Racing 2 Dash 0 Post Match Thoughts
Courtesy Elizabeth Shaw
In the end Racing handily took care of business at home after a rather lackluster first 45 minutes. DeMelo continued her terrific run of form and a let off from Houston in the 86th minute meant that Louisville could see out the last 10 minutes with relative ease.
As I mentioned prior to the match, sometimes the international break can lead to slow starts. Racing was actually pretty good for the first 10-12 minutes, but the rest of the first half was a rather dismal showing from both sides. Houston never really looked dangerous, but Racing wasn’t very sharp either. Those 45 minutes will now be relegated to the dustbin of history never to be spoken of again.
Racing is starting to have a look of a team that believes it is going to have a chance to win matches if they can avoid mistakes. Louisville felt like they were in control for large sections of the second half and didn’t let DeMelo’s goal change their mindset. After the goal, the Dash had a few more attacks, but Racing had just as many and looked to be pushing to extend the lead as much as defending it. This was one of the few times that I felt that they got that delicate balance right and obviously they caught Houston napping to wrap up the match.
I classify each goal for my Goal Pie Chart page and usually it isn’t too difficult. For example, the Sears goal from the last match was pretty simply “with sustained possession”. The two goals in this match were a little more difficult to classify. On the first, Racing started the sequence with possession then lost it to Houston, but a Dash player immediately gave it away. From there Racing possessed it for a few seconds before Kanu’s shot was saved by Campbell. DeMelo was obviously in the right place at the right time to finish it off. Since Houston never had their defensive shape back from the sloppy turnover, I classified it as an “in transition” goal, but there could be an argument made for a sustained possession goal. On Goins’ goal I kind of wish I had a classification for “defense was asleep” because that was some really sloppy defending as Parker waved her hand to signal how open she was, and no Dash defender was within 5 yards of her. Racing was so bad at being at the back post last season maybe teams just make a conscious effort not to defend it. Regardless, you won’t see an easier back post header all season.
Uchenna Kanu changed the match. Turner slid over to a more central role with Bahr out wide in this match. Bahr wasn’t terrible, but she doesn’t offer what Kanu does on the outside at least offensively. Kanu is a much more free-flowing player which means that from time-to-time she will find herself out of position defensively. When Bahr plays out wide, she pretty much stays out wide. She didn’t have a single touch in the middle third or right side of the pitch. It was a cunning decision to sub her off at half because Kanu plays so differently. Houston never adjusted so kudos to Coach Yanez on that decision.
