The Impact came out strong against an understaffed Juventus club to put another win on their record Thursday night.
The St. Albert Premiere Impact 1 men’s team hosted the Juventus soccer club at Riel Park and walked away with a 1-0 win.
Things did not look good for the opposition going into the match, as they were shorthanded and down a player. The heat didn’t help things either. The 30 C weather exhausted the away team further without allowing for any substitutions. Juventus sits last in the league and is still searching for their first win of the season.
It was evident from the get go that the visitors were outmatched when the Impact opened by easily passing and dribbling around their opponent.
“I would say we had good possession and we work on that,” head coach Jeff Paulus said. “The players like to keep the ball.”
It was almost 10 minutes into the game before Juventus managed to get possession and generate some offence. They capitalized on an error by St. Albert and snuck a shot off that went soaring over the net.
Despite their shortcomings, the Juventus defence contained the St. Albert offensive prowess and passing, not allowing them to run away with the game
“They sat back with eight players and got compact in their zone and just defended it,” said Paulus. “It made it tough for us to play through.”
Finally, halfway through the first, St. Albert’s chance came with a corner kick by Zach Rochat. The ball floated into the box and Amer Halilic soared high above the pack to head the ball into the back of the net.
The Impact continued to come on strong but could not run away with the game.
“Once we get to the attacking third or the attacking part of the field, our speed of play is just too slow and we are too easy to defend,” Paulus said.
The Impact thwarted many of their own efforts with never-ending offside calls. The frustration on the team started showing when the Impact players began airing their grievances with the referees.
Paulus recognized their squad struggled with offside during the night.
“It’s naivetĂ© in some of our players. They’re looking down the line clearly offside and they have to be smarter.”
The second half opened with the Impact charging. Seconds in Halilic was searching for his second goal of the night but launched the ball over the net. St. Albert continued to apply pressure but could not produce another goal.
Despite winning the match, Coach Paulus knew his team was struggling in the offensive end.
“We need to work on just finding our quality in the attacking third,” Paulus said. “I think we are easy to defend right now because of lack of movement.”
The Juventus team worked with their strengths through the night, playing a mostly defensive game, and managing to shut down a strong team while being a man short.
“They sat back with eight and tried to hit us on the counter attack,” Paulus said. “It was a game plan they had to use to play against us because they know we can keep the ball and move the ball. And really it worked. They didn’t generate much against us but they had some odd rushes and that’s all it takes sometimes.”
Paulus credits their win to great ball possession and control throughout the contest.
“I’m a believer that the best type of defending is ball possession so we got that tonight. We just didn’t get the final product.”
Moving forward the team is going to build off the positives of their 1-0 win. Paulus particularly brought attention to their game management in the last 20 minutes.
“We kept the ball so there is a positive for me. Our possession play and our pass count is high and that’s good because I want them working on moving the ball.”
The Impact face the AC Milan club next in an away game at the ESA Complex on Thursday July 9 at 8:15.
