Indy Eleven Fight Lexington for a 1-1 Draw

Indy travelled to Lexington and come back home with a hard fought point in a 1-1 draw.

Fifty or so Indy Eleven fans made the 3 hours trip South to Lexington for the first time and came home with a hard earned point. Two road matches into the season, Indy boosts a 1-1-0 record. This is key if the Boys in Blue are seeking to repeat their top 4 finish. It’s almost a requirement for teams to have a .500+ record on the road if they want to achieve such a high finish, and two matches in, Indy looks to be off to a good start.

During the first part of this match, the final result looked to be unlikely. Lexington started the match on fire. Getting chance after chance, but nothing would go in. Then in first half extra-time, the home side got their goal from a free kick. However, the officials would step in and rule it offsides. Indy went into the half lucky to be tied 0-0.

Indy was able to put together a few counter attacking opportunities, but the overall quality of those chances was lacking. Foster, Kizza and Blake were a little too quiet. Rendon was making chances appear, but couldn’t get the finishing product in the first half. The Boys in Blue put in a solid defensive effort in the first 45, but the offensive output needed improvements.

When the second half started, Indy was able to bring a little bit more pressure on the hosts. The attack was creating more chances, was able to control the ball more, and had figured out how to stifle that explosive Lexington attack. Then in the 60th minute, Indy got the goal it was looking for.

The team had been putting on the pressure in the second half, and after a good looking counter attack mixed in with a poor clearance from Lexington, Rendon was able to put the ball into the back of the net. Now up 1-0, Indy has put all the pressure onto the home side. After failing to score early in the 1st, and now down 1-0, this match appeared to be playing into Indy’s plan - a bend and don’t break performance on the road.

Everything was going how Indy wanted it to go. Indy continued making opportunities on the counter, and defensively they were not breaking. In the 80th minute though, Lexington would get its equalizer from Marcus Epps. In what was a clever set of passes, Epps found himself some space within the box and was able to slot it past Sulte. The match would get a little intense for the remaining 10 minutes with both teams showing their frustrations with each other. Indy had the last great chance at snatching all three points in the dying moments but Amoh wasn’t able to put the shot on frame and the match ended 1-1.

Getting the point on the road to a good Lexington side, will give Indy more confidence heading into their season opener next weekend. I personally would like to see a little more from Kizza, but I will chalk that down to growing pains. Overall, getting 4 points on the road in their first two matches, has setup this Indy side for a strong start to the year.

Indy’s USL-Championship Record (W-D-L): 1-1-0 4 pts

Next Match: USL Championship vs Colorado Springs (2 pts) on March 29th 7pm EST from Michael A. Carrol Stadium in Indianapolis.