By Andrew Bell
Louisville City FC defeated Oakland Roots SC by a 2-1 score Saturday night at Lynn Family Stadium in a fiery matchup full of chances, controversy and a game-winning stunner of a goal.
After knocking on the door throughout the first 45 minutes, LouCity seemed to find their breakthrough goal two minutes into stoppage time. After a Wilson Harris back pass from Oakland’s end line, City outside back Oscar Jimenez found himself at the edge of the box. Jimenez proceeded to play a looping ball into the box, where Ray Serrano and Elijah Wynder jumped with Oakland’s goalkeeper for it.
The Roots keeper handled the ball back into his own net and the center referee awarded LouCity the goal. In a bizarre sequence of events, the referee came over to check on Oakland’s goalkeeper, who had gone down after the play, and changed his decision on the goal, ruling it a foul on LouCity.
Against the run of play, Oakland scored the opening goal four minutes later when Roots winger Memo Diaz crossed the ball to wide-open forward Johnny Rodriguez, who headed it past Oliver Semmle.
LouCity found its equalizer in the 71st minute when Harris chased down a wayward Roots back pass and played an inch-perfect ball to Brian Ownby, who popped the ball up and dove to head it home. It was Ownby’s first appearance since early August and his first goal since May due to a string of muscular issues that kept the veteran in and out of the mix.
As things continued to heat up, LouCity’s Kyle Adams and Carlos Moguel Jr. were forced to make superb tackles in the 76th and 80th minutes, respectively, to deny two big goal scoring opportunities for the visitors.
City continued to pile on the pressure with a Jimenez set piece to Maarten Pouwels, whose header hit the post in the 92nd minute. Oakland looked to have found a go-ahead goal in forward Anuar Pelaez, who hit a stunning shot from outside LouCity’s box. As the ball looked to be curling inside the top corner, Semmle leaped and stretched to make a save-of-the-season contender to tip the attempt over the bar.
LouCity found its winner late. After his 98th-minute corner kick popped out to Tyler Gibson at the top of the box, Jimenez made his way to the flank of the six-yard box, where he called for the ball and Gibson floated a pass. Jimenez let the ball travel across to his left foot and drove it out of the air first-time low into the side netting, sending the home crowd into limbs.
“I think a lot went against us tonight, and I feel the players responded incredibly,” LouCity head coach Danny Cruz said about his team’s gritty comeback against Oakland. “I was really happy with the performance. I felt we deserved to win that game. There’s so much to be proud of and I think tonight’s a special night when you look at performance, obviously result, and atmosphere from the community is incredible. The response at halftime was, ‘We are going to get two [goals].’”
The win puts the boys in purple back into the top four in the USL Championship’s Eastern Conference, six points off third-place Charleston Battery and 11 off of first place Pittsburgh Riverhounds. The points are crucial for LouCity, which came into the game having collected just two from its last three outings.
On Saturday, in the team’s first-ever USL Championship matchup with Oakland, fans saw a ferocious LouCity, a team that kept hunting despite frustration with the disallowed goal. City’s showing against Oakland was completely different from its performance against Birmingham Legion FC in last weekend’s loss.
Getting back to Roots
Against Oakland, LouCity returned to its most commonly played 4-3-3 formation used before a recent undefeated run of four games in the flexible 3-5-2 wingback system. The change in formation on Saturday may be due to the system’s inability to crack Birmingham last time out, or because of an injury sustained by Amadou Dia, a staple at the wingback position.
Not only was LouCity’s formation adjusted, but numerous changes also came to the starting lineup. Paolo DelPiccolo, Wilson Harris, Carlos Moguel Jr., Manny Perez, Ray Serrano and Jorge Gonzalez were all new additions to City’s starting 11.
Despite an altered formation and lineup, LouCity gelled flawlessly and dominated on both ends of the pitch. Defensively, beside Oakland’s goal — the Roots’ only big chance in the first half — every purple shirt worked extremely hard to nullify counter attacks, pressure the ball, protect the goal, and put their bodies on the line to deny chances.
From the front, LouCity’s ruthless pressure reaped huge rewards for the team. On the night, pressing helped City win the ball back 12 times in the attacking third, compared to just the one instance when Oakland Roots succeeded in this.
Closer to its own goal, LouCity’s back four recorded a combined four tackles, five interceptions and eight clearances. City’s defensive unit also left no room for question when it came to challenging for 50/50 balls on Saturday, contesting for nine aerial duels and 29 total duels. Showing immense defensive discipline throughout the night, LouCity caused Birmingham three offside calls and picked up no yellow cards on the way to victory.
