Loudoun United and New Mexico United played out a 0:0 draw in the USL Group Stage on Saturday evening. The result extends Loudoun's unbeaten run to eight matches, though they remain tenth with 21 points after 21 games. New Mexico stay second with 37 points from 20 fixtures, still looking to close the gap at the top.
The turning point came early, and here's the thing about matches like this — you don't need much to change everything. J. Melto Quiah picked up a yellow card in the tenth minute, then another in the thirty-first, and that brought the red. By then New Mexico were already down to ten men, and the game shifted into a different gear. P. Santos came on for the visitors in the thirty-sixth minute to cover the numerical disadvantage.
Both sides threw bodies forward after that, but neither could find the cutting edge. Loudoun made several changes — N. Reid-Stephen and J. Rennicks at fifty-eight, J. LaCava and G. Hurst at sixty-eight, J. Murphy at seventy-one, J. Erlandson at seventy-six. New Mexico responded with their own substitutions, trying to create something from limited space. The visitors had eight goalkeeper saves to make, a sign of how often they were under pressure.
The statistics tell an odd story. Loudoun held 52 per cent possession and completed 395 passes, while New Mexico managed 48 per cent with 339. But the hosts registered eight shots on target against just one for the visitors, and created one big chance compared to none. Eighty-five attacks to eighty-six, and still nothing on the board. To be fair, when you're playing with ten men, survival often takes priority.
The result leaves Loudoun in tenth place with 21 points from three wins, eleven draws and seven losses. New Mexico remain second with 11 wins, four draws and five defeats. Both sides had been unbeaten in their previous meeting with Detroit City and Tulsa respectively, but this was a day where neither could add to their momentum. The table doesn't move much, but the feeling in the stadium was that three or four moments could have decided it all.
