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USL Louisville City FC

Explosive Second Half Fuels First-Place LouCity's Win at Birmingham

June 29, 2024 - United Soccer League Championship (USL)
Louisville City FC News Release


Louisville City FC's Ray Serrano congratulates Tola Showunmi
Louisville City FC's Ray Serrano congratulates Tola Showunmi
(Louisville City FC, Credit: Ken Shepherd)

After a scoreless opening 45 minutes Saturday, Louisville City FC's attack kicked in for a 4-1 away blitz of Birmingham Legion FC.

Four players scored at Protective Stadium on a LouCity squad that continued two telling trends. Each time City has lost this season, the boys in purple have rebounded to win. Their 2.7 goals per game are also pacing to make this the strongest attack in USL Championship history.

LouCity improved to 12-3-2 as a result, at 38 points now five clear atop the league. However, Saturday did include one major setback when Jorge Gonzalez left with a leg injury after a scary 36th-minute collision into Birmingham's goalkeeper.

"I actually thought in the first half we were really, really good with the ball, but we needed more quality in the final third," said LouCity coach Danny Cruz. "...The injury was a lot, I think, for the players to take in. Coming in at halftime we had a really good discussion - obviously went through a few things tactically, and I thought the players were absolutely brilliant in the second half.

"Every phase of it, for me, was quality. They have a lot to be proud of."

LouCity entered Saturday off last weekend's 5-2 defeat to Rhode Island FC - a shocker given City was unbeaten this season at Lynn Family Stadium and hadn't ever conceded five goals at home.

The boys in purple didn't offer a response in the first half at Birmingham, but they delivered a suffocating quarter hour out of the locker room. LouCity controlled 73% of possession through the opening 15 minutes of the second half while scoring two goals.

First, Sam Gleadle cooly headed in a Wilson Harris cross. Harris then made the most of a goalkeeping gaffe, tapping in a dropped corner kick to double the lead and make it 11 goals on the season for the star forward.

"I think all great teams have to respond," Gleadle said. "We don't ever want to lose two games in a row, whether it's home or away. I know we've struggled to score goals on the road this season, so I think after what happened at home with the response, the amount of goals and how we scored them today was very important for us."

The deluge continued in the 80th minute, just after Jake Morris won a free kick at the edge of the box. Ray Serrano fired the ensuing set piece through traffic to tally his sixth goal of the season.

Birmingham did pull one back two minutes later as Preston Tabort Etaka hammered in a deflected ball in the box. But substitute striker Tola Showunmi provided added insurance for City, rolling in the club's final goal with his first touches of the game in the 87th minute.

"It's the best attacking group I've been part of," Gleadle said. "...We just kind of read off one another. We're selfish when we need to be and unselfish when that's the better decision. I'm enjoying it a lot."

LouCity finished its season series with Birmingham at a 9-1 aggregate score, tacking this result onto a 5-0 victory back on March 30 at Lynn Family Stadium. That was one of many standout score lines for a City side looking to make some history.

The boys in purple have won two league titles, two more Eastern Conference crowns, and they've made it to the conference final round of the playoffs in all nine of their seasons. Now, a first Players' Shield for best regular season record is in reach.

"I still believe we have another level we can hit," Cruz said, "and I want our entire group feeling that way, because the minute you get complacent is the minute you get hit in the mouth... It's been a good first 17 games. We have things to be proud of, but things aren't won 17 games in."

Game Summary: Birmingham Legion FC vs. Louisville City FC

Date: June 29, 2024

Venue: Protective Stadium

Kickoff: 7:30 p.m. ET

Weather: 84 degrees, partly cloudy

Scoring

Birmingham Legion FC (0, 1, 1)

Louisville City FC (0, 4, 4)

Goals

Birmingham Legion FC:

82' Preston Tabort Etaka

Louisville City FC:

51' Sam Gleadle (Wilson Harris)

58' Wilson Harris

80' Ray Serrano

87' Tola Showunmi (Jake Morris)

Lineups

Birmingham Legion FC: 42 - Jayden Hibbert, 20 - AJ Paterson (71' 4 - Ramiz Hamouda), 3 - Phanuel Kavita, 21 - Alex Crognale, 14 - Derek Dodson, 33 - Moses Mensah (63' 28 - Miguel Perez), 8 - Kobe Hernandez-Foster, 19 - Enzo Martinez, 7 - Diba Nwegbo (54' 10 - Prosper Kasim), 15 - Tyler Pasher, 23 - Preston Tabort Etaka

Subs not used: 1 - Matt Van Oekel, 29 - Stefano Pinho, 47 - Finn Calloway, 75 - Owen Jack

Head coach: Tom Soehn

Louisville City FC: 18 - Damian Las, 3 - Jake Morris (90'+1 13 - Amadou Dia), 5 - Arturo Ordóñez, 6 - Wes Charpie, 4 - Sean Totsch, 2 - Aiden McFadden (83' 25 - Jansen Wilson), 17 - Taylor Davila, 23 - Elijah Wynder (90'+1 11 - Niall McCabe), 21 - Jorge Gonzalez (41' 20 - Sam Gleadle), 14 - Wilson Harris (84' 24 - Tola Shownumi), 7 - Ray Serrano

Subs not used: 30 - Ryan Troutman, 22 - Dylan Mares

Head coach: Danny Cruz

Stats Summary: Birmingham Legion FC / Louisville City FC

Shots: 12 / 18

Shots on Goal: 5 / 8

Possession: 49.6% / 50.4%

Fouls: 5 / 12

Offside: 1 / 3

Corner Kicks: 5 / 11

Discipline Summary

Louisville City FC:

17' Wes Charpie (yellow)

36' Jorge Gonzalez (yellow)

45'+4 Arturo Ordóñez (yellow)

Referee: Joshua Encarnacion

Check out the Louisville City FC Statistics




Images from this story

Louisville City FC's Ray Serrano congratulates Tola Showunmi
Louisville City FC's Ray Serrano congratulates Tola Showunmi
(Ken Shepherd)		   

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