of USL (rather than signing up as a founder member of the new Canadian Premier League) and desperately dwelling on the outer periphery of the playoff race, while simultaneously on the very precipice of missed qualification ignominy.

Arriving in town to face the homecoming, home seed hunting team in question, this evening offered all the promise of a nicely poised encounter with either team having the potential to make this a statement game – at the expense of the other.

Certainly City could claim the outward superiority of sitting 10 points and 6 places in the standings above their north-of-the-border guests. On the other hand, they had simply not been executing at Slugger – 1 single win in 9 games, over a 4 month period – while the Fury, coming off a pair of confidence boosting road victories, undoubtedly needed the result 1,000 % more than than their high-flying hosts.

At Penn FC in midweek, City had prevailed by a slightly deceptive 3-0 scoreline and, aside from Pat McMahon’s red card suspension, John Hackworth’s wholesale starting lineup changes – Pat, Sean, Shaun, Speedy, Ilija, Luke out / Kyle, ASAY, Oscar, José, George lV, Cameron in – might have been down to any or all of several reasons: injury, “regen”, form, chemistry, tactical, or simply the need to dole playing time.

One player pleasingly retaining his place from Wednesday was the oft thrilling Jonathan Lewis. The 21-year-old could easily become a fan favorite, not to mention a possible future acquisition should his game need some burnishing at the USL level on the way to resuming his career in the premier tier. His month long stint on the Louisville left (or indeed right) wing could turn out to be a most memorable cameo for the NYCFC loanee.

The game certainly ended more entertainingly than it began, as over the early stages quality efforts on goal were in short supply.

A well placed cross from Kyle gave Cameron an early chance but his header was mistimed and did not trouble Maxime Crépeau in the Ottawa net.

The first discussion point of the game came after 15 minutes when Greg took a goal kick and went down in pain after apparently straining a muscle in the lower back. After being attended to for a period he resumed duties only to collapse again as he tested himself on the subsequent goal kick.

It was a pity for Greg and of some concern with playoffs just weeks away, however it did afford Hack the opportunity to give a long overdue league introduction to capable and loyal deputy Tim Dobrowolski after he appeared 12 times in 2017.

City then nearly opened when Jonathan played in a judicious early ball to Cameron, again bearing in and finding himself space, who got over the ball to head it downward but the bounce off the turf took his effort up and over the goal.

The first quarter of the game continued without having delivered an attempt on goal, the first arriving when Niall would have been disappointed to see Crépeau creditably react sharply to turn his shot away for a corner from point blank range, the ball over by George lV after a subtle feed through from Kyle.

After struggling for recognition early on Niall has been putting together a veritably solid season under Hack though he may occasionally rue the replay machine.

Next he combined well with Jonathan who was caught offside to end a promising play.

Jonathan himself had been haranguing Fury captain Carl Haworth every time he had seen the ball, but with 10 minutes to go in the half he switched over, taking his talents to the right wing to visit the eponymous Eddie Edward where he continued to threaten but without quite being able to provide the quality final pass.

Quite unexpectedly it was counterpart wing man George lV who would initiate the game changing impact, albeit inadvertently, when his 38th minute foul on Haworth in the Ottawa area brought about an apparent overreaction and a melee resulting in a yellow card for the Louisville vet, but also a bonus red card on key central defender Nana Attakora-Gyan for a retaliatory act of Violent Conduct toward Cameron, with some sundry theatrics thrown in by Mr Carranza for effect.

It was an uncanny shoe-on-the-other-foot (hand-on-the-other-throat..) mirroring of ASAY’s red card in the reverse fixture of July 28th.

Fury after some minutes decided upon a tactical compensation as Haiti international wide man Jimmy-Shammar Sanon was sacrificed for defensive replacement Sergio Manieso.

Before long it was Cuatro showing up again in the Ottawa area this time seeking a penalty. The play was gray enough for the call not to be made by referee Matt Franz, to the disappointment of No.22 and even more so his head coach.

The frustration would not last long however. Just as the clock ticked into stoppage time Niall swept cross field to Kyle on the right and he would chest down and return an equally adept chip over to George lV. His diving power header from 8 yards gave Crépeau absolutely no chance as The Purples took the 1-0 lead.

George had really come to the fore after perhaps looking less likely than Jonathan to provide the scoring breakthrough. After his short but successful term as one prong in the famed “Triumvirate” many have suggested he would make a great addition to Hack’s coaching staff in the near future. Due to his on-field contributions already in 2018 that graduation should not be effected too soon.

In the Wednesday game in Harrisburg, City opened the scoring with dual strikes within 3 minutes and they would emulate this against Ottawa as Jonathan drew a foul by Edward on the right. Oscar, always a danger on a dead ball situation, swung the free kick in wickedly toward the near six yard for Cameron to turn it home and double the Lou City lead.

Composure, patience, as well as rock solid defensive work had paid off with the 2 stoppage time goals, a comfortable halftime lead, and the prospect of a full upcoming 45 with the man advantage.

The 2nd began with City once again assuming the initiative and Fury content to wait their opponent out and looking for that oh-so rare counterattacking opportunity.

Consequently, a revised blueprint became apparent as Jonathan up front moved into a more central stance and Oscar was given reign to play the advanced role up the left.?Paco shifted to cover left defensive duties and PDP dropped deep alongside ASAY into a principal playmaking role.

