There was no shortage of fireworks on this Fourth of July Michigan Milk Cup final match. Two sendings-off, three penalties, five total goals, and one fully insane finish which saw Lansing hold on to a 3-2 match with nine men for dear life, stopping the Mighty Oak from repeating as Michigan Milk Cup champions in the cup's second year of existence.
What Happened:
The match started off even enough as AFC and Lansing traded possession back-and-forth for the opening several minutes. No better emphasized in the seventh minute that went from Jack Cawley stopping a 3v1 opportunity with a sliding tackle to force a corner, to AFC clearing the corner and Yuri Farkas earning one of his own. However, in the 22nd minute, Lansing's corner kick proved fruitful as DeJuan Jones scored the opening goal of the match. And he wasn't done as two minutes later Leroy Enzugusi played TJ Ifaturoti into space and found Jones yet again to stun Ann Arbor and take a 2-0 lead. This served as a bit of a wake-up call for Ann Arbor who found a better footing in the match, but were given an extra bit of hope as in the 38th minute, Enzugusi was sent off with a straight red for a stamp to Sercan Cihan. The half would come with AFC two goals back but with Lansing down to ten men this was just the beginning of a wild ride.
AFC opened the second half with most of the possession for the first fifteen minutes, but the chances found at this time were mostly long shots from out of the box as Lansing buckled down at times putting all ten behind the ball or leaving Jones up top and free to roam. Marc Ybarra nearly found the net in the 53rd as his long-range shot took a deflection and made for difficult spin for keeper Anthony Mwembia, but ultimately there could be no follow-up from Chris Odhiambo. The Mighty Oak's best chance yet was in the 70th as Cawley forced a brilliant save out of Mwembia on a free kick from just outside the box. Again though, the AFC long shots continued and a first goal back, let alone a second, seemed to be unable to be found. In the 83rd, it could have been iced away. Jones was free again on a 2v0 breakaway, just him and keeper Nick Barry. Jones shot, Barry was beaten, and the shot hit the post. The epic conclusion of this match was perhaps not because of this miss, but certainly began with it.
With Lansing down to ten, numbers were committed forward and AZ Liadi, who came on as a sub at halftime, ran down the left goal line and got tripped up. It was a penalty in the 87th minute. Farkas stutter-stepped his way to the ball on the run-up and blasted it into the net. It was 2-1 and AFC found its lifeline. Only to get punched right back in the mouth in the 89th minute as a combination of Breno and Ybarra took down Steeve Pouna in the box. Pouna's penalty was weak and saved, but his rebound was strong and buried to put Lansing up 3-1. Pouna, however, made the misstep of jumping into the crowd to celebrate and earned a yellow card, his second of the match, sending him off and putting Lansing down to nine men. As AFC pushed forward numbers, Cawley remained as a striker and was punched in the head of a Ybarra long-ball by Mwembia attempting to clear. Another penalty! Farkas would again convert, and the game was back on for the second time in the final minutes. There would be no third goal for AFC, however. Their best opportunity, almost a carbon-copy of Cawley winning the penalty except Mwembia vacated his net missing the punch, was deemed offside and Lansing held on to the 3-2 victory.
How Did This Happen:
It's difficult to accurately convey how chaotic this match was. Three penalties in the final three minutes plus stoppage time, a yellow card for excessive celebration seeing a man off, even some post-match arguing between the two sides, this match had it all. Despite Ann Arbor being one goal down for just about five minutes total in the match it always felt as if they were just behind Lansing as the two sides really were equal in play for the majority of the match. Lansing was able to capitalize on a corner kick as well as on a picture-perfect counter attack, and then able to bury a rebound off a saved penalty. Their three goals were all opportunities that probably could have been prevented by Ann Arbor, but ultimately no one player was responsible for any serious mistake. The Mighty Oak showed resiliency in fighting back against a man down Lansing, even despite the packed-up United defense, and gave a fantastic effort in the heat.
What Happened:
The match started off even enough as AFC and Lansing traded possession back-and-forth for the opening several minutes. No better emphasized in the seventh minute that went from Jack Cawley stopping a 3v1 opportunity with a sliding tackle to force a corner, to AFC clearing the corner and Yuri Farkas earning one of his own. However, in the 22nd minute, Lansing's corner kick proved fruitful as DeJuan Jones scored the opening goal of the match. And he wasn't done as two minutes later Leroy Enzugusi played TJ Ifaturoti into space and found Jones yet again to stun Ann Arbor and take a 2-0 lead. This served as a bit of a wake-up call for Ann Arbor who found a better footing in the match, but were given an extra bit of hope as in the 38th minute, Enzugusi was sent off with a straight red for a stamp to Sercan Cihan. The half would come with AFC two goals back but with Lansing down to ten men this was just the beginning of a wild ride.
