Banged up: Racing drops critical three points in 1-0 loss to Utah
Louisville's two-game win streak ends as their playoff trajectory sputters
Not good enough
After Racing Louisville’s 1-0 loss to the Utah Royals on the road Saturday night, forward Janine Beckie didn’t mince words.
“It's just not good enough from a team perspective. We didn't have a 90-minute performance, let alone put together a good half.”
Despite obliterating the Royals 5-1 in their first meeting back in April, Racing struggled to find any footing against the expansion side last night. After a very weak, but very physical first half where they were out-shot dramatically by Utah, Louisville was able to generate some chances in the second half, but nothing found the back of the net. The Royals finally broke through in the 78th minute off a blast from well outside the box by Spanish midfielder Ana Tejada.
“I think we can't expect to come on the road against teams in this league and not have a solid performance,” Beckie said. “And I don't think it was for lack of opportunity. I know for myself, I had three opportunities that absolutely need to be goals. So yeah, it's really frustrating. I think when the stakes are this high and there's so much on the line, it makes it a little bit harder to swallow, but our team performance from top to bottom just wasn't where it needed to be tonight.”
Head coach Bev Yanez echoed Beckie’s sentiments and said that the team was lacking a level of ruthlessness on the ball to put their chances away. They needed to control the game more to give themselves a bit more of an opportunity to make something of their moments because they were creating chances. They just weren’t able to put them away.
“Overall, it wasn't good enough as a group,” Yanez said. “Our job is to go back and look at the game, recap it, ensure that we take something from this game, and ensure that we continue. There's still four matches left. There's still massive opportunity, taking it game by game and put these learnings to work.”
By the numbers
Utah had the upper hand statistically in the attack with 1.72 xG overall out of 17 shots with five on target. Racing had 1.11 xG overall with 11 shots and two on goal.
Racing had extremely uneven halves and only got into the attack in the second half after subbing in Emma Sears and Kayla Fischer for Bethany Balcer and Ary Borges. Louisville only generated a single off-target shot in the first half for 0.09 xG compared to Utah getting 0.77 out of 10 shots but only one on goal. In the second half, Racing came much more alive and generated 1.02 xG which should have been enough to equal a goal. The Royals also warmed up and got 0.95 xG out of this half and, obviously, did get their goal that made the difference.
Savannah DeMelo and Taylor Flint had the only shots on target. It’s rarely a good sign for your attack when your midfielders are the only ones getting shots on frame. As Beckie mentioned, she had three shots, including one big chance created and generated the second most xG. Lauren Milliet created the most xG of any player which, again, is not a great sign for a team’s attack. After scoring two game-winners in a row, Bethany Balcer failed to get a shot off in the first 45 minutes before being subbed off.
Racing had 46% possession overall and 77% passing accuracy.
There was a lot of defending in this game with almost every player in the first half notching a tackle and/or an interception. Case in point, Balcer won both her attempted tackles and notched an interception.
This was a very physical game with Utah fouling Racing 17 times while Louisville was called for only nine fouls on the Royals. Utah players received four yellow cards while Racing only received one. Louisville’s lone card was on Taylor Flint who received her fifth and will sit out next week’s game against the Kansas City Current.
Key Takeaways
Shaken up
This looked like a completely different Racing than has been on the field the past two games. They were disconnected, frazzled, and looked off from the get-go.
This isn’t even about their lack of offensive production in the first half. At least, not totally. They sat back so much it had to be intentional. Sitting back, absorbing the press, and countering worked well in their last two games. Utah is a team without a deep bench so assuming that they’d press themselves into exhaustion until Racing could whip out Fischer and Sears isn’t a bad gameplan.
Unfortunately, two things went wrong with that. One, most glaringly, is that Racing was off in several areas. Prmiarily, the midfield looked off. Borges, in particular, had a rough match, but no one looked great. This meant that the lines weren’t connecting and no counter was happening. The game wasn’t getting stretched enough for there to be any room to maneuver and create anything so it stayed jammed back in Racing’s half far too often. Second, the game was also extremely physical from the start and Balcer took a hard knock that she was slow to get up from which may have taken her out earlier than anticipated.
The good news is that in the second half, Racing did look significantly more dangerous as the game stretched out, but never to the point where a goal seemed inevitable. Too many players weren’t at their best and the whole team looked disjointed.
Even in their worst moments since the Olympic break Racing has looked competent and mostly put together. They haven’t looked shaken up like they did on Saturday except against Bay FC. This is frustrating because it isn’t just the high press. They faced the high press of Angel City and absorbed it well. They faced the relentless possession and skillful passing of the North Carolina Courage and kept their cool. So why did they suddenly fall flat against a team that’s perpetually been at the bottom of the standings?
Glow Up
In the last five months, Utah has undergone significant changes, including a full coaching turnover and major player acquisitions, so this was a very different team from the one Racing played last time. Even with some key players missing like Japanese midfielder Mina Tanaka, forward Ally Sentnor who was still being rested after the U-20 World Cup, and goalkeeper Mandy Haughter who was a late scratch, Utah was still vastly improved. Look at Claudia Zornoza, a 2023 World Cup winner with Spain, Cloe Lacasse, a Canadian international acquired from Arsenal, and Spanish midfielder Ana Tejada who all started. Tejada ultimately got the game-winner off an unlikely strike from outside the box.
Even with improvements, Utah didn’t play Racing off the pitch which is actually the most frustrating part. This was a winnable match. Racing just couldn’t get it together against a team they should have been able to beat. The Royals only won via an unlikely banger from outside the box that Katie Lund was not going to save and Tejada wasn’t going to make 99 out of 100 times.
Where was the ruthlessness that Racing has demonstrated in the past two matches? Because it was missing in this game. Maybe the altitude and the bruising fouls took it out of them, but it just seemed like they had no gas in the tank. And that’s really not an acceptable reaction when the playoffs are on the line and they’re playing against a bottom-of-the-table team. The Royals have very little to play for at this point and maybe that frees them while Racing has every to play for and maybe that encumbers them. Either way, they only have four games left to figure it out with a huge test coming up at home next week.
Looking Ahead
Racing returns home to take on the Kansas City Current next weekend for their penultimate match at Lynn Family Stadium for the 2024 season.
The Current is one of the top four teams that have separated themselves from the pack significantly this season, so it’s about as tough a test as Racing can have with so few games left to play. The good news is that Racing historically plays the Current fairly well. They tied them earlier this season and were the first team to take a point off Kansas City in Kansas City in their brand new, much-lauded stadium thanks to a late equalizer from Savannah DeMelo. The idea that Racing could at least get a point off them isn’t out of the question in this weird topsy turvy season, but the idea that Racing could also struggle mightily against them isn’t either. It all depends on which Racing shows up. The ruthless one who poached balls of Angel City and North Carolina to win or the one who couldn’t get it together in Utah or Bay FC.
As of writing, Racing is clinging onto an eighth-place playoff spot, but their fate depends on the outcome of Sunday night’s Seattle Reign-Bay FC match. If Bay wins or draws, they pass Louisville and seize the final playoff berth.
In many ways, Racing’s loss to Utah was a gift to the California teams. It keeps Bay and Angel City very much in the swing of things. The San Diego Wave are also making a late season push after pulling out a win against Portland who have been free-falling through a historic losing streak. Instead of creating distance between themselves and the California teams, Racing has only made the race for the final playoff spot that much closer. Great for all the casual NWSL fans or California fans out there, but not so great Louisville.
I didn't watch the match and have no plans to do watch it, so take this for what it's worth. The items you hit on appear at face value to be a mentality issue. There is a difference between belIrving you can win, believing you will win and believing you HAVE TO win. It sounds like (again I didn't watch) they weren't prepared to grab the match early and put the Royals away.