A night filled with hope and promise took a vicious turn for the worse and Union Omaha left Lexington empty handed, losing 0-3 against Lexington Sporting Club.
The Owls donned the all-white kit for the first-ever match against Lexington and started the contest with the opening kickoff. The visitors were unable to get a shot on goal until the 17th minute. By then, they were already trailing.
In the 10th minute, Lexington’s Nico Brown put on the afterburners after a ball got past Union Omaha’s Junior Palacios. In his 100th appearance in a USL League One match, Brown showed his veteran experience and coolly finished the one-versus-one against goalkeeper Rashid Nuhu. The goal was the second straight match in which a goal was scored in the 10th minute. Lexington would add to their lead shortly before halftime.
As halftime approached, the home side possessed the ball in the attacking third. Terique Mohammed found enough space to get off a cross into Union Omaha’s box, where Ates Diouf was there for the header. Lexington managed to double their lead on a pair of Mohammed assists.
While the scoreline told one story, the stat sheet told a completely different one. The hosts held the lead, but trailed in virtually every statistical category. Union Omaha held 63% of the possession, had 6 total shots, 78% accurate passing, and had 5 successful dribbles. Joe Brito, in particular, was carrying quite a bit of the offensive power for Union Omaha. He was often seen exposing space and providing quality link up play to the top line.
Another storyline that carried over to the second half was the physical play. The two sides combined for a total of 20 fouls, with Lexington earning 2 yellow cards and Union Omaha 1 of their own. The broadcast microphones could also pick up on momentary chatter and there seemed to be a healthy dose of verbal exchanges on the field.
The second half featured Union Omaha padding their stat sheet even greater, while Lexington did the same to their scoresheet. While Lexington added a third goal in the 81st minute, Union Omaha carried the majority of the momentum and improved many of their already-impressive stats.
In comparison to Union Omaha’s first half possession, the Owls improved from 63% to 69% in the second half. Accurate passing improved to 79% and the visitors were able to take 11 total shots in the second half. The Owls were also able to complete 94 passes in Lexington’s half of the field, vastly greater than the 29 completed from the home side. A close review of the stats can tell you a good story, but at the end of the day, the scoreline is all that matters and Union Omaha was shutout for the second time in as many weeks.
With the loss, Union Omaha remains in sixth place, due to other results in the league. The Owls return to Werner Park in Week 20 to face reigning champion South Georgia Tormenta. The promotional theme for that match is STEM Night and kickoff is scheduled for 7PM CT.
Match Summary
Attendance: 2,178
Goal Summary:
10’: LEX – #77 Nico Brown (assisted by #57 Terique Mohammed)
41’: LEX – #32 Ates Diouf (assisted by #57 Terique Mohammed)
81’: LEX – #14 Khalid Balogun (assisted by #2 Tate Robertson)
Substitution Summary:
45’: OMA – #9 Pedro Dolabella replaces #6 Chavany Willis
45’: OMA – #20 Luis Gil replaces #18 Junior Palacios
66’: LEX – #25 Pierre Mané replaces #22 Dlamini Mfanafikile
73’: OMA – #11 Joe Gallardo replaces #26 Dion Acoff
79’: LEX – #14 Khalid Balogun replaces #77 Nico Brown
85’: LEX – #3 Owen Green replaces #57 Terique Mohammed
Discipline Summary:
26’: LEX – #57 Terique Mohammed (Yellow card)
36’: LEX – #5 Kaelon Fox (Yellow card)
38’: OMA – #6 Chavany Willis (Yellow card)
53’: LEX – #13 Amahl Knight (Yellow card)
70’: LEX – #8 Charlie Machell (Yellow card)
75’: LEX – #17 Erick Ceja (Yellow card)
78’: OMA – #9 Pedro Dolabella (Yellow card)
Who Gives A Hoot? 