Racing 1 Red Stars 1 Post Match Thoughts
Courtesy Connor Cunningham
On the whole a point from last night's match was a fair result, but Racing may consider themselves just slightly lucky based on their play in the final 20 or so minutes. It really was an odd match. Racing somehow won the possession battle 62% to 38% and had a much higher passing accuracy at 84% compared to 74%. It seemed like Racing just absorbed pressure continually over the last 20 or so minutes, so the possession numbers must have been much higher prior to that. I don't think you will see many matches where you out possess and out pass your opponents by such a wide margin AND get out shot 20 to 8. One stat that I believe really defined the match was crosses from open play. Chicago had 23 compared to Louisville's 5, 17 of those coming in the 2nd half. The Red Stars’ goal came as a result of one of those crosses. It was Simon with the “poor clearance” but I don't know what else she could have done. She was definitely on her back heels when the shot came in and I think it was more of a reaction block than a poor clearance. Either way, it showed the Red Stars their best plan of attack and they spent much of the 2nd half trying to replicate it. Betos had an outstanding match with 6 saves, and Racing as a team had several clearances.
Racing had chances too, but they seem to want to over pass in some situations. This is where they missed Nadim, who is always good for a few shots. Either way, no passing was needed on Salmon's goal where she ruthlessly gained possession from Colaprico and buried her shot. This goal was a textbook example of the danger of playing from the back. There is no room for error. It would be interesting to see how many goals like this have occurred world wide since FIFA changed the rule about the ball coming out of the 18 yard box on a restart.
While Racing earned a point, they also advanced to Saturday's final against Bayern. There was a lot of Bayern support in the stadium, so it should be a fun match on Saturday. The Chicago fans came to town too in what surely is the largest away support for any NWSL team at the Fam so far. Saturday's match will be interesting for a few reasons. Bayern and Racing will have to decide how many changes to make. It's obviously preseason for Bayern, so I would expect that they will have several changes to their starting XI. This trophy won't mean much to Bayern although they won't insult their hosts by saying so publicly. Why risk injury to a starter through overuse or contact in a friendly? Which seques nicely into my second observation: the style of play was vastly different in thr two matches on Wednesday. This was not unexpected, with the first match being a friendly and the second being a league match-up. However, if I were either Jens Scheuer or Didier Ollé-Nicolle and watched the Racing v Red Stars match I would be slightly worried about the difference in physicality that I saw. The opening match on Wednesday was a lot more free flowing and the second match was a lot more contentious with several fouls awarded and several more not called due to advantage given. It will be interesting to see who dictates style on Saturday. Racing will probably rotate some too on Saturday with another 2 match week coming up. I think there is zero chance that Nadim is risked on Saturday. She seemed to be in good spirits after the late scratch, but there is no need to send her out on Saturday.
The penalty shoot outs were a novelty that I’m glad we don't see very often. They are a necessary brutality, but make me nervous even if I don't care about either team. There is very little personal reward for scoring one, but missing one can be painful. I hope Bonner shakes off her miss. Betos and McClure were the heroes of the shootout, with Katie being lucky on a ricochet. For my money Miramontez had the best penalty for Racing. I hope Saturday's final is settled in full time.
