Pride 1 - Racing 1 Analysis
ISI Photos
Racing got to experience the other side of the coin of a late equalizer last night at Exploria Stadium last night. Even after conceding that late goal, it was still Racing's best overall performance so far. Before the match I said that Racing needed to improve the passing accuracy to 75% and they nearly hit that number with 74.6%. In fact, the first half passing accuracy almost hit 80%. Racing out passed Orlando 426 to 394 as well. Racing was outshot again, but the Pride only managed 2 shots on target. In a game where the margins are so fine, a decision here or there could have turned the match. I think Coach Holly has done an excellent job with this team, but one choice caught my eye last night, and I can't help but wonder how it ultimately impacted the game.
Erin Simon was having an excellent game last night, having made a few good defensive plays on Syd Leroux. Her passing accuracy was 78.1% and I didn't think she looked tired. However, Simon has started every game and only played the full 90 once, so off she went at the 63 minute mark. I am clearly not in charge, but I thought she was playing well enough to stay in the game at least a little longer than she did. On the flip side, if you were looking for players to sub, I thought Yuki and Savannah looked to be struggling a bit in the first half. More than once in the first half I noticed Yuki had open space in front of her, but chose a short pass to a teammate. I think she went on to have a decent game, but I wondered if she and Savannah, might have been affected by the heat and humidity a bit in the first 30 minutes. Coach Holly made 5 substitutes, as you would expect on a hot and humid evening and he usually does this every match anyway. For the first time that I can recall, the level of play seemed to drop some when the substitutes entered. Only Matthews had a passing accuracy over 60%. Simon’s replacement, Ashley only completed 43% of her passes.
However, I don’t want to dwell too much on those minor items because the overall performance was great. If Gemma Bonner can get her fitness levels up enough to start every match, I really think she gives Racing a markedly increased chance at points every time she is on the pitch. Other than the last sequence leading to the goal, the back 4 (5 late) was up to the challenge. We need to get used to the fact that Nealy Martin is a first choice center back. Her play has merited this. She has done nothing to make you think she doesn't deserve a spot in the starting XI. I think she's won the job. Now as soon as I type this, we may see the Hendrix/Bonner pairing that everyone seems to expect, but I for one am no longer going to expect it. The job is Nealy's until someone else steps up.
The goal that Racing scored was a fine effort, and a clinic on how to score playing out from the back. The sequence that you see on Twitter/YouTube omits this, but the build up actually starts from Nealy Martin making a nice defensive recovery on her own blocked pass. Leroux steps in to block a pass and wins possession, but Martin calmy recovers to run down a misplaced pass to Leroux. Leroux is sprinting towards the ball, but Martin calmly plays if back to Betos who starts the forward attacking move. You can watch the rest.
Having complained a bit about Yuki earlier, I will complement her here. She led the way in passing accuracy for the match with 88%. Cece completed 80% of her passes and had a very nice assist to Salmon. Ebony obviously has been a clinical finisher so far. In what has become a trend, Fox led the team in touches for the third consecutive match. She has started to move more into the center of the pitch during the attack, and it's just a matter of time before get gets her debut goal.
One quick note on Orlando…in my opinion they are no threat to win the league. Their early season performances were probably a bit of fool’s gold. They clearly miss Morgan and Marta, but I think NY/NJ, NC and Portland are clearly superior.
Overall it was a performance that deserved 3 points, but Racing will have to settle for one. A quick note about next week. Since there is no match expect fewer posts, but I will return to the normal frequency leading up to the match against Washington.