AFC opened the second half with most of the possession for the first fifteen minutes, but the chances found at this time were mostly long shots from out of the box as Lansing buckled down at times putting all ten behind the ball or leaving Jones up top and free to roam. Marc Ybarra nearly found the net in the 53rd as his long-range shot took a deflection and made for difficult spin for keeper Anthony Mwembia, but ultimately there could be no follow-up from Chris Odhiambo. The Mighty Oak's best chance yet was in the 70th as Cawley forced a brilliant save out of Mwembia on a free kick from just outside the box. Again though, the AFC long shots continued and a first goal back, let alone a second, seemed to be unable to be found. In the 83rd, it could have been iced away. Jones was free again on a 2v0 breakaway, just him and keeper Nick Barry. Jones shot, Barry was beaten, and the shot hit the post. The epic conclusion of this match was perhaps not because of this miss, but certainly began with it.
With Lansing down to ten, numbers were committed forward and AZ Liadi, who came on as a sub at halftime, ran down the left goal line and got tripped up. It was a penalty in the 87th minute. Farkas stutter-stepped his way to the ball on the run-up and blasted it into the net. It was 2-1 and AFC found its lifeline. Only to get punched right back in the mouth in the 89th minute as a combination of Breno and Ybarra took down Steeve Pouna in the box. Pouna's penalty was weak and saved, but his rebound was strong and buried to put Lansing up 3-1. Pouna, however, made the misstep of jumping into the crowd to celebrate and earned a yellow card, his second of the match, sending him off and putting Lansing down to nine men. As AFC pushed forward numbers, Cawley remained as a striker and was punched in the head of a Ybarra long-ball by Mwembia attempting to clear. Another penalty! Farkas would again convert, and the game was back on for the second time in the final minutes. There would be no third goal for AFC, however. Their best opportunity, almost a carbon-copy of Cawley winning the penalty except Mwembia vacated his net missing the punch, was deemed offside and Lansing held on to the 3-2 victory.
How Did This Happen:
It's difficult to accurately convey how chaotic this match was. Three penalties in the final three minutes plus stoppage time, a yellow card for excessive celebration seeing a man off, even some post-match arguing between the two sides, this match had it all. Despite Ann Arbor being one goal down for just about five minutes total in the match it always felt as if they were just behind Lansing as the two sides really were equal in play for the majority of the match. Lansing was able to capitalize on a corner kick as well as on a picture-perfect counter attack, and then able to bury a rebound off a saved penalty. Their three goals were all opportunities that probably could have been prevented by Ann Arbor, but ultimately no one player was responsible for any serious mistake. The Mighty Oak showed resiliency in fighting back against a man down Lansing, even despite the packed-up United defense, and gave a fantastic effort in the heat.
As I've alluded to, Lansing definitely shifted to a more defensive stance following the half, by often putting ten (or nine) men behind the ball and denying Chris Odhiambo any possession. There is a direct link to the 1:37:25 of the match right here that I want to go in-depth about. Odhiambo is at his best when you can either, a, get the ball at his feet, or, b, give him space to roam and that clip shows exactly how Lansing would not allow either of these two things. You can see as play develops Odhiambo drops back to Ybarra to start movement just to get some bit of possession and help build play. Here you see Lansing's defense: two lines of four in defense and four in midfield, and Jones on top. All nine (plus the keeper, of course) are behind the ball and Odhiambo, in fact, is being played almost level with this first line of midfielders (seen perfectly at 1:37:40). The reason you do this is to allow two men to collapse if he there is an attempt to get the ball to him. What happens when Lansing push a bit forward? Well, at the 1:38:00 mark, you can see a space between left center-back and left-back as the midfield line come out to try and pressure Jake Rosen and Ybarra. Because the left-midfielder and left-center-mid players have their eyes on Rosen and Ybarra and because they are down a man, there's real-estate in the middle that Caio fills, but you can see the play develop from that 1:38:00 mark on, right-center-mid closes down, left-center-mid drops back of Odhiambo, and left-center-back immediately sticks to Odhiambo. Now, Odhiambo wins a foul and this results in Cawley's near-goal, but it goes to show what sort of game plan Lansing had when down to ten men, and with Odhimabo's shiftiness winning him the foul it shows why Lansing were so concerned.
