FC Tulsa 3 Phoenix Rising 3
Fixture Returns to Instant Classic Status After One Year Hiatus
In a game that has always brought the goals, Phoenix Rising’s trip to FC Tulsa delivered the goals again after a 1 year hiatus. FC Tulsa would lead twice, but ultimately a Dariusz Formella penalty seventeen minutes from the ninety saw the game end 3 all.
It took all of 52 seconds for FC Tulsa to hit the front. After Patrick Seagrist broke up a counter attack off a failed corner kick, the ball fell to Alexis Souahy. Souhay’s layoff to Alex Dalou allowed Dalou to run parallel to the 18 yard box. This got John Stenberg out of position, allowing Stefan Stojanovic to cut his run inside. Dalou to put the pass where Stenberg should have been, allowing Stojanovic to beat Pape Boye and then Rocco Rios Novo at the far post. Phoenix Rising players were screaming offside on the pass but the flag stayed down. It was the classic counter of a counter for the hosts to take the 1-0 lead.
FC Tulsa had a golden chance 7 minutes later to double the advantage. Patrick Seagrist played a cross field pass that got past Juan Azocar and into the path of Arthur Rogers. Rogers’s cross into the box was too tall for the man the ball was intended for, Alex Dalou, but not for the man at the far post Boubacar Diallo. Diallo’s shot ended up across the face of goal and back to Alex Dalou. Dalou’s first touch was too heavy, taking a fall when chasing the ball as he neared Laurence Wyke. The referee was having absolutely nothing of it and booked Alex Dalou for a dive that wouldn’t qualify for the Olympic diving team. It was an easy decision to make as it was never a penalty and always a dive.
Phoenix Rising struggled to keep any possession, the longest spell they could get in the opening 32 minutes was for about 1 minute. FC Tulsa to their credit tightened their lines, forced Phoenix back towards midfield, won the ball and sprung a counter attack. Stefan Stojanovic started it and found Alex Dalou. Dalou got to the penalty area and while going away from goal, unable to get a shot across his body, Pape Boye got an arm to the back Dalou. Dalou’s first reaction was to immediately go to ground, the referee waving play on. I’ll credit the referee on this one because Dalou went to ground way too easily.
For as bad as Phoenix Rising were in the opening 35 minutes the game changed just as quickly. Off a free kick, Remi Cabral’s control kept possession with Phoenix. His touch to Renzo Zambrano allowed Zambrano to find Panos Amenakas. Amenakis cuts inside from the right to find Emil Cuello. Cuello put a pass in through a flat-footed FC Tulsa back line into the path of Remi Cabral, Joey Roggeveen taking Cabral out without a thought of playing the ball, an obvious penalty to give. Cabral calmly stepped to the spot to finish the job to his left, 1-1 after 37 minutes.
From here it was like a switch turned off for FC Tulsa and one flipped on for Phoenix Rising, who were in front five minutes later. It started with a free kick taken by Emil Cuello cross field to Edgardo Rito. From there it was quick passes between Rito, Giulio Doratiotto, Renzo Zambrano, back to Rito. The ball into the box came from Rito into the path of Zambrano, who beat Alexis Souahy to the ball. It was a deft touch by Zambrano right into the waiting path of Remi Cabral, who didn’t allow Bradley Bourgeois to challenge as Cabral shot far post first time, Joey Roggeveen completely out of position. Phoenix Rising caught FC Tulsa completely flat footed to be 2-1 in front.
FC Tulsa had a chance to equalize in the last minute of first half stoppage time, Blane Ferri’s route one ball catching Stefan Stojanovic perfectly on the run. Stojanovic beat John Stenberg with ease, but his shot was easily stopped by Rocco Rios Novo as he went far post.
