May 9, 2017 League 1 Ontario Match Recap: Sanjaxx Lions vs FC London (from League 1 Ontario website)
Match Recap: Sanjaxx Lions 0 - 1 FC London 05/09/2017, 10:30am EDT By League1 Ontario staff West division powerhouse FC London rebounded from their opening day away loss to TFC with a Matchweek Two 1-0 result over Sanjaxx Lions on Sunday. Mohammed Nafar (55') scored the decisive goal just before the hour mark, after Sanjaxx had done a good job of closing down space for the southern Ontario side to operate within. "What we tried to do was make them more compact in the midfield because we analyzed the game against TFC and noticed that they didn't have much width," said Sanjaxx coach Devon Porter. "TFC plug the middle and make it compact, forcing the other team wide, and we thought that if we also forced London wide then they wouldn't have as much coming in as they didn't have a lot of options to cross from in wide positions," he explained further. "But it didn't work because we had asked our holding midfielders to play always with the ball in front of them, see the ball and see the man, and that didn't take place." "In addition, we need to keep the ball more, protect the ball, connect our passes, play with your teammates. We work on that several times in a week and it always comes back to haunt us in a game. Like my captain says, 'it can always happen.'" FC London coach Eduard Schmidt was happy with the way his side had controlled the opponent, and implemented work done on the training grounds following a disappointing opening fixture. "I think everyone in the stadium saw what our philosophy is and you would always see it in the games we play," he said. "We want to keep the ball, and control the game by keeping the ball, and then we want to create spaces and move the opponent." "We look to start attacks on one side and finish them on the other in the best case." "So we want to control the game of possession and possession for us is also a tool. You saw today, they had one shot on goal probably, I think only the chance in the second half, and this was because we kept the ball very very well. It was also defensive stability for us." "Maybe today the only issue was that we didn't score enough goals. We had some chances to finish it off earlier and I think if we scored a second then the third would come and then we could play really freely. But, of course, we are very happy to have the first win of the season." Sanjaxx Lions next play Windsor TFC Stars on Sunday May 14 at Monarch Park, Toronto. FC London next play North Mississauga Panthers on Friday May 12 at German Canadian Club, London.
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