Here's three things from the game:
1. The Monarchs Set Out A Really Strong Side
Let's say it outright - the Monarchs are a really good team. They finished with the highest points total in the league last season. They were at home. And not only that, but as an MLS affiliate side, they have the ability to drop in MLS players from their Real Salt Lake team whenever they need to build up some match sharpness. Last night, the Monarchs fielded MLS regular Luke Mulholland in midfield, which made a challenging evening for Las Vegas just that little bit tougher.
And yet despite the strength of the opposition, and the early red card, the Lights still managed to get a point on the road. It was a really good result, and don't let anyone tell you otherwise.
2. The Red Card May Have Helped, In A Weird Way
As I talked about last post, in the Friday night game against San Antonio, the visitors got their win by taking the Lights out of their comfort zone, giving up the ball and forcing the Lights to try to break them down. The Lights are much more comfortable as a defend-and-counter team, and struggled to cope with the responsibility of playing a possession game.
Last night, on the road against a good side, the Lights were always going to play a counter attacking game. But with the early red card, the game plan became even more clear.
Of course, a red card, especially within the first 20 minutes of a game, is never a good thing. But in this case, I don't think it hurt as much as we might have assumed. Once the Lights went a man down, everyone on the field knew that they had one job - keep the Monarchs from scoring. If the team found themselves in a decent counter-attacking position, they could see what happens. But there was no question of committing numbers forward or attempting to outplay the Monarchs. It clearly focused the minds of the players, who put in a defensive masterclass to keep the clean sheet and eventually win the point.
3. Could We Have Gotten More?
As the second half died down, the Lights found themselves in one of those rare moments of attack. A ball was played out to Drake on the right hand side, who tried to cross it in. The cross was deflected, but it fell to Kobayashi about 25 yards out, who curled a beautiful strike that cannoned off the right hand post and across the goal. On hand was another Lights player (I think Ochoa, I couldn't really see), who stooped and put the ball into the net - only for the referee to flag for offside.
Now, we don't get the greatest angles on streams of USL matches. But take a look at this screenshot and tell me that there isn't at least one Monarchs guy playing our striker onside.
That said, while we can definitely have some gripes about that particular offside call and wish we could have completed the perfect snatch-and-grab - at the end of the day, in a game where the Monarchs completely dominated with 70% possession, over twice as many passes and over twice as many shots, you can't be too disappointed to come away with a point.
Our next match is is back at home this Saturday in a cinco de mayo clash against Tulsa. Let's hope we can pick up all three points then.
- VSB
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