Here are my thoughts about the match:
1. Set Pieces, Set Pieces, Set Pieces
The Lights got off to a hot start, with a defender-to-defender goal. The Lights picked up a corner kick, and in what was clearly a planned routine, whipped the ball near post and low. Garduno stooped to flick it to the back post, where our captain Huiqui squeezed it in at the far post.
It was clearly an intentional routine. And I loved to see it. It shows that the team puts some real thought and effort into planning their set pieces, as opposed to just crossing it into an area and hoping something works.
I often wonder why so many teams clearly do just that (the hit-and-hope strategy). I mean, crossing is a low percentage game, but that's because normally in a normal crossing situation, the crosser is being closed down, maybe he's on the run, there's at most three players to aim at, and everyone is just kind of guessing as to where the ball will be.
On a set piece, there's a chance to plan everything out beforehand - where players will run, where the ball will go. And in a low-event game like soccer, even if you can dig up 5-6 extra goals per season from planned set-pieces, it can really make the difference in the league table.
2. What Happened to the Counters?
So let's all be clear here - Las Vegas is not a possession-based team. If you want to put it charitably, they are a "vertical" or a "transition" team, a team that likes to get the ball forward fast. If you want to be less charitable, they are a team that plays long-ball.
My point here though, is not that long-ball is bad or anything. I just think that if you're a counterattacking team, and you get an early goal, that should set you up really well for the rest of the game. Once the opponent goes behind, they usually try to push up and attack to get level. That should. theoretically, leave space in behind to run into and punish them when they push too far.
In this game, it was set up perfectly, but the Lights didn't quite execute, and actually made some attempt to keep the ball better than they have in past games.
3. Overall, We Played Well
Look, it's always a little bit disappointing when you don't get all three points in a home game. But, when you look at the big picture, this was not really a disappointing result.
First and foremost, it keeps us above that playoff line. We're still on 2 points per game, which is a great clip, if we can keep it up.
Second, we're still undefeated. Now, with the way soccer works, you can be "undefeated" with a ton of draws, and actually come out worse than a team that loses a lot of games, but wins a lot too. But still, half the sport is psychological, and being able to say "we haven't been beaten yet" is something that gives players a lot of confidence.
Third, the Lights actually played pretty well this game. The team had 15 shots to Sacramento's 19, (nine of those 15 were in the box, compared to 7 for Sacramento). And the Lights made 251 passes at a 61% accuracy to Sacramento's 343 passes at a 69% accuracy. Now, I know that the Lights were the home team, and usually you'd expect the home team to take the game to the opponent.
However, remember that Sacramento are a good team (also undefeated so far this season). And, at risk of stating the obvious, "goals change games." When Las Vegas went up so early in the game, the onus shifted to Sacramento to take the game to the Lights - so it was only natural that they would push forward, get more passes, and take more shots, with the Lights looking to protect what they had and pick them off on the counter.
But even though the game state, to an extent, dictated this game, I think the Lights did a much better job (especially in the first half) of realizing when they needed to just put a foot on the ball, stroke it around, and take some pressure off.
That's it for this week. Here's to another undefeated week
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