Phoenix Rising were way too complementary in tracking back to start the second half and saw their lead evaporate in five minutes. After Boubacar Diallo won a corner, Phoenix just walking back on the attack, Justin Portillo’s corner found the head of the onrushing Edwin Laszo, no Phoenix Rising player even defending him. It was a powerful header near post, nothing the keeper could do about it. Three minutes later a poor back pass from John Stenberg fell right onto the onrushing Stefan Stojanovic, who was unable to clear the keeper.
Twelve minutes into the second half, FC Tulsa would take advantage of another corner kick to hit the front for the second time tonight. Justin Portillo again took the set piece, this time edge of the six yard box. Juan Azocar mistimed his jump, allowing Alexis Souahy to put a looping header on the ball far post. It’s a shot that Rocco Rios Novo had time to track, just didn’t do so in time. The ball into Alex Dalou forced Pape Boye to put the ball out, Portillo’s set piece magic did the rest to put FC Tulsa up 3-2.
Things went from bad to worse for Phoenix Rising right after the hour. After FC Tulsa won the ball in midfield the ball landed at the feet of Bradley Bougeois. As Bougeois passed up the pitch, Emil Cuello came in with a two footed studs up tackle right into the middle of Bougeois leg. The referee stopped play when an easy advantage could have been played and that could only mean one thing, a direct red card to Emil Cuello. It was reckless, a potential leg breaker, and if my blind eyes could see the studs in the tackle, so could the referee who had a clear line of sight.
FC Tulsa has two great chances to double their advantage right after the red card. Edwin Laszo in the 63rd minute would blast one from 30 yards far post, the shot dipping onto the crossbar. Four minutes later, Milo Yosef sliced his shot from Justin Portillo’s shot away from goal instead of a cut that would have been a sure goal. That was the moment that finally sprung Phoenix Rising forward, Arthur Rogers having to deny Gabi Torres for a corner kick. That allowed Phoenix Rising to keep the ball in their attacking half. Minutes later, Jose Hernandez’s cross into Pape Boye was only met with Bradley Bougeois pulling Boye down. Instead of the handball the FC Tulsa players were expecting, the referee pointed to the spot and booked Bourgeois. Dariusz Formella stepped up to the spot and went down the middle, Joey Roggeveen to Formella’s right, and all of a sudden 10 player Phoenix Rising were level at 3 with FC Tulsa with 17 minutes to play.
After 12 minutes of back and forth and little end product, FC Tulsa would get what looked to be their best chance to score late, off corner kicks. Camilo Ponce would win a corner kick off Laurence Wyke, Edwin Laszo mistiming the jump off the corner kick, Milo Yosef’s shot from the top of the box blocked. To start second half stoppage time FC Tulsa thought they had won it when Nate Worth found Edwin Laszo. Laszo’s centering ball into Diogo Pacheco was only inches wide of an own goal by Pape Boye. Another Justin Portillo inch perfect corner kick found Diogo Pacheco far post, only a deflection by Renzo Zambrano preventing it from going in on the near post, instead deflecting into the side netting, many of the 5,000 plus thinking the hosts had found the game winner. It would be the best chance of stoppage time as the game would devolve from here, 3-3 the fulltime result.
Let’s be perfectly honest here, there wasn’t much structure to this game. While FC Tulsa were more structurally sound, the five minutes in the first half they switched off was a whiplash departure from how they played the opening 35 minutes. Phoenix Rising is going to regret conceding so much territory to start the second half which allowed them to give up two gifts on set pieces. On the balance of play on the night, this was two points thrown away by the hosts, Phoenix Rising will be more than happy to walk out of Tulsa with a point. However, one does wonder if Phoenix Rising doesn’t start putting a man on the posts from corner kicks.
Late goal may put off some of the inquest about Phoenix until next week, but truthfully, they are a side that has looked short of ideas at times this year and also shape has been poor in every match.
But of course, we learned last season that this is a side that can get very hot at the right time and in the playoff format that USL has they’re still very much a threat.
As in sport and war, victory tends to go to the side who makes the fewest mistakes!