FC Cincinnati attacker Emmanuel Ledesma has this whole chance creation thing down pat.

In 2017, Ledesma produced an insane chances created rate while plying his trade for the NASL’s New York Cosmos. In only 19 appearances (17 starts) and 1,393 minutes, the Argentine generated a league-leading 73 chances. The next-highest total was 56 chances created by now-teammate Nazmi Albadawi, who was then with North Carolina FC. Albadawi played 2,815 minutes, more than double Ledesma.

Ledesma’s ridiculous playmaking ability was further highlighted by some of his more obvious “counting” stats: 10 goals and six assists. The Cosmos were an entirely different animal when he was on the pitch last year. With the car keys in Ledesma’s hands, the club nearly rode his skills to an NASL title, falling just short in the final 2-0 to the now-defunct San Francisco Deltas.

The question coming into the 2018 season, of course, was how his creativity would translate to a new system in Cincinnati?

If FC Cincy’s second match of the year was any indication, the answer appears to be: fairly swimmingly, but still a work in progress.

In Week 1, Ledesma was uncharacteristically held in check by the Charleston Battery. He created zero chances, but did send in four crosses. FC Cincinnati gutted out a 1-0 road win and Ledesma’s nondescript showing kind of got lost in the shuffle.

But against the Indy Eleven in Week 3, the Ledesma of old returned — well, sort of. Indy actually forced the 29-year-old into an inefficient outing. Here’s his distribution map, including set pieces:

That’s a lot of red (unsuccessful passes); it’s also an impressive amount of yellow (key passes and assists).

Ledesma only completed 56 percent of his passes for the game, but offset that with four chances created and an assist to Emery Welshman. On the night, the Eleven did a solid job shutting down passing lanes and being disruptive. But sometimes one chance is all it takes against a footballer of Ledesma’s caliber. FC Cincinnati left Lucas Oil Stadium with a 1-0 win and three points despite getting outplayed by Indy.

Ultimately, what makes the Argentine a special player is that at any given moment he’s capable of producing a quality opportunity for himself or a teammate. And he does so consistently.

FC Cincinnati returns to Nippert Stadium tonight to host defending-champion Louisville City FC at 7 p.m.

Follow Kevin on Twitter: @KJboxing.

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