On Wednesday night, Sacramento Republic FC played host to Las Vegas Lights FC in front of a national audience on ESPN News. The Republic entered the match 9-9-3 fresh off a win at San Antonio last Saturday, while Las Vegas came in with a record of 7-9-6, and were coming off a 2-1 defeat at Fresno.
Republic Manager Simon Elliott fielded the following starting XI. Of note, Jordan McCrary was out due to yellow card accumulation and both Shannon Gomez and Villyan Bijev were out with right knee injuries.
Our @jiffylubesac starting XI vs @lvlightsfc. ⚽️@Darekformella9 on the bench tonight. #FlyTheFlag | #SACvLV pic.twitter.com/ks5nhiEBie
— Republic FC (@SacRepublicFC) August 8, 2019
On the whole, there were not a lot of great chances for either side in the match and the game itself was a bit of a letdown. The Republic only mustered two shots on target. Las Vegas was worse — they only put one shot on target. It was that kind of night at Papa Murphy’s Park.
The best chance for the Quails in the first half came in the 32nd minute from Cameron Iwasa on a beautiful through ball from Keven Aleman. Unfortunately, Iwasa’s left footed shot was pushed out wide by Thomas Olsen. Five minutes later, Aleman had a good chance of his own to score, but his shot sailed just over the crossbar.
32' | What a pass! Great through ball to Iwasa but Olsen makes the save.
— Republic FC (@SacRepublicFC) August 8, 2019
SAC 0 | 0 LV#FlyTheFlag | #SACvLV pic.twitter.com/phMg8GMzxh
In the second half, Sam Werner had the best chance in the 80th minute on a cross sent in from Juan Barahona, but his header went just over the crossbar. The two sides would play the remaining 10 minutes out, and it would end in a 0-0 draw.
With the draw, the Republic move to 9-9-4 (31 points) and into seventh place, while Las Vegas moves to 7-9-6 (27 points). The team returns to action on Saturday, August 17 when they host Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC.
The Republic are still searching for that consistency that’s needed, and will have plenty of training time ahead to hopefully work it out. New signee Darius Formella came in last night in the 77th minute, and looked good in his limited time, so maybe he can help with the attack.
There is still time, but they need to get it rolling here pretty quickly.
Final Stats:
Sacramento Republic FC: 0 goals, 10 shots, 2 shots on target, 58.6 possession, 3 corners, 2 offsides, 3 yellow cards.
Las Vegas Lights FC: O goals, 9 shots, 1 shots on target, 41.4 possession, 3 corners, 1 offsides, 3 yellow cards.
Republic FC Lineup: Rafael Diaz, Matt Matt Mahoney, Haris Chantzpoulos, Mitchell Taintor, Juan Barahona, Jaime Villarreal, Drew Skundrich (OUT, 73’), Keven Aleman (OUT, 77’), Sam Werner, Stefano Bonomo and Cameron Iwasa.
Republic FC Bench: Diego Ramos, Hayden Sargis, Elliott Hord, Hayden Partain (IN, 73’), Mario Penagos, Tyler Blackwood and Darius Formella (IN, 77’).