Louisville City FC wins season opener, defeats Atlanta United 2

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Louisville City FC returned to USL competition, defeating Atlanta United 2 with a 2-0 victory Saturday at Lynn Family Stadium.

After its longest offseason in club history, LouCity opened its 32-game season with a win over a Central Division opponent as Paolo DelPiccolo scored twice and LouCity's defense stymied the visitors' possessions throughout.

"I hope that everybody recognizes that that was a good team in Atlanta," LouCity head coach John Hackworth said. "They took away a lot of what we were trying to do. At the same time, I felt like as the game grew on, we just got better and better."

LouCity controlled possession early in the match, but couldn't create a strong chance. Corben Bone had a shot saved in the third minute and Niall McCabe sailed a kick wide minutes later.

Atlanta United 2 had a scoring chance as Coleman Gannon took a through ball toward the net, but LouCity goalkeeper Chris Hubbard saved the ensuing shot. It was the team's only shot on goal in the match.

.@toph14hub doing the most to keep us even before the break. 🤯 pic.twitter.com/dCVM84rBkM
— Louisville City FC (@loucityfc) April 25, 2021

In the 36th minute, Bone had a shot from the right side of the box directed toward the net stopped.

After a scoreless first half in which LouCity outshot Atlanta eight to one, LouCity had an opportunity in the 58th minute. Alexis Souahy headed a cross from Oscar Jimenez over the bar.

A ball off the foot of Jimenez led to a goal in the 69th minute as he delivered a corner kick to DelPiccolo inside the box. DelPiccolo headed in the set piece for LouCity's first goal of the season.