Spotted up and down the field, Moguel Jr.’s 85-minute shift was influential in his team’s win. Just 20 years old, Moguel showed impressive maturity in the center defensive midfielder position, always filling in gaps in the defense and working tirelessly to get open and create space. The LouCity Academy product worked tenaciously to hunt down Roots attackers and occasionally utilized smart fouls away from City’s goal to halt any of the opponent’s momentum. Moguel’s work on the night earned him two shots on target, 19 passes into the final third (the most on either team), two tackles, and nine occasions of winning possession.
City’s offensive output was unmatched against Oakland. On Saturday, the boys in purple posted a season-high 25 shots, 10 of which landed on target. Oakland’s defense isn’t usually one to be toyed with, either, as Roots goalkeeper Paul Blanchette’s nine clean sheets this campaign is just behind Semmle’s league-high 11 bagels.
On the night, LouCity’s quick link-up play produced moments of brilliance up and down the pitch. In the fifth minute, City looked poised to score when Gonzalez and Wynder combined to slip in behind Harris, whose angle was quickly closed off by Oakland’s keeper. Again, in the 16th minute combination play up front led to Serrano being played through. Hecouldn’t quite find the finish.
Quick collaborations on Saturday led to a more piercing LouCity offense, which saw 16 of its 25 shots come from within Oakland’s box. Additionally, link-up play, where players collaborated in close proximity to one another, allowed LouCity attackers to rapidly converge on the ball if it was lost during the process, often leading to a regain of possession.
Like fine wine
Only having gotten better as they’ve grown older, LouCity veterans Ownby and Jimenez played monster roles in Saturday’s win over Oakland. Jimenez, 33, has started LouCity’s last six matches in a phenomenal run of form. Joining the team in 2017 after a successful tryout, Jimenez has won two USL Championships, one USL All-League First Team honor, and has set himself apart as a leader in purple.
On the night, Jimenez’s quality was on full display. In the 47th minute, he needed just one look before lining up a perfect cross to set up the goal that was later overturned. In the 92nd minute, Jimenez’s set piece from far out dropped perfectly to Pouwels, who was unlucky to hit the post. Finally, in the 98th minute, his stunning first-time, game-winning volley was struck with perfection and power. Overall against Oakland, Jimenez recorded three shots, four chances created — the most on either team — and two tackles.
“For me, he was excellent tonight,” Cruz said about Jimenez’s role in the team’s win. “I think that what you’re seeing from him, over the course of the last four, five games in a row now — at least — his heart, his drive, his mentality, it embodies what Louisville City is. So, for him to get that moment tonight — first, he earned it, and second, a lot of technical quality needed to be able to finish the way that he did there.”
It’s rare to see a player so confident after returning from injury, yet Ownby had just that against Oakland — sky-high confidence that allowed him to make the most of his 30-minute shift. The 33-year-old danced with Roots defenders and took on players a decade younger than him. In his half-hour on the pitch, Ownby numbered a goal, two shots (both landing on target), two key passes, four crosses, and two of three successful dribbles. For his efforts, Ownby won Man of the Match honors.
“Wilson did great, played it across,” Ownby said of his goal. “I should’ve finished it first time but I took a donkey touch up to my head, and I was like, ‘Oh crap, I can’t miss this.’ so I just dove, headed it, and thankfully it went in.”
Cruz’s super subs
It’s safe to say that Cruz’s substitutes — consisting of Adams, Gibson, Ownby, Pouwels, and Thellufsen — changed the game against Oakland. Ownby’s equalizer and Gibson’s assist on the winner directly impacted the outcome, but the others’ contributions also played a big role.
For instance, Adams’ 76th-minute sliding block prevented a point-blank scoring opportunity for the opposition. After being subbed on in the 60th minute, Pouwels added to LouCity’s offensive energy, contributing three shots and a chance created. Thellufsen rejuvenated a worn midfield by pouring in a shot, an interception, and seven passes into the final third.
Crucially, LouCity’s substitutes helped the team get its first win when trailing at halftime since Oct. 6, 2022, when LouCity overcame a deficit against Detroit City. Even more impressive from a losing position was City’s ability to dismantle Oakland, a team that hadn’t lost after leading at halftime since June 16, 2022.
LouCity will travel to face Colorado Springs Switchbacks SC this Saturday in a tough climate where the boys in purple will look to build on their momentum and pick up three points heading into City’s last eight games of the regular season.