These were excellent tactical ”Hacks” to match the measures of Fury’s Serbian born coach, Nikola Popović.

It appeared a penalty call might be forthcoming as Cameron was upended on his way through the area to meet a cross but nothing was awarded by Mr Franz.

In the 54th a wonderful chance, like a UPS package, landed on the doorstep of Jonathan Lewis. It was courtesy of fellow home debutant José Carranza in the right channel who receiving a pass from Niall, twisted, beat his man to the byline and clipped over a beauty. As with Cameron’s earlier effort at the other end Jonathan’s header sprung up off the turf, the difference being it rebounded back from the crossbar. To his credit Jonathan followed up his own rebound and seemed set to score but in his haste managed to punch his close range header over and into Scouse’s House.

All in all, he had done well and been perhaps slightly unlucky. That said, manifestly a young man whose talents are on the floor rather than in the air.

It seemed a matter of time before the Purple hammer would drop on the Fury in their own end, and yet in the 58th minute it was to be a red one – a 2nd red card from the man in red, Mr Franz – back in City’s half that would seal the fate of the already besieged northerners.

José, getting through plenty of work at both ends, dropped in to clean up the remnants of a failed Ottawa counter. Cape Verde international Kévin Oliveira, needlessly, though hardly viciously, tripped up the recent addition and No.17 went writhing to the floor. It was eerily akin to the embarrassing simulation of Walter Ramírez’ (on mild contact, at worst) which brought about Pat’s ejection on Wednesday, and in similar fashion Mr Franz went to the back pocket. And just like that the Fury were down to 9 men with 32 minutes left to play.

Ironically, on Noche Latina, <Fury were sitting out Spanish ace midfielder, Cristian Portilla and their leading scorer (6 goals), Panama international Alejandro Antonio “Tony” Taylor. Although the Long Beach, CA born striker eventually replaced the largely ineffectual Steevan Dos Santos, by now the chagrined Canadians had sagged into a 5-3-0 and City were wisely holding onto the ball low down and not forcing the play, as they had been prone to do at times vs Penn.

On another damp night at Slugger, the figurative and literal shadow of the Purple umbrella was closing in all the more on Ottawa.

A further opportunity to extend the lead fell to George lV, again the beneficiary of a neat supply from Kyle. He cut inside, received a fortunate bounce off a defender, and from a handy spot rang it off the underside of Crépeau’s crossbar and out.

Oscar was floating, just waiting for the right ball and space and in the 68th he got both and launched a drive that forced Crépeau to save by his right-hand post for a corner.

Brian Ownby replaced Jonathan in the hope of getting him going scoring-wise and he managed to get off a shot or two, including a screamer from 20 yards that was padded over by Crépeau, but he also got himself caught needlessly offside more than once.

Meanwhile, George sent Cameron through up the right but his bid to the near post was taken care of by Crépeau. The officials appeared to have missed No.9 propelling the ball with his forearm on his way to goal and their grievance in light of their near hopeless situation was made clear.

“¡VAMOS C*R*J*S!” came the terrace chant on theme night, and without a doubt the on-field cultural reps Oscar and José had been worthy of their reinsertion.

The former’s expertise on set-pieces and crosses is at the elite level in the USL and he reiterated this, picking up his 2nd assist of the evening on a 78’ minute corner to Alexis who repeated the headed goal of his last appearance at Pittsburgh for the 3-0 lead for the locals.

The newer of the 2 Lou Latino players, just as Hack had promoted him, has shown himself a tricky customer who works well in tight spaces and throughout the 2nd half he was a menace through the right channel. In the 83rd he got in on the points action, taking a feed from Paolo via George lV and teeing a ball for Cameron which the 2018 Golden Boot champ-in-waiting slammed home at the near post for his 21st and the team’s 4th and final goal of the evening.

Ottawa, in registering 0 shots against either goalkeeper, never stood a chance.

The defensive numbers all favored Fury which was natural due to the overwhelming possession advantage that City had maintained throughout.

This was indicated by the offensive totals being won handily by the home team, including an impressive 25% success rate on 32 crosses, a testament to the fine wing play of Messrs Lewis, Davis lV, Smith

and Jimenez, along with the supplemental work of Messrs Carranza and McCabe.

It has become a pattern of late to thoroughly dismantle these mid to lower table teams. On this night, City had met a peripheral, traveling opponent playing chronically short for most of the match.

That ”identity defining” assignation may have to wait a little longer but the confidence built by this scoreline, and maintaining 2nd in the East, along with a 3 game unbeaten streak ought to keep them in good stead as they approach the playoff season.

Entonces … ¡Vamos C*r*j*s, y Viva Los Morados, y Váyanse a ganar! ¿Como no?

~~~~~ Fun Footnote ~~~~~

* Lou City’s novel ‘Noche Latina’ coincides with the weekend of the ‘Manassas Latino Festival’ in Manassas, Virginia. No word on whether José Carranza was rushed back postgame to his hometown in order to be ‘Guest of Honor’.

* Both events are timed to follow closely the day of Mexican Independence, September 16th

* The year of Mexican Independence was 1810, a total of 208 years ago.

Vs Louisville, Fury recorded a yearlong low in total passes of just one more … 209