USL Championship Match Week 3 | OneFootball

Detroit City FC 2 – 2 Birmingham Legion

On a sunny but brisk 35 degree day Detroit had their home opener. It started well, as Darren Short flicked an Alex Villanueva cross into the box in the 20th minute. After giving the ball away in their defensive third, a Ronaldo Demus shot got deflected into the goal past keeper Carlos Saldaña. Detroit would respond in the 33rd after a lovely passing chain involving a dozen or so touches that finally ended at the foot of Ben Morris. While his initial effort was denied, he smashed the rebound home. Detroit would be heartbroken by a misdirected header from defender Stephan Carroll, which unfortunately went into his own goal.

New Mexico United 1 – 0 El Paso Locomotive

Well, this turned out to be a not-so-scintillating match up, but it did deliver the late goal I thought it might. And who else to deliver it but Scotsman Greg Hurst, in the 83rd minute, who also scored in last year’s home opening match.

Louisville City FC 2 – 0 Loudoun United FC

It was all Lou City at the start; they had two clear chances in as many minutes starting in the eleventh. It wouldn’t take long for that pressure to pay off, as Ray Serrano flicked on a deflected shot with his back to goal, the result arcing beautifully into the net. By all rights Louisville should have been up at least three or four goals, but kept hitting shots wide. In the 75th minute, Taylor Davila took a rebound off the wall and struck it low

Loudon looked extremely flat. I wonder how much the mid-week Open Cup depleted their tanks.

Lexington 1 -1 Indy Eleven

A riddle for you: What’s something I don’t know and is delicious to drink? Lexington’s central midfielder Jack Beer. What an awesome name. Despite dominating in most key stats. Lexington conceded first when Bruno Rendón took a cleared header at the corner of the box off his right foot, and then thumped it into the net with his left. It was an impressive bit of skill. Lexington equalized after a brilliant sequence of passes put the ball at Marcus Epps’ feet. His curling left footed effort found the goal.

Miami FC 1 – 2 Tampa Bay Rowdies

You can file this one under the “who cares” category. I know Miami FC have talent. Their mid-week showing against lower-league Naples United showed that. But have yet to fully translate their potential into action on the pitch. They scored in the second minute from Francisco Bonfiglio, only to see that erased by two Rowdy goals before halftime. Miami had a golden opportunity to equalize in the 67th minute from a penalty, but Bonfiglio skied it over the crossbar.

Orange County SC 0 – 3 Monterey Bay

Orange County was already a goal down when Ryan Doghman placed a high boot onto the face of Adrian Rebollar, drawing a straight red. To be fair, the Seasiders had been the better side and merely had to put two more in the net against the short-handed hosts to secure the three points.

Sacramento Republic 2 – 2 Colorado Springs Switchbacks

Sac Republic will look around and ask “what went wrong?” in the locker room. Comfortably leading by two goals with only four minutes remaining in regulation, they gave up not one, but TWO penalties to allow the Switchbacks to pull level.

Oakland Roots 1 – 2 San Antonio FC

Full disclosure: the author was at this game. The Oakland Coliseum atmosphere was electric, even if most fans were wandering the decrepit hallways instead of in their seats. Chants of “Raiders! Raiders!” would frequently puncture the air. Oakland does not forget those who disrespect her.

In terms of the game… there’s a reason San Antonio is top of the West. They are confident in possession, skilled at passing and incredibly stubborn in defense. Oakland didn’t play poorly, but they didn’t out-perform the visitors. SAFC started off the evening with a score in the 5th minute after a poor defensive read by Justin Rasmussen allowed a long ball to find Jake LaCava. He drove into the box, then passed back to Alex Greive who took one touch and shot it past four Roots into the net. It was not an auspicious start.

But the Roots showed a little flair moments later after they earned a corner. The incoming service bounced off two different players into space, and Justin Rasmussen executed a picture-perfect overhead kick into the upper left corner of the net. It was the first goal San Antonio had conceded all season, and will surely be a nominee for goal-of-the-month.

The rest of the game descended into a bloody war of attrition, with SAFC having the better of chances but the Roots putting up a solid defense. In the end, it took a really fine effort from Luke Haakenson looping a shot over his defender and the keeper off the inboard pass. The Roots didn’t even make a mistake… but still paid the price. Once they took the lead SAFC shifted into a 5-3-2 and prevented Oakland from any real offensive looks.

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