Diving Deep: Memphis 901 FC 1 – 1 Birmingham Legion

Birmingham Legion traveled to Memphis, and battled the 901st to a 1 – 1 draw. Coach Sohen put his faith in the Legion attack once again, and rolled out a 3-3-4. They were able to control the midfield quite well throughout the match. Ultimately however, Legion lost two points on the road in their quest to reconquer the top spot in the Central division. Here are the positives and negatives of Legions night out in Memphis. 

As mentioned, Coach Sohen put out a 3-3-4, which slotted in nicely against the 901st’ 2-4-4. While both teams put two strikes up against four defenders, it was Birmingham’s dynamic midfield that controlled the majority of the match. They were able to use speed and shift through the midfield to cut passing lanes to confound Memphis. Asiedu, once again, was everywhere. At the same time Flemmings and Prosper would rotate sides up ahead, causing Memphis confusion all up and down the pitch. The inter passing within Legion’s midfield is growing ever tighter, and that was on full display in the first half. While the super creatives took the attention, Corgnale stepped forward and took control for just the right moment. 

 The ball filtered back to the Birmingham back line, and midfield movement was mesmerizing Memphis, Crognale took advantage of the space, drove forward, and found Flemmings running around the 901st’ back line to chip home the first goal of the evening. 

The match followed this same formula for most of the evening, i.e. Legion controlling the midfield with the sporadic break from the 901st. Memphis did find space on the wings occasionally, which forced the corner that gave Memphis the equalizer. 

There wasn’t much to dissect from the Kyle Murphy goal. It was a corner put to the far post. Dean actually found Murphy, and got a body to him. However, the surging Murphy found the ball first and got his 9(goals) in 9(games). 

Before, and after each goal the match stayed in favor of the Legion. Both teams really upped their tempo in the second half, Memphis’ goal being exhibit A, but it followed the same rhythm throughout. If not for some uncharacteristically heroic defensive displays from Memphis, Legion could have finished this one 3-1. Flemmings even had a goal called back due to a high boot. For all the fire power though, Legion wasn’t able to pull out the win in Memphis this time. 

On a positive note, Legion have a week to rest up and study tape on Tulsa for their upcoming match. If they’re able to keep up their positive approach, we may see a different score line this Sunday.