In terms of other things I liked about AFC, I do think they dealt with pressure well. When committing numbers forward they only once gave up a big opportunity. Even that was in the 83rd minute in now-or-never time when the dynamic Jones hit the post. Lansing eventually backed up to try and eat pressure but again Ann Arbor showed capability both then by winning two penalties, one off tricky play and the other off a long ball which they can be dangerous off of, and also earlier in the first half through solid build-up play. Jordan Montoya and Zach Beuscher got a start in the biggest match of their Mighty Oak careers at the position of center-mid and both did very well. I liked Beuscher's pressure he showed often and he did not see to noticeably wilt in the heat. I enjoyed seeing him get the nod in this big match and he's been one of the more improved players as the season has gone on.
I also must acknowledge Yuri Farkas' two well-taken penalties along with AZ's incredible job winning the first penalty. Farkas and Liadi are both incredible dangerous on the wings in similar, yet different ways. Both men will find space in even the tightest positions to get around defenders, but this is Yuri's strength. Liadi's strength is when he gets to turn on the jets and put others in dangerous positions after he's already done so for himself. Whether it's winning a penalty like today or sending in a tantalizing low cross into the box for one of his center-forwards, both guys are treats to watch on the wings and after Kyle Breitmeyer put in a strong first-half shift on the right, Liadi was able to keep jabbing away on that wing for AFC to try and nudge them back into the match.
The loss in the final is tough, yes, and the match puts them at 0-0-2 against PDL clubs this season (having lost a tough 3-0 to Ocean City in the U.S. Open), but this is not the end of the world. Those two games, plus their triumph over FC Kalamazoo in the Milk Cup semi-finals, all were in knockout matches. There's no better way to prepare for a knockout match then to go through it and with the NPSL playoffs starting in just weeks this is valuable experience. Having gone through this sort of heartbreak and seeing their opponents celebrate in front of them could serve as that fire that the Mighty Oak really need to make a run through the Midwest.
What's Next:
Let's talk about the playoffs. Two teams have clinched their ticket in the Midwest out of six spots (AFC Ann Arbor and Minneapolis City SC). There are two big games with playoff implications for Ann Arbor before they even take the pitch again:
July 5th: Fort Pitt v. Erie: This matters greatly. Both of Erie's matches do. Anything but a win knocks Fort Pitt out of the running for the playoffs. Anything but a loss for Erie sends them AND Cleveland SC to the playoffs. A draw or loss for Erie AND a win by AFC over FC Indiana gives the Mighty Oak a first-round bye. With no other major matches, this is the one to follow tomorrow.
July 6th: Duluth v. Med City: A win OR draw for Duluth sends them to the playoffs as the #2 team in the north behind Minneapolis while a win for Med City means they go through. This matters because there is a strong possibility, likely depending on whether or not Columbus gets the second seed, that the winner of this match would be AFC's opponent if they do not get a bye. NPSL procedure for the Midwest pits the two western-most teams and the two eastern-most teams together in the first round. With Duluth and Med City both based in Minnesota, they are a lock for the western-most city. Meanwhile, Grand Rapids is the western-most city of the surviving teams in the Great Lakes, followed by Ann Arbor, then Columbus. Therefore, just to be safe, I imagine this will be looked at fairly heavily by those in the club.
Confused? Don't fret! Before all of Saturday's NPSL matches (and World Cup bouts and the Liverpool friendly) I will write up a quick article featuring every single game with postseason implications and spell out scenarios for you all. In addition, be sure to follow my Twitter for updates after every important match outlining its implications. It may seem intimidating, but I'll make sure you have the information you need to be an informed supporter.
AFC Ann Arbor close out the regular season at home on Saturday July 7th against FC Indiana in the NPSL National Game of the Week, with their Great Lakes Championship presentation happening post-match as well. A win is vital in getting to the first round bye and the Mighty Oak will want to close the season out on a strong note.
Follow me on Twitter @RMAB_Ryan for live AFC Ann Arbor coverage as well as additional coverage of Michigan basketball and Liverpool FC (plus much more).
Comments
Post a Comment