A solid defensive performance from a 10-man Lights side was not enough to snatch points from the league leaders in Kentucky
Las Vegas Lights FC lost 3-1 on the road at Louisville City’s Lynn Family Stadium on Saturday night.
Louisville scored the first goal of the night in the sixth minute of play through Sam Gleadle.
A few minutes later, the referee called a penalty on Gennaro Nigro. Taylor Davila’s shot from the spot was eventually saved by subject-matter expert Raiko Arozarena to keep the game within reach for the Lights.
To add insult to injury in an already complicated evening in Kentucky, Lights veteran midfielder Tommy McNamara was sent off in the 30th minute, leaving Vegas at a numerical disadvantage for the remaining two-thirds of the match.
However, it was the Lights who would manage to score a few moments later despite said disadvantage, when a phenomenal cross from full back Gennaro Nigro was capitalized on by a Johnny Rodriguez header to make things level before heading for halftime.
The second half proved an uphill battle for the Lights, who looked physically diminished after battling the game out with a one-man disadvantage. Adrien Perez and Joshua Jones would score Louisville’s second and third goals to make the final score 3-1.
What They’re Saying
HEAD COACH DEVIN RENSING
On his overall thoughts on the match…
It was a tough match. Obviously, they’re the best team in the league for a reason. You can’t make mistakes like we did early: giving up a penalty kick, giving up a silly goal and things that we went over, and getting a red card, you know. You just can’t do that against the best team in the league. They’re going to punish you.
On how the team moves forward from here with five matches remaining…
We’ve got to win. We’ve got to win them all. You never know what’s gonna happen in this league, and we’re going to fight to the end. They’re all games that we can win, and I do feel like the team is getting better. But we’re just running out of time, so we’ve got to win. It’s plain and simple. We’ve got to win.
Summary
Lights Starting XI:
Arozarena (GK), Nigro, Gartig, Jones, Boudadi (Singer, 85′), Probo (Pickering, 85′), O’Driscoll (Pearson, 68′), McNamara (c), Leal (Azcona, 68′), Gannon, Rodriguez (Stojanovic, 68′)
Louisville City Starting XI:
Las (GK), Dia, Jones, Totsch, Morris (Dayes, 83′), Davila (c) (Perez, 62′), Lambert , McFadden (McCabe, 46′), Serrano (Goodrum, 46′), Gleadle (Lancaster, 46′), Wilson
Goals
LOU – Gleadle – 6′
LV – Rodriguez – 39′
LOU – Perez – 67′
LOU – Jones – 84′
Discipline:
LV – Red, McNamara – 30′
LV – Yellow, Rodriguez – 60′
LV – Yellow, O’Driscoll – 63′
LOU – Yellow, Lancaster – 69′
LV – Yellow, Probo – 76′