Hartford Athletic took down the first place team in the USL Championship tonight, coming from behind to secure a 2-1 victory over Louisville City FC in front of a sold out home crowd at Trinity Health Stadium.
After a quiet opening, the pace of tonight’s match picked up in the 24th minute. Amadou Dia played a lead ball ahead into Hartford’s box for Wilson Harris, and Jordan Scarlett made a brave slide tackle to take the ball off the foot of the Louisville striker and cleanly erase the scoring chance. Five minutes later after a stoppage in play, Adrien Perez was given a red card for abusive language towards an official. With just over 60 minutes left to play, the Green and Blue were given a man advantage.
Down a man, a quality individual effort by Taylor Davila gave the visitors the lead in the 38th minute. In transition, he made a run to the top of the box and fired a left-footed shot into the bottom right corner to beat Renan Ribeiro. Hartford generated three more shots before the end of the half, but none that challenged Damian Las. They took to the locker room down a goal.
The Green and Blue made quick work of their mission to bring themselves level, scoring just three minutes into the half when Emmanuel Samadia and Mamadou Dieng connected for the second week in a row. Samadia made a run up the right side and squared a low cross to the six yard box, and Dieng placed into the bottom right corner. Early in the second half and up a man, Athletic were off and running.
Hartford remained on the front foot as they searched for the game winner, planting themselves in the attacking third and eventually breaking through in the 83rd minute after a display of brilliant buildup play. Beverly Makangila played a through ball up the right side to Marcus Epps, who rolled the ball into the box to Kyle Edwards. The striker touched the ball forward to Dieng at the doorstep, and he powered his shot up and over Las. The 19 year old had given his team the late lead and brought a packed home crowd into a roaring celebration.
Eight minutes of stoppage time were added to the match, and Hartford leaned on their veteran goalkeeper to stand strong when they needed him most. Two minutes into the added time, Louisville were given a free kick from just outside the box. Taylor Davila placed his shot to the bottom right corner, but a diving Ribeiro kept the ball out. Six minutes later, the visitors earned a corner kick that ended with an open look from distance for Dylan Mares. Ribeiro was up to the task again, leaping to get two hands to the well-struck ball. It was the final action of the match, securing the 2-1 victory for Hartford.
Dieng’s two goals brought his total to six on the year, and Samadia added his third assist. In just his seventh appearance of the season, Kyle Edwards picked up his first assist. Danny Barrera distributed well for Athletic, logging four chances created. The win is Hartford’s first ever over Louisville City in nine tries, and improves the Green and Blue to 8-12-4 on the year. They’ll head to Detroit next Saturday, and return home on September 7th to face Indy Eleven. Kickoff is set for 7 PM, and tickets available at hartfordathletic.com/tickets.
FAST STATS
Shots (On-Target): Hartford 12 (4) Louisville 12 (5)
Corners: Hartford 8 Louisville 6
Fouls: Hartford 8 Louisville 10
Offsides: Hartford 0 Louisville 0
Possession: Hartford 66.4% Louisville 33.6%
Passing Accuracy: Hartford 86.9% Louisville 71.3%
Saves: Hartford 4 Louisville 2
SCORING SUMMARY
Louisville:
37′ – Davila
Hartford:
48′ – Dieng (Samadia)
83′ – Dieng (Edwards)
DISCIPLINARY SUMMARY
Louisville:
29′ – Cruz (Yellow)
29′ – Perez (Red – Abusive language)
29′ – Cruz (Yellow, subsequent red – Dissent)
Hartford:
45+5′ – Burke (Yellow)
69′ – Farrell (Yellow)
90+2′ – Hairston (Yellow)
HARTFORD ATHLETIC STARTING LINEUP
40 (GK) Renan Ribeiro, 29 (MF) Emmanuel Samadia, 5 (DF) Triston Hodge, 4 (DF) Jordan Scarlett, 15 (DF) Joseph Farrell, 6 (MF) Beverly Makangila, 94 (MF) Marlon Hairston (Vancaeyezeele, 90+4′); 11 (FW) Michee Ngalina, 10 (MF) Danny Barrera (Edwards, 68′); 7 (FW) Marcus Epps, 33 (FW) Mamadou Dieng
LOUISVILLE CITY FC STARTING LINEUP
18 (GK) Damian Las, 13 (DF) Amadou Dia, 5 (DF) Arturo Ordóñez, 32 (DF) Kyle Adams, 14 (FW) Jansen Wilson (Charpie, 69′); 23 (MF) Elijah Wynder (McCabe, 82′); 17 (MF) Taylor Davila, 2 (DF) Aiden McFadden (Davila, 85′); 7 (FW) Ray Serrano (Mares, 81′); 14 (FW) Wilson Harris (Goodrum, 69′); 16 (FW) Adrien Perez
