It was the biggest match in club history, and CITY didn't disappoint the 150+ St. Louis fans who made the trek out to Commerce City, Colorado for a convincing 3-0 win in the US Open Cup Semifinal. Let's take a look at each of CITY's goals from last night:
Sang-bin Jeong - Goal (32')
Most people, me included, expected Carlo Holse to get the start - however, we found out post-match that a bug going around CITY had hit Holse and he wasn't feeling well, giving the starting nod to Sang-bin. This wasn't unreasonable, as his speed opens up balls over the top against a high-pressing side like Colorado can be (and as we've seen against them already this year).
But this wasn't that - this a horrible misplay from Colorado's keeper Adam Beaudry and really good hustle from CITY. CITY's defensive pressure on Colorado's right side forced multiple retreating passes after what I'm sure some Colorado fans would feel was a foul on Morgan Whittaker by Tomas Totland (like the broadcast, I think it wasn't called because Colorado retained possession), ultimately resulting in Reggie Cannon (#4) playing the ball back towards Beaudry. As he makes this pass, Sang-bin puts his head down and sprints directly at the Rapids' goalkeeper. All Beaudry had to do was lay the ball off to his left; however, as he received it and looked up to see the CITY man closing him down, he misplayed his touch (maybe he underestimated Sang-bin's speed and was surprised by how close he was?).
Sang-bin did a nice job of recovering after being knocked down by a lunging Beaudry and slid the ball home into the empty net for a 1-0 CITY lead. Had he been unable to recover, it certainly would have been a red card for DOGSO (Denial of a goal scoring opportunity), but as referee Joe Dickerson played advantage and Sang-bin scored, there's no DOGSO call (this rule was changed this year by IFAB to prevent "double-penalization" on one play).
So while the immediate cause of the goal Beaudry's misplay, you can't discount the hustle from Sang-bin to close down and force the mistake. CITY has shown all season that although they don't press recklessly like the teams of their past, selective pressing applied properly can create turnovers and mistakes and that was certainly the case here.
Simon Becher - Goal (52')
On Y98's post-match show last night, Dale Schilly named Conrad Wallem as his man of the match and I'd have a hard time disagreeing. He was excellent all night. We've seen Wallem's level of play just continue to elevate as the season has progressed, and against the Rapids he was outstanding, with a beautiful assist here on CITY's second goal.
The play starts with a very nice ball from Chris Durkin to Wallem making a run down the right sideline. The ball has a little curl to it, enabling Wallem to angle himself in front of Colorado's Rob Holding (#6), and what he does next is just pure skill - a lovely side-footed flick to his left, slipping the ball into space for an onrushing Simon Becher. Becher had started his run as soon as the ball from Durkin cleared Wallem, and because Holding had to rotate over to play the ball and/or Wallem, this left Simon completely undefended, with only Miguel Navarro (#29) trying to catch him from behind.
Becher then makes a crucial first touch across his body to the left, enabling him to slide away from Navarro and have multiple shooting options from the top of the box. This touch was really vital, as it put him in a prime scoring position and far enough away from both Rapids defenders trying to recover. Becher goes near post with a nicely placed shot for a 2-0 CITY lead.
A really nice ball over the top from Durkin, a great run and touch from Wallem, and another great touch and finish from Becher here. Lovely sequence.
Alexandru Mățan - Goal (59')
Not much to show here - not because it wasn't a great play, but because this came so quickly on a restart that the CBS Sports broadcast basically missed the play live - a long ball from Timo over the top to Totland cutting inside of Mățan was beautifully flicked back by Tots into the space he knew Mățan was moving into.
CITY's Short King simply takes a touch to settle the ball and bangs it home to put this one to bed and send CITY to their first-ever tournament final. Mățan has quickly become such an important player for this club, and getting his first CITY goal was a fitting reward - as much as CITY wants to control the ball and build play from the back, they have surprised teams by being willing to hit these long balls over the top, which is a testament to the style that Yoann Damet wants to play.
The threat of the long ball keeps defenses from compacting too much centrally to disrupt the ball-control CITY wants to have, and converting chances like this shows the versatility in attack that has suddenly become a CITY calling